You want others to hear you out, so hear everyone else out. After all, a better point of view is supposed to win afterward and not the one that has best kept the other person from arguing.

I’m sure this works in Germany but, then again, Germans have been forthright and upfront about their past.

I started out, many years ago in college with your exact attitude. Then I came to understand that a large cohort of of Americans are not arguing in good faith. The Confederate flag and Confederate Monuments, by way of example, are not about history or tradition but about racial terrorism. The Civil War itself was not about ‘states rights’ but about the right to subjugate others. Many debates in America are cover for somethings we have not faced and do not want to face. So, while I appreciate your efforts to get us to debate civilly, I’m less sanguine about it actually happening.