Out here, neighborliness isn't just a polite word. It is an essential way of life.
If your truck ends up in a ditch on a slick, icy winter road, the person who pulls you out isn't going to check your political registration first. They aren't going to ask who you voted for before they grab their recovery gear. They are just going to hook up the tow strap and pull you out.
That is who we are as Montanans. We take care of each other because it is the right thing to do, not because a government agency passed a regulation telling us to. In our communities, we are neighbors first, not political parties. We don't wait around for a bureaucrat to solve a problem when a neighbor is in need, we just show up and lend a hand.
True community resilience comes from the ground up, not from a top-down government desk in Helena. A representative's job should be to stand up for our independent, self-starting communities and keep bureaucratic red tape out of the way so that neighbors can keep looking out for neighbors.
We believe that real, meaningful solutions come from local folks watching each other's backs, rather than a government mandate.
That's Montana common sense.
These value posts were originally shared on Facebook. You can follow the entire series at facebook.com/leman4mt.