How Do We Make Montana Great Again?

When I first moved to Montana almost 20 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Folks helping out other folks.

Where I grew up, people waved at each other when driving down the road, you held open doors for others, and when there was some sort of tragedy or natural disaster, the town would come together to help out. So, you can imagine my excitement when I got to Big Sky Country, and it was just like that.

A lot has changed in the last 20 years. Social Media became all the rage, 24 Hour News Channels spat out opinions rather than facts, our phones became smarter, and everyone got one. I moved away for a bit and then moved back, and what I discovered was a bit of a different landscape.

Sadly, Montana had changed. All of a sudden, The Last Best Place was like every other place.

Locals blamed all the transplants, Democrats blamed the Republicans, the Republicans blamed the Democrats, Christians blamed the hippies, the hippies blamed the corporations, and everyone was pointing fingers and blaming everyone else.

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When people would find out I lived in Montana, they would always ask me what it was like. See, I think there is a certain aura that comes with Big Sky Country. It's a place where wild things live, a place of adventure, a place of cowboys and dreamers.

I would always tell people it was the only place I had ever been where folks went hunting all day, then donated to PBS when they got home.

So, how do we make Montana great again? Well, I'm not sure it isn't great, but I do think that we can use a little attitude adjustment. First, Montanans help Montanans. It's always been that way, and we need to make sure it continues. Second, Montana has always been a place where we're not big fans of being told what to do. So, people need to stay in their lanes, worry about themselves, and focus on their own happiness.

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Finally, we need to get back to that friendliness that makes this place so special.

The waving when passing each other by, the holding the doors for strangers, the pulling over to help a fellow Montanan. While it may not fix all of our problems, it would certainly be a good start.