Montana is slowly losing its core values and ideals as we are inundated with people moving here from blue states. Honesty, integrity and values like “our word is our bond” slowly become inconsequential. Respect for others and their right to enjoy their property free of intrusive noise is something these newcomers only care about when it applies to them.
My home in Kila was my refuge, a place to unwind and relax after weeks spent on the road flying for a jet charter company. The stresses of my occupation were mitigated by my view of the valley and the peaceful quiet.
Now my refuge is deluged with dogs constantly barking and unsupervised children riding dirt bikes past my paddock. The bane of my existence are newly arrived from California and part of the “me” generation. I have made an attempt to reach some sort of middle ground with these people as a good neighbor but to no avail. These transplants are more concerned with their own “freedoms” regardless of the issues they create with their thoughtlessness.
The face of Montana is indeed changing as more people flee the cesspools they helped create in their home states. They find Montana and its people welcoming and friendly, so they move here and from day one begin to recreate the cesspool they fled from. The cowboy ethics of honesty, integrity and the “my word is my bond” are concepts alien to these newcomers. They are all about rights and freedoms, but only as it applies to them.
John Mello
Kila