In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of State of California. In his inaugural address, he talked about the peaceful of power, something he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, which makes it a near miracle to many of world’s inhabitants.” He then went on to utter an iconic phrase that would be repeated by politicians decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never than one generation away from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used that quote times, but I have a confession to make. I never really believed it. Surely, after 250 years of this stuff, we no longer have 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 Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah. It was my duty to certify the votes of electors for the presidential election. While the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and routine 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 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 not 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 and lamenting about the state of our our country following a summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and extreme right that was already undermining the validity of election that hadn’t even happened yet. “Isn’t there something you can do,” she asked.
Well, that question haunted me all weekend, I picked up the 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 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 the 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 Peterson. And I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: We are currently in the final days of campaigning against each other be your next governor.
SC: And while I think you should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should vote me.
SC: There are some things we both agree on.
CP: We can debate issues without degrading other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: And win lose, in Utah, we work together.
SC: So let’s the country that there’s a better way.
CP: My name is 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 saw it coming. There media requests from all over the world, millions of and shares. Perhaps there really is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is 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 want their political leaders to the values that we teach our kids. That we can disagree without hate contempt, even that we can find ways to treat each other with respect even when we disagree. It seemed like there was hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed year later, when a professor submitted a version of our ad the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab as part of a huge depolarization experiment. It was chosen as of 25 interventions to be tested on over 30,000 people. The result? Our ad actually had a depolarization effect, including a reduction in urges towards violence. It turns out really are things that we can do 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 towards election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But there is good news. the past six months, 20 governors from all across the country have filmed similar ads, most of them with a servant from the opposing party. And the data continues to show that people really are hungry for something different. According to polling from More 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 Democrat is on the actual issues. In fact, we’re not much different than other Western democracies. The is how far apart we think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs both the media and politics, both sides overestimate the on the other side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, this perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive on the left and 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 the best news of all is that are very practical things that every one of us can do every day to help heal the divides our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by turning off tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. My wife and I, we stopped watching cable 11 years ago and 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 have found more time spent on the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional outlets, is really bad for our mental health. Psychologists to this phenomenon in different ways, like media saturation overload doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, more news, on the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing 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. see, it’s just harder to hate up close. “Tell me about why you feel that way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, rarely identified each other by our political identities first. As 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, we can actually find identities and friendships that unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can serve others. Service and volunteering help build up communities 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 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 work to the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, all become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I 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 to remember how to disagree hate and contempt. In the words 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 liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women.”
And I started with a quote Ronald Reagan. He went on to say that freedom is ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes once to a people and those in history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty our generation to once again secure the freedoms endowed to of us from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or media to do it. It will take real work, hard work by each of us. But must remember how to disagree without hate.
We must rise up and meet that radical call to 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)