In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor of the State of California. In his inaugural address, he talked about the peaceful transfer of power, something he described as “the simple magic the commonplace routine, which makes it a near miracle 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 a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one 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 of this stuff, we no longer have to worry about losing it. I’m not pleased to report that I actually believe now.
The first cracks in my confidence came during one of those commonplace routines of power as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah. was my duty to certify the votes of the electors for the presidential election. While the meeting do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace and 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 demanding that we violate law and change the votes of the electors.
Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re probably wrong. This was not 2020. This was 2016, and the protesters were Hillary Clinton supporters.
Now it far worse somehow, four years 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 an extreme right that was already undermining the validity of an election hadn’t even happened yet. “Isn’t there 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 governor at the same time that Trump and were battling for the presidency. I called my opponent, a Democrat named Chris Peterson, whom I respected, and I said, “Hey, Chris, this Spencer Cox. I have a crazy idea. What if we a campaign ad together?”
I could almost hear the confused look forming on his face. To his credit, 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 in the final days of campaigning against each other to be next governor.
SC: And while I think you should for me —
CP: Yeah, but really, you should vote for me.
SC: are some things we both agree on.
CP: We can issues without degrading each other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without each other.
CP: And win or lose, in Utah, we work together.
SC: So let’s show 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 coming. There were media requests from all over the world, millions of views 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 idea start to rekindle. The popularity of the validated my hope that most people really do want political leaders to uphold the values that we teach our kids. That can disagree without hate and contempt, even that we can ways to treat each other with respect even when we disagree. It seemed there was a hunger for architects instead of arsonists.
My hunch was confirmed one year later, when a professor submitted a version of ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab as part of a huge depolarization experiment. It was as one of 25 interventions to be tested on over 30,000 people. result? Our ad actually had a measurable depolarization effect, including reduction in urges towards violence. It turns out there really are things that we 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 barrel towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But there is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors from all across the country have 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 to from More in Common, 70 percent of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … 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 actual issues. In fact, we’re not much different other Western democracies. The problem is how far apart we think we are. Due 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, perception gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the left and amongst extreme conservatives on the right. So the people most engaged in the political process have the most inaccurate views of the other side.
But perhaps the best news of is that there are very practical things that every one of us can do every day to help the divides in our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by 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, and our mental health.
(Laughter applause)
Now that always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time spent on the latest headlines, whether through media or traditional media outlets, is really bad for our mental health. Psychologists refer this phenomenon in different ways, like media saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. You see, more news, on all the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, we can more time, preferably offline, with real people who are different than us. In the of Bryan Stevenson, proximity will empower you. You see, it’s harder to hate up close. “Tell me more about why feel that way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, we identified each other by our political identities first. As for me, I’m a father. I’m an NBA fan. I’m a terrible aspiring bassist a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. How about you? You see, if we look beyond our political tribes, can actually find shared identities and friendships that unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can serve others. Service volunteering help build up communities and improve our outlook on life and the around us. Some forms of regular volunteering have even been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing 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 develop the classical political virtues of humility, patience moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, we all ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to talk about words like humility in discourse, but I truly believe that it is the only way for us to remember how to disagree without hate and contempt. In words of Judge Learned Hand, who so eloquently stated, “The true spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right. 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. He went on to say that freedom not ours by way of inheritance. It must be for and defended constantly by each generation, for it only once to a people and those in history who have known freedom and then lost have never known it again. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to again secure the freedoms endowed to all of us on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the media to it. It will take real work, hard work by of us. But we must remember how to disagree without hate.
We must rise up and meet that radical call to love our — even, especially, our political opponents. It’s … It’s not an … It’s not easy answer, but it is a simple one. If we want to change the world, we have to start by changing our own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)