We hear a lot about how transplants are ruining the great state of Montana.

Over the last few years, thousands of people have moved to The Treasure State and for many Montanans, that’s been a hard pill to swallow. If you were to spend any time on social media sites that are Montana-related, chances are you will most certainly read lots of comments from disgruntled “locals”.

Of course, the strange part of that is that only about half of the state’s residents are actually from here and while it’s true, many have moved to Montana recently, according to new data, just as many people are moving away.

In my opinion, it’s not the transplants that are the problem, it’s the fact that we live in this environment of “if you don’t agree with me and my belief system, then you’re wrong, and screw you”.

Over the next several months we will be indoctrinated with political ads on TV, Radio, and Social Media and if history repeats itself, the majority of those ads won’t talk about the accomplishments of the candidate running, but everything wrong with the candidate that is going against them.

Somewhere along the way, many Montanans have simply refused to listen to anyone who has a different opinion than them.

Instead of focusing on things that benefit everyone and the state, we instead focus on who is “liberal” and who is “conservative”.  While many Montanans are under the impression that liberalism is new to the state, the truth is, that two of the biggest cities in Montana have leaned liberal for decades. Both Bozeman and Missoula are “college towns” and like most college towns across the United States, tend to be a little more left.

On the other hand, Montana is filled with small towns and like most small towns across the country, tends to lean a little more conservative.  In other words, it’s kind of always been this way, and this isn’t anything new. The difference is that we have multiple platforms to share our opinions and viewpoints and while technology is a wonderful thing, it has also caused quite a riff in our society and how we treat each other.

Like many Montanans, I’m conservative on some issues and a little more liberal on others. I find myself somewhere in the category of “I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone.”

The truth is, this country and this state are big enough to have all kinds of opinions and just because someone doesn’t share mine, certainly doesn’t make them better or worse than me. Until we can compromise and meet somewhere in the middle, Montana will continue to suffer, no matter how many “transplants” move here.