In 1967, Ronald Reagan became governor of the State of California. In his inaugural address, he talked about the peaceful transfer of power, he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, which makes it a miracle to many of the world’s inhabitants.” He then on to utter an iconic phrase that would be repeated by for decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s 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. I never really believed it. Surely, 250 years of this stuff, we no longer have to about losing 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 power as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah. It was my duty to certify the votes the electors for the presidential election. While the meeting to do so was to the public, it was so commonplace and routine that no one ever up. As I walked into the room, I was stunned to dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election had been stolen and that we violate state law and change the votes of electors.
Now I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re wrong. This was not 2020. This was 2016, and the protesters were Hillary Clinton supporters.
Now it got far worse somehow, four years later. With election less than two months away, a friend and I were talking and lamenting about the state of our country following a summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and an extreme right that was 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 I picked up the phone and called my opponent. By the way, I was running for 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, 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 face. To his credit, he 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 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 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: And or lose, in Utah, we work together.
SC: So let’s show the country that there’s better way.
CP: My name is Chris Peterson.
SC: And I’m Cox.
(Together) And we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the response was instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us it coming. There were media requests from all over the world, of views and shares. Perhaps there really is an majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the message they want to hear.
I could feel my faith in the American idea start to rekindle. The popularity of the ad validated my hope that people really do want their political leaders to uphold the values we teach our 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 architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed 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 interventions to be tested on over 30,000 people. The result? Our ad actually had a measurable depolarization effect, including reduction in urges towards violence. It turns out there really are things that we can to alter the trajectory of the United States.
Now look, I get it. It’s easy to feel a little hopeless as Americans once again barrel an election 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, of them with a public servant from the opposing party. And the data to show that people really are hungry for something different. According to polling More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as apart as we think we are. The problem isn’t far apart the average Republican and the average Democrat is on the 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 entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, both sides overestimate the extremism on the side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, this perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on left and amongst extreme conservatives on the 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 of us can do every day to help heal the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can by turning off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My wife and I, stopped 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, 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 for our mental health. Psychologists to this phenomenon in different ways, like media saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, news, on all the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, we can spend 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 up close. “Tell me more about you feel that way” is a magical request.
Twenty ago, we rarely identified each other by our political identities first. for me, I’m a father. I’m an NBA fan. I’m a terrible aspiring in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How about you? You see, if we look our political tribes, we can actually find shared identities and friendships that unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can others. Service and volunteering help build up communities and 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 the soul or society than giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he described and summed the essence of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can to develop the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, which, as John Adams explained, we all become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to talk about words humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the way for us to remember how to disagree without and contempt. In the words of Judge Learned Hand, so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right. 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 by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for comes only once to a people and those in history have known freedom and then lost it have never known again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to once again secure the freedoms to all of us from on high. We cannot wait for politicians 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 radical call to love our enemies — even, especially, political opponents. It’s … It’s not an … It’s not an answer, but it is a simple one. If we really want to the world, we have to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)