I just saw an interesting speech about this the other day. Except in the speech the man was speaking about morals. As a society we have, or had at one point, a shared structure of morals. We still do for the most part but right now there is a belief that individuals can pick and choose their morals. And while that's true the morals are still there whether people choose to view them or not.
He used a line from Abraham Lincoln that said if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
As a civilization, keyword civil, we have to understand that together we must support each other's rights, share a common moral structure, and share a common truth in order to be successful.