In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the governor the State of California. In his inaugural address, he 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 utter an iconic phrase that would be repeated by politicians decades to come. “Freedom is a fragile thing,” he said, “And it’s never more than one generation from extinction.”
Now like countless others, I have used that quote many times, I have a confession to make. I never really it. Surely, after 250 years of this stuff, we no longer have to 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 of the of Utah. It was my duty to certify the votes of the electors for the presidential election. the meeting to do so was open to the public, it was so commonplace routine that no one ever showed up. As I walked the room, I was stunned to see dozens of angry protesters screaming that the election had been stolen demanding that we violate state law and change the votes of 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 talking and about the state of our our country following a summer of destructive protests by the extreme left and an right that was already undermining the validity of an election that hadn’t 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. the way, I was running for governor at the same time Trump and Biden were battling for the presidency. I my opponent, a Democrat named Chris Peterson, whom I respected, and said, “Hey, Chris, this is Spencer Cox. I have a crazy idea. What if we filmed a campaign ad together?”
I could almost hear the confused look forming on his face. To his credit, he agreed, and 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 of campaigning against each other to be your next governor.
SC: And while I you should vote 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 hating 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: And I’m Cox.
(Together) And we approve this message.
(Applause)
Well, the response instantaneous and overwhelming. The ad went viral. Neither of us saw it coming. There were media requests from all over the world, millions of views and shares. Perhaps there is an exhausted majority, I remember thinking to myself, and this is the message they want to hear.
I could feel my faith in the American idea start to rekindle. popularity of the ad validated my hope that most people really want their political leaders to uphold the values that teach our kids. That we can disagree without hate and contempt, even we can find ways to treat each other with respect even 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 of our ad to the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab part of a huge depolarization experiment. It was chosen one of 25 interventions to be tested on over 30,000 people. The result? ad actually had a measurable depolarization effect, including a reduction in urges towards violence. It turns out there really are things that we can to alter the trajectory of the United States.
Now look, I 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 from all across the country have filmed similar ads, most of with a public servant from the opposing party. And the data continues to show that people are hungry for something different. According to polling from More in Common, 70 percent of hate the divisiveness in politics. And it also turns out that … Americans aren’t as far apart as we think are. The problem isn’t how far apart the average Republican and the average Democrat is on the issues. In fact, we’re not much different than other Western democracies. The problem is how far we think we are. Due in large part to conflict entrepreneurs in both the media and politics, both overestimate the extremism on the other side by about 30 percent. Now interestingly, this gap is actually strongest amongst progressive activists on the left and amongst extreme conservatives on the right. So the people engaged in the political process also have the most 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 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 11 years ago and immediately saw an improvement in our marriage, our family, and our mental health.
(Laughter and applause)
Now that always elicits a laugh, but we’re not alone. Studies have found that more time spent the latest headlines, whether through social media or traditional media outlets, is really bad for our mental health. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon different ways, like media 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, offline, with real 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 more about why you that way” is a magical request.
Twenty years ago, we rarely 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 in a band. I’m a Utahn. I’m an American. about you? You see, if we look beyond our political tribes, we can actually find shared and friendships that unite instead of divide.
Now third, we can serve others. and volunteering help build up communities and improve our outlook on life and the people around us. Some forms of regular volunteering even been associated with lower blood pressure. There is nothing better for soul or society than giving back. Aristotle really was on to something when he described and summed up the of life as: “Serve others and do good.”
Fourth, and finally, we can work to develop classical political virtues of humility, patience and moderation, without which, as John Adams explained, we all become ravenous beasts of prey. Now look, I know it’s almost laughable to talk about words like humility in political discourse, but I truly believe that it is the only 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 which is not too sure it is right. The spirit of is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds other men and women.”
And I started with a quote from Ronald Reagan. He on to say that freedom is not ours by way inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people those in history who have known freedom and then lost it 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 from on high. We cannot wait for politicians or the media do it. It will take real work, hard work by each 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 an … It’s not an easy answer, but it is a simple one. If really want to change the world, we have to start by changing own hearts.
Thank you.
(Applause)