Off Ramp

How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt

De: Spencer Cox, Jonathan Haidt - introduction

Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s practical guide to depolarization teaches us how to disagree better at the dinner table, on social media, and in American politics

In September 2025, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Governor Spencer Cox stood at a podium and addressed a fractured and grieving nation.

He urged Americans to find a way to stop hating one another, or—at the very least, he said—to stop shooting each other. His words were balm to a nation desperate for an off ramp from rising political violence.

But a single speech cannot transform a country. It takes all of us working together. It takes a blueprint for healing, depolarization, and peacemaking.

Off Ramp is that blueprint.

In this practical and patriotic guide, Governor Cox pulls from his experience at the highest levels of civic leadership and cutting-edge depolarization research to encourage Americans to disagree better and restore the respect that we once had even for our political rivals. As America approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s time to remember what makes America strong, and leave behind the behaviors and rhetoric that threaten to destroy us.