In 1967, Ronald Reagan became governor of the State of California. In his inaugural address, talked about the 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 an iconic phrase that would be repeated by politicians for 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 quote many times, but I have a confession to make. I never really believed it. Surely, after 250 of this stuff, we no longer have to worry about losing it. I’m pleased to report that I actually believe it now.
The first cracks in confidence came during one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor of State of Utah. It was my duty to certify the of the electors for the presidential election. While the meeting do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and routine that no one ever showed up. I walked into the room, I was stunned to see dozens of angry protesters screaming that election had been stolen and demanding that we violate state law and change the votes of the electors.
Now I know 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 less than two away, a friend and I were talking and lamenting about the of our our country following a summer of destructive by the extreme left and an extreme right that was already undermining the validity of an 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 called my opponent. By the way, I was running for governor at the same time that and Biden were battling for the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat named 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 the confused look forming on his face. To his credit, he agreed, and one later, we were in a studio together. Let’s watch.
(Video) I’m Chris Peterson. And I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: are currently in the final days of campaigning against each 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 are 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 is Chris Peterson.
SC: And I’m Spencer Cox.
(Together) And we approve 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 views and shares. Perhaps there really is exhausted 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 most people really do want their political leaders to uphold the values that we teach our kids. That can disagree without hate and contempt, even that we can find ways treat each other with respect even when we disagree. It seemed like there was a hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed one 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 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 and campaigns. there is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors all across the country have filmed similar ads, most of them with a public servant from the opposing party. the data continues to show that people really are hungry for something different. to polling from More in Common, 70 percent of Americans the divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as far as we think we are. The problem isn’t how far apart 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 we think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs in 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 activists the left and amongst extreme conservatives on the right. So the most engaged in the political process also have the most views of the other side.
But perhaps the best news of all is that there are very practical things that every one of us 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 cable news 11 years and immediately saw an improvement in our marriage, our family, our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now that always a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that time spent on the latest headlines, whether through social media or media outlets, is really bad for our mental health. Psychologists refer to this in different ways, like media saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, more news, on all the time, isn’t us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, we can spend more time, 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 hate up close. “Tell me more about why you feel that 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 band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How about you? You see, if we look beyond political tribes, we can actually find shared identities and friendships that 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. forms of regular volunteering have even been associated with blood pressure. There is nothing better for the soul or society giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he described summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work to develop the political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, we become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to talk about words humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the only 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 the spirit which is not too sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women.”
And I started with a from Ronald Reagan. He went on to say that freedom is not ours way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, it comes only once to a people and those in history who have known freedom and lost it have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our to once again secure the freedoms endowed to all us from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the to do it. It will take real work, hard work by each of us. But we must 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 is a simple one. If we really want to change the world, we to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)