On Montanan Exceptionalism

I have a friend who was talking about a trip he took to Texas. “The problem, with Texans,” he said, “is that they are all so proud of Texas. They think that Texas is the best place ever.”

“Montanans can be pretty arrogant when it comes to talking about our state too,” I replied.

He answered, “Well yeah, but the difference between Montana and Texas is that Montana has stuff to brag about.”

Personally I don’t know if Texans really brag about their state as much as my friend claims, but I do know that Montana pride was basically codified into law in the 1972 Constitution that opens with this zinger:

We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of
our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of
life, equality of opportunity and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future
generations do ordain and establish this constitution.

Preambles exist to lay out the general philosophy of a document, and the Montana Constitution makes one philosophy very clear: Montana has stuff to brag about.

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