In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of the State of California. In his address, he talked about the peaceful 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 to utter an iconic phrase that would be repeated by politicians for decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one generation from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used quote many times, but I have a confession to make. I never really believed it. Surely, after 250 years of this stuff, we no have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report that I actually believe it now.
The first cracks my confidence came 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 for the presidential election. While the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was commonplace and routine that no one ever showed up. As I walked into room, I was stunned to see dozens of angry protesters screaming the election had been stolen and demanding that we violate state law and change the of the electors.
Now I know what you’re all thinking, and 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 later. With the election less than two months away, a friend and I were talking and lamenting about state of our our country following a summer of 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 something you can do,” she asked.
Well, that question haunted me all weekend, so I picked the phone and called my opponent. By the way, I running for governor at the same time that Trump and Biden were battling the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat named Chris Peterson, whom 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 confused look forming on his face. To his credit, he agreed, and 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 each other to be your next governor.
SC: And while I think should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should vote for me.
SC: There are some things we agree on.
CP: We can debate issues without degrading other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: 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 Spencer Cox.
(Together) we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the response was instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us saw it coming. There were media requests from all over the world, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the message they want to hear.
I could actually feel 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 our kids. That we can disagree hate and contempt, even that we can find ways to treat each with respect even when we disagree. It seemed like was a hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed one year later, when a submitted a version of our ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab as of a huge depolarization experiment. It was chosen as one of 25 interventions to tested on over 30,000 people. The result? Our ad actually had a measurable depolarization effect, including a reduction in urges towards violence. It turns 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 as Americans once again barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors all across the country have filmed similar ads, most them with a public servant from the opposing party. And the continues to show that people really are hungry for something different. to polling from More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t far apart as we think we are. The problem isn’t how far the average Republican and the average Democrat is on the actual issues. In fact, we’re not much different than other Western democracies. The problem is how far apart think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs in the media and politics, both sides overestimate the extremism the other side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, this perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the 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 there are very practical things that every one of us can every day to help heal the divides in our nations our neighborhoods. First, we can start by turning off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My and I, we stopped watching cable news 11 years ago and immediately saw improvement in our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time spent the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional media outlets, is really bad for mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon in different ways, like saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, more news, all the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, can spend more time, preferably offline, with real people who are different than us. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, 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 by 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 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, can serve others. Service and volunteering help build up communities and improve our outlook life and the people around us. Some forms of regular have even been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for the soul or society giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he and summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work to develop the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, all become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the way for us to remember how to disagree without hate and contempt. In the words of Judge Hand, who so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty is the spirit which not too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other and women.”
And I started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. went on to say that freedom 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 those in history who have known freedom and then lost it have never it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to once again secure freedoms endowed to all of us from on high. cannot wait for politicians or the media to do it. will take real work, hard work by each of us. But we remember how to disagree without hate.
We must rise up and meet that radical call to our enemies — even, especially, our political opponents. It’s … It’s not an … It’s not an easy answer, but it is simple one. If we really want to change the world, we have to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)