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