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