In 1967, Ronald Reagan became governor of the State of California. In his inaugural address, he talked about peaceful transfer of power, something he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, makes it a 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 a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more one generation away from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used that quote many times, but I have a confession to make. I really believed it. Surely, after 250 years of this stuff, we no longer have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report that I actually believe it now.
The first cracks in my came during one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor of State of Utah. It was my duty to certify 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 stunned to see dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election had been stolen and that we violate state law and change the votes of the electors.
Now I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably wrong. This not 2020. This was 2016, and the protesters were Hillary Clinton supporters.
Now it got far somehow, four years later. With the election less than two months away, friend and I were talking and lamenting about the state of our our country following a summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and an extreme right that was already 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 up the phone and called my opponent. By the way, I was running for at the same time that Trump and Biden were for the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat Chris Peterson, whom I respected, and I said, “Hey, Chris, this is Spencer Cox. I have a 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 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 vote for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should vote for me.
SC: There some things we both agree on.
CP: We can debate issues degrading each other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: And win or lose, 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) 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, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there really is an majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the they want to hear.
I could actually feel my faith in the American idea start to rekindle. The popularity of the ad validated my hope that most people really want their political leaders to uphold the values that we our kids. That we can disagree without hate and contempt, even that 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 was confirmed one year later, when a professor a version of our ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab as part of huge depolarization experiment. It was 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 urges towards violence. It turns out there really are that we can do to alter the trajectory of United States.
Now look, I get it. It’s easy to feel a little hopeless as Americans again barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But 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 from the opposing party. And the data continues to show that people really are hungry for something different. According 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 we are. The problem isn’t how far apart the average Republican 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 we think we are. Due in part to conflict entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, sides overestimate the extremism on the other side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the left and amongst conservatives on the right. So the people most engaged in the political process also have the inaccurate views of the other side.
But perhaps the best news of is that there are very practical things that every one of can do every day to help heal the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by turning off and tuning 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, and our mental health.
(Laughter applause)
Now that always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found more time spent 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 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, we can spend more time, preferably offline, with people who are different than us. In the words of Stevenson, proximity will empower 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 other by our political identities first. As for me, I’m 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 that unite instead 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 regular volunteering have even associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for the or society than giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he described summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others and good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work 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 like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe it is the only way for us to remember how to disagree without hate and contempt. In the of Judge Learned Hand, who so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty is the spirit is not too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit seeks to understand the minds of other men and women.”
And started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. He went on to say that freedom not ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by generation, for it comes only once to a people and those in history who have known freedom and then it have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to once again secure the freedoms endowed to all of us from on high. We wait for politicians or the media to do it. It will take real work, work by each of us. But we must remember to disagree without 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 not an easy answer, but it is a simple one. If we really want to change world, we have to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)