In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of 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 makes a near miracle to many of the world’s inhabitants.” He then went on to utter an phrase that would be repeated by politicians for decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” said, “And it’s never more than one generation away 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 of this stuff, no longer have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report I actually believe it now.
The first cracks in my confidence during one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor of the State Utah. It was my duty to certify the votes of the electors for the presidential election. While the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and routine no one ever showed up. As I walked into the room, I was stunned to see dozens of angry 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, you’re probably wrong. This was not 2020. This was 2016, and the were Hillary Clinton supporters.
Now it got far worse somehow, four years later. With the election than two months away, a friend and I were talking and about the state of our our country following a summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and an extreme that was 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 all weekend, so 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 presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat named Chris Peterson, whom I respected, and I said, “Hey, Chris, is Spencer Cox. I have a crazy idea. What if we filmed a campaign ad together?”
I could almost hear 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 Peterson. And I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: We are currently in the final days of campaigning against other to be your next governor.
SC: And while I think you should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, really, you should vote for me.
SC: There are some things we 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 country that there’s a better way.
CP: My name is Chris Peterson.
SC: And I’m Cox.
(Together) And we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the was instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us saw it coming. There were requests from all over the world, millions of views and shares. there really is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the message they want to hear.
I could actually my faith in the American idea start to rekindle. The popularity of the ad my hope that most people really do want their political leaders to uphold the values that we teach kids. That we can disagree without hate and contempt, even we can find ways to treat each other with respect even when we disagree. seemed like there was a hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch confirmed one year later, when a professor submitted a version of our ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Lab as part of a huge depolarization experiment. It was chosen as one of 25 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 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 Americans once again barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But there 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 the data continues show that people really are hungry for something different. According to polling More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. And it also 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 actual issues. In fact, we’re not much than other Western democracies. The problem is how far apart we think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs in both the and politics, both sides overestimate the extremism on the 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 engaged in the political process also have the most inaccurate of the other side.
But perhaps the best news of all is that there are very practical that every one of us can do every day to help the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by turning off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My wife I, we stopped watching cable news 11 years ago and immediately saw an improvement our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now that always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time on the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional media outlets, is really for our mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon in different ways, like media saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. 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 different than us. In words of Bryan Stevenson, proximity will empower you. You see, it’s just harder to up close. “Tell me more about why you feel that way” is a request.
Twenty years ago, we rarely identified each other our political identities first. As for me, I’m a father. I’m an NBA fan. I’m a terrible bassist in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How about you? see, if we look beyond our political tribes, we can actually find shared identities and friendships unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can serve others. Service and volunteering help build up communities and improve outlook on life and the people around us. Some forms of regular volunteering have even been associated lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for the or 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 the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as Adams explained, we all become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I it’s almost laughable to talk about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the only way 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 is not too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds other men and women.”
And I started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. He went on to say freedom is not ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended by each generation, for it comes only once to a people and in history who have known freedom and then lost it never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is solemn duty in our generation to once again secure the freedoms endowed to all us from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the media to do it. It will take real work, hard by each of us. But we must remember how disagree without hate.
We must rise up and meet that call to love our enemies — even, especially, our political opponents. It’s … It’s not an … It’s an easy answer, but it is a simple one. If we really want to change the world, we have to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)