In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of the State of California. In inaugural address, he talked about the peaceful transfer of power, something he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, which makes it near miracle to many of the world’s inhabitants.” He then went on to utter an iconic that would be repeated by politicians for decades to come. “Freedom is fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Now like 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, we no longer have to worry losing it. I’m not pleased to report that I believe it now.
The first cracks in my confidence came during one of 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. the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and that no one ever showed up. As I walked into the room, I was stunned 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 what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably wrong. This was 2020. This was 2016, and the protesters 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 lamenting the state of our our country following a summer 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 do,” she asked.
Well, that question haunted me all weekend, so I picked up phone and called my opponent. By the way, I was running for governor 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 is Spencer Cox. have a crazy idea. What if we filmed a campaign ad together?”
I could almost hear the confused 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 other to be your next governor.
SC: And while I think you should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should for me.
SC: There are some things we both agree on.
CP: can debate issues without degrading each other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: And win lose, in Utah, we work together.
SC: So let’s show the country 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 the world, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there really is 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 of the ad validated my hope that most people really do want their political to uphold the values that we teach our kids. we can disagree without hate and contempt, even that we find ways to treat each other with respect even when we disagree. It seemed 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 Polarization and Social Change Lab as part of a 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 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 election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. 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 data continues to show that people really are hungry something different. According to polling from More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. And it 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 is 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 large part to conflict entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, both sides overestimate the extremism on the other side about 30 percent. Now interestingly, this perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the left amongst extreme conservatives on the right. So the people engaged in the political process also have the most inaccurate views of the other side.
But perhaps best news of all is that there are very things that every one of us can do every day to help heal the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start turning off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My wife and I, we stopped watching news 11 years ago and immediately saw an improvement in our marriage, our family, 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, through social media or traditional media outlets, is really bad for our mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon different 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 people who are different than us. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, proximity will empower you. You see, it’s just harder to up close. “Tell me more about why you feel way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, we rarely identified each other by our identities first. As for me, I’m a father. I’m an NBA fan. I’m terrible aspiring bassist in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How you? You see, if we look beyond our political tribes, can 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 forms of volunteering have even been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for the soul or than giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he described summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, finally, we can work to develop the classical political 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 to talk about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly that it is the only way 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 is the spirit which is not too sure it right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks understand the 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 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 have never known it again. and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to once again secure freedoms endowed to all of us from on high. We cannot wait politicians or the media to do it. It will take real work, hard by each of us. But we must remember how to disagree without hate.
We must up and meet that radical call to love our — even, especially, our political opponents. It’s … It’s not … It’s not an easy answer, but it is a simple one. If really want to change the world, we have to by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)