Why Spencer Cox thinks Utah’s ‘weird’ culture makes it so successful

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox began his annual State of the State address by noting just how weird the Beehive State can be.

“In Utah, we dine on fry sauce, funeral potatoes and dirty diet sodas from our neighborhood Swig,” he said. “We play the lottery in Idaho and buy our fireworks in Wyoming.”

And don’t forget unique Utah cities like Tooele and Mantua, or names like Saydee and Lakynn “with extra e’s and n’s and y’s just strewn about willy-nilly.”

But the governor didn’t spend his entire speech highlighting the quirks of Utah culture, and instead focused on “another way in which Utah is different, and even a little weird.”

“Despite being a small, oddly shaped state out West, Utah continues to dominate endless lists of national rankings,” Cox said, pointing to a recent survey from U.S. News and World Report which ranked Utah best based on more than 70 metrics. “And while it is surely fun to tout that ranking — and I certainly have — I’m much more interested in why we are objectively the best state. And I’m most interested in how we keep it that way.”

To explain Utah’s success in these metrics, Cox referenced another study from the National Bureau of Economic Research on zero-sum thinking, which the group defines as “the belief that gains for one individual or group tend to come at the cost of others.”

“Sadly, a majority of people in a majority of states are now acting that way — as zero-sum thinkers with endless pity parties and complaints of victimhood. They are buying what the conflict entrepreneurs in our politics and media are selling,” the governor said. “But not so much in Utah. It turns out that Utahns, far more than people in any other state, reject zero-sum thinking. Utah still believes in the win-win. We reject false choices and help others succeed.”

“Utah, it turns out, is profoundly weird.”

‘Abundance mindset’

Cox said this “abundance mindset” has been on display during previous legislative sessions, when lawmakers delivered large tax cuts and approved the largest increase in teacher salaries in Beehive State history.

This mindset is something elected officials and stakeholders will need to carry forward into the future, he said, and he has high hopes that the state will be able to tackle some of the biggest issues. As he has said before, Cox believes the “single largest threat to our future prosperity is the price of housing.”

“Housing attainability is a crisis in Utah and every state in this country,” he said. “But remember, we are weird. We aren’t like the rest of the country. No one has figured this out yet, and I truly believe that we can.”

Cox touted his proposal to build 35,000 starter homes in the state over the next five years to make the goal of homeownership more attainable to young Utahns. While the “American dream is alive in Utah,” he said, “it will be dead soon if we don’t get this right.”

The governor was recently asked if the state is growing too fast, to which he replied: “The only way to not grow is to suck at being a state. And I’m not interested in that.”

Whether Utahns like it or not, the state is growing, and how lawmakers respond to the challenges brought by growth will impact quality of living for decades to come.

Although there is no love lost between Cox and the former Republican president, the governor channeled Donald Trump, quipping: “I would love to build a wall around our state — and get California to pay for it — but that is not going to happen. And so it is up to you and me and all of us to make sure that we grow in the right way.”

Homelessness is another critical issue the governor addressed, urging policymakers to reject zero-sum thinking that “says that we must choose between compassion and accountability.”

“There is nothing compassionate about allowing people to suffer and die on our streets, and there is nothing compassionate about allowing laws to be flagrantly ignored and broken,” he said. “Unsanctioned camping must end. We will provide help and services for those in need, real consequences and jail for those who willingly break the law, and civil commitment when absolutely necessary.”

‘We need them now more than ever’

Cox concluded his speech by describing his grandfather’s brother, Iven Roy Cox, “a remarkably weird person” who was the “closest thing to a real-life George Bailey” — from the film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” A Fairfield, Utah County, native like the governor, Iven Cox lost his wife months after she gave birth to the couple’s first baby boy.

“Somehow, Iven became even stronger and more determined,” Cox said.

“If a homeless stranger was passing through town, they stayed at Iven’s home. If someone was hitchhiking, he picked them up. … In his later years, I would often see him sweeping the sidewalks on Main Street, just to make the town a little nicer,” he continued. “Talk about a weird guy.”

Cox said the world today is “staggering a bit” from international conflict and a growing epidemic of loneliness. There used to be Iven Coxes “in every community in this state,” he said, “and we need them now more than ever.”

Fortunately, the governor said, the Utah Legislature is full of people like that, as he proclaimed that the “state of the state has never, ever been stronger.”

“We’re different. We’re weird. The good kind of weird. The kind of weird the rest of the nation is desperate for right now. And I’m praying we can keep it that way,” he said. “So, stay weird, Utah. And may God bless each of you. And may God bless the great state of Utah.”

You can watch Cox’s address below:

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