In 1967, Ronald Reagan became 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 it a near to many of the world’s inhabitants.” He then went on to an iconic 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 from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used that quote many times, but have a confession to make. I never really believed it. Surely, after 250 years of this stuff, we longer have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report that I actually believe it now.
The first cracks in my confidence came one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah. It was my duty 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 see dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election been stolen and demanding that we violate state law 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 protesters were Hillary supporters.
Now it got far worse somehow, four years later. With the less than two months away, a friend and I 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 election that 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 phone and called my opponent. By the way, I was running for governor at the same time that Trump Biden were battling for the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat 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 look forming on his face. To his credit, he agreed, and one week later, we were in a together. Let’s watch.
(Video) I’m Chris Peterson. And I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: We are currently in the final days of campaigning each 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 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, response was instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us saw it coming. There were media requests from over the world, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there really is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the message they want to hear.
I could actually feel my faith in the American start to rekindle. The popularity of the ad validated my hope that most people really do their political leaders to uphold the 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 architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed one year later, when a submitted a version of our ad to the Stanford Polarization Social Change Lab as part of a huge depolarization experiment. It chosen as one of 25 interventions to be tested on 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 of the United States.
Now look, I get it. It’s easy to feel a hopeless as Americans once again barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates campaigns. But there is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors from across the country have filmed similar ads, most of them with a public servant the opposing party. And the data continues to show people really are hungry for something different. According to polling from in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as far apart as we think we are. The problem isn’t how far 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 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 left and amongst extreme conservatives on the right. So the most engaged in the political process also have the most inaccurate views of other side.
But perhaps the best news of all is that there very practical things that every one of us can do every day to help heal the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we start by turning off and tuning out some of conflict entrepreneurs. My wife and I, we stopped watching cable news 11 years ago immediately saw an improvement in our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies found that more time spent on the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional outlets, is 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 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 you. You see, it’s just harder to hate up close. “Tell me more about why feel that way” is a magical 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 aspiring bassist in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How about you? You see, if look beyond our political tribes, we can actually find shared identities and friendships unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can serve others. and volunteering help build up communities and improve our outlook on life and the people around us. Some forms of regular volunteering have been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for soul or society than giving back. Aristotle really was on to something he described and summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, can work to develop the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, we all become ravenous beasts prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to talk about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the only way for us remember how to disagree without hate and contempt. In the words of Judge Learned Hand, who so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty the spirit which is not too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the which seeks to understand the minds of other men women.”
And I started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. He went on to say that freedom is ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people and in history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it our 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 do it. It will take real work, hard work by of us. But we must remember how to disagree hate.
We must rise up and meet that radical call 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. we really want to change the world, we have start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)