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