Don't be scared, America!

After my father first came to Montana a hundred years ago, one of the things that I grew up hearing about was these hard-working, brave, souls that lived here in this incredible Montana.

And then I moved here about 50 years ago and bore witness to that everyday bravery for taking on any and all of the huge challenges that would come up. My neighbors, full of “can-do attitude,” were a constant inspiration for me to also be brave. This attitude has carried me far and it has allowed me to do so many things that I could have chosen to think were insurmountable. Not for me. I can do it. That’s the way we do things here.

Recently I’ve begun to wonder what happened to the bravery that Montana used to have so much of? Today what I hear is “We’re afraid. Someone might move here and hurt us. They may be different from us and that scares me too.” Maybe our fears have become stronger than our bravery.

I know there are “armchair quarterbacks,” maybe there is armchair bravery too. But I’m here to tell you, it’s nothing like the real bravery that we so proudly displayed in the past. I think for the most part Montanans have turned into a bunch of cowards. It’s almost like being afraid of the dark and something out there might get me. I ask you, my fellow Montanans, does this describe you? And if so does it make you proud?

So I say to us all, let’s have courage. Buck up. Be brave. Be can-do. Stop our whining, be strong, dig deep and Let’s Make Montana Great Again. —Bill Goodman, Kalispell