In 1967, Ronald Reagan the governor of the State of California. In his inaugural address, he talked about the peaceful transfer of power, he described as “the simple magic of the commonplace routine, which makes it a near miracle to many of the world’s inhabitants.” He went on to utter an iconic phrase that would be by politicians for decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I used that quote many times, but I have a 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 actually believe it now.
The first cracks in my confidence came during one of those commonplace routines of transferring power as Lieutenant Governor the State of Utah. It was my duty to the votes of the electors for the presidential election. While the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was so and routine that no one ever showed up. As I walked into the room, I was stunned to dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election had been stolen 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 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 talking and lamenting about the state our our country following a summer of destructive protests by extreme left and an extreme right that was already undermining the validity of an that hadn’t even happened yet. “Isn’t there something you can do,” she asked.
Well, question haunted me all weekend, so I picked up 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 I respected, and I said, “Hey, Chris, this is Spencer Cox. have a crazy idea. What if we filmed a ad together?”
I could almost hear the confused look forming his face. To his credit, he agreed, and one week later, we in a studio together. Let’s watch.
(Video) I’m Chris Peterson. I’m Spencer Cox.
CP: We are currently in the final days campaigning against each other to be your next governor.
SC: And while I think you should vote for me —
CP: Yeah, really, you should vote for me.
SC: There are some things we agree on.
CP: We can debate issues without degrading each other’s character.
SC: We can disagree without hating each other.
CP: And 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: I’m Spencer Cox.
(Together) And we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the response was and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us it coming. There were media requests from all over the world, of views and shares. Perhaps there really is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and maybe this is the 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 uphold values that we teach our kids. That we can disagree without hate and contempt, even we can find ways to treat each other with 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 to 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. The result? Our ad actually had a measurable depolarization effect, a reduction in urges towards violence. It turns out there really are things that we can do to alter the trajectory of the United States.
Now look, get it. It’s easy to feel a little hopeless as Americans once again towards an election with unsatisfying candidates and campaigns. But there is good news. Over the past six months, 20 governors from all across country have filmed similar ads, most of them with a public servant the opposing party. And the data continues to show that people are hungry for something different. According to polling from More in Common, 70 of Americans hate the divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as 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 entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, both sides overestimate the extremism on the other side 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 people most engaged the political process also have the most inaccurate views 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 heal the divides our nations and our neighborhoods. First, we can start by off and tuning out some of those conflict entrepreneurs. wife and I, we stopped watching cable news 11 years ago and immediately saw an in our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now that always elicits laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time spent on latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional media outlets, is really for our mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon in ways, like media saturation overload or doomscrolling or headline anxiety. see, more news, on all the time, isn’t making us smarter, it’s just stressing us out.
Second, we can spend more time, preferably offline, with real people who are than us. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, proximity will empower you. see, it’s just harder to hate up close. “Tell more about why you feel that way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, we rarely 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 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 on life and the people around us. Some of regular volunteering have even been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better the soul or society than giving back. Aristotle really was to something when he described and summed up the essence of life as: “Serve others do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work to the classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, John Adams explained, we all 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 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 is the spirit which is not sure it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand minds of other men and women.”
And I started with a quote 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, for it comes only once to a people and those in history who have known freedom then lost it have never known it again. Ladies gentlemen, it is our solemn duty in our generation to once again secure the freedoms endowed to all of from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the to do it. It will take real work, hard work by each us. But we must remember how to disagree without hate.
We must rise up and meet radical call to love our enemies — even, especially, 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 the world, we have to start by changing our hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)