This month, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a fitting time for reflection. Our focus turns toward family and community, and the changing weather causes us to slow down. It is a good time to take stock of the society around us. The Thanksgiving holiday naturally turns our minds to what we are grateful for — what already exists that we cherish. Christmas is a holiday of hope, focused on the promise of what is yet to come. With these holidays in mind, let us reflect on what parts of our state we are thankful for and hopeful about.
Perhaps the thing Wyomingites hold most dear is our heritage. Culturally, we are descended from pioneers and settlers — or from those who came before — and we take that frontier heritage to heart. We value independence, community and overcoming challenges. We are willing to endure hardship to build a life that we want, and we are closely attuned to the natural world and the benefits that it provides. Above all else, we know that our perch in this place is still precarious. These are perspectives that are hard to find elsewhere. They set us apart. By embracing these values, we create a society that fits our circumstances. These ideas would not fit in other places, but they fit here, and for that I am grateful.
I am also thankful for the good stewardship of our forefathers. Wyoming is a harsh place and it’s challenging to thrive here. Most of our land is arid and inhospitable, our physical conditions are difficult, and we are remote from most modern conveniences and luxuries. With poor planning or shortsighted leadership, this place could easily fall into decline.
Fortunately, we have been blessed with the opposite. The state’s early settlers understood the importance of building the infrastructure that would allow for growth. When it became clear that natural resources would power our economy, our leaders decided to set aside large portions of the state’s mineral revenue to support us in perpetuity. The easy decision — the short-sighted decision — would have been to spend those dollars on the needs of the day. They certainly could have built some nice things, and those projects would have been popular. They also would have been fleeting. Because of wise leadership and decisions that focused on the long-term, we all benefit from our state’s bounty.
Just as we are grateful for the good decisions of the past, we should be hopeful for the future. Despite our state’s challenges, there are many good reasons to have hope. First, our state is full of opportunity. We have space, natural resources, and the ability to be nimble when it comes to building regulatory structures that can support new industries. Our people are hard-working and determined. We have existing expertise in manufacturing and mining that is missing in many other parts of the country. Our climate and location give Wyoming an advantage in attracting computing facilities to locate here. If we take advantage of the opportunities in front of us, Wyoming is poised to thrive, and that gives me hope.
I am also hopeful because there appears to be a growing consensus on the issues we face, which allows us to better meet these challenges. In surveys and conversations about Wyoming’s future, the challenges of economic diversification and talent retention quickly rise to the top. We recognize where our weaknesses are, which is a significant part of the battle. Once we agree on the problem, we can work to find solutions.
Finding a fix is often an easier undertaking than identifying the problem itself. Already, drilling into these challenges has helped us recognize the underlying problems connected to affordable housing, livable spaces, health care access and education. Understanding how these fit together and how improvements in one area can lead to improvements in others puts us on a much more manageable path. It will still not be easy to overcome our hurdles, but the fact that we must wrestle with difficult problems is not unusual or unique. We have answered big questions before. Now that we have a growing consensus on what those problems are, I am far more hopeful about our ability to move forward.
In this holiday season, we should take the time to contemplate the world around us. Self-reflection is important. We should look both behind us and ahead of us, toward the past and gratitude and the future and hope. Our state gives us plenty to consider on both accounts.
