In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of the State California. In his inaugural address, he talked about the transfer of power, something he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, which makes it a near miracle to many of world’s inhabitants.” He then went on to utter an iconic that would be repeated by politicians for decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one away from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used that quote many times, I have a confession to make. I never really believed it. Surely, after 250 years this stuff, we no longer have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report that actually believe it now.
The first cracks in my confidence came during one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor of the of Utah. It was my duty to certify the votes of electors for the presidential election. While the meeting to so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and routine that no one ever showed up. As walked into the room, I was stunned to see dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election had stolen and demanding that we violate state law and change the votes of electors.
Now I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably wrong. This was not 2020. was 2016, and the protesters were Hillary Clinton supporters.
Now it got far worse somehow, four years later. With the election less than months away, a friend and I were talking and lamenting about the state of our our country following summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and an extreme right that was already undermining the validity of an election that hadn’t happened yet. “Isn’t there something you can do,” she asked.
Well, that question haunted me all weekend, so I picked up the phone and called my opponent. the way, I was running for governor at the same time that Trump and were battling for the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat named Chris Peterson, I respected, and I said, “Hey, Chris, this is Spencer Cox. I have a crazy idea. What we filmed a campaign ad together?”
I could almost hear the confused look forming on his face. To his credit, agreed, and one week later, we were in a studio together. Let’s watch.
(Video) I’m Chris Peterson. And I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: We are currently in the final days of campaigning against each other to be your next governor.
SC: And I think you should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should vote for me.
SC: There are some things we both agree on.
CP: We can debate issues without each other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: And win or lose, in Utah, work together.
SC: So let’s show the country that there’s a better way.
CP: My name is Peterson.
SC: And I’m Spencer Cox.
(Together) And we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the response instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us saw it coming. There were media requests from all over the world, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there really an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is message they want to hear.
I could actually feel my faith in the American idea start to rekindle. The of the ad validated my hope that most people do want their political leaders to uphold the values that we teach kids. That we can disagree without hate and contempt, even that we can find ways to treat each other respect even when we disagree. It seemed like there a hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed one year later, when professor submitted a version of our ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab as part a huge depolarization experiment. It was chosen as one of 25 interventions to tested on over 30,000 people. The result? Our ad actually had a depolarization effect, including a reduction in urges towards violence. It out there really are things that we can do to alter trajectory of the United States.
Now look, I get it. It’s easy to feel a little hopeless as Americans again barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors from all across the country have filmed similar ads, most them with a public servant from the opposing party. And the data continues show that people really are hungry for something different. According to from More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as far apart as think we are. The problem isn’t how far apart the average Republican and the average is on the actual issues. In fact, we’re not much different than other Western democracies. The problem is how far apart we think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, both overestimate the extremism on the other side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the left and extreme conservatives on the right. So the people most engaged in the political process also have the most inaccurate views the other side.
But perhaps the best news of all is that there very practical things that every one of us can do every day to help heal divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My wife and I, we watching cable news 11 years ago and immediately saw improvement in our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now that always elicits a laugh, we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time spent the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional media outlets, is really bad for mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon in different ways, like saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, more news, all the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, we spend more time, preferably offline, with real people who are different us. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, proximity will empower you. You see, it’s just harder to hate up close. “Tell me more about why you that way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, we rarely identified each by our political identities first. As for me, I’m a father. I’m NBA fan. I’m a terrible aspiring bassist in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How you? You see, if we look beyond our political tribes, we can actually find shared identities and friendships that unite instead divide.
Now third, we can serve others. Service and volunteering help build up communities and improve our outlook life and the people around us. Some forms of regular volunteering have been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better the soul or society than giving back. Aristotle really was to something when he described and summed up the essence of as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work to develop the classical virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, we all ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost to talk about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it the only way for us to remember how to disagree without hate and contempt. In words of Judge Learned Hand, who so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty is the spirit which is too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women.”
And I started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. He on to say that freedom is not ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people and those in history who known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in generation to once again secure the freedoms endowed to all of us from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the media to it. It will take real work, hard work by each of us. But we must remember how to without hate.
We must rise up and meet that radical call to our enemies — even, especially, our political opponents. It’s … It’s not an … It’s not an easy answer, but it is a one. If we really want to change the world, we have to start by our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)