Why are people from Montana so nice? (Great Falls, Lewistown: how much, home)

[NYMTman]

Originally Posted by username18

I haven't really visited Montana; I just know some people from there. They were all really nice. Are people from Butte different than people from other parts of Montana? Politically speaking, where most of Montana is red, Butte is blue.

Butte is deep blue. There is even a Socialist Hall on Harrison Ave. I don't know many Buttians but the ones I do know are all self-declared socialists. It was a heavy, heavy union town and still is to some degree.

Back when Butte was the largest town in Montana, Montana was not exactly a conservative place. Bob LaFollette and Eugene Debs polled very well here. Over the past 100 years waves of more conservative migrants moved to other parts of the state and Montana slowly became the conservative place it is today. Of course now the migrants are mainly liberals from the west coast so the trend is reversing.

[Fiddlehead]

Actually interesting to read the there is still a left-leaning town like Butte in the Intermountain West. Now, many rural folks are small business owners, so I get the conservative, libertarian bent. It kind of makes sense for them, except I cannot see why they would not be for socialized medicine. It would take a huge burden off their back. That is, unless they can easily get workers by providing no benefits at all.

But it seems to me that the working poor across the country, who depend upon corporations for employment these days cannot do enough to empower the super rich and shortchange themselves all under rightwing lunacy. The labor / capital battle makes perfect sense to me and a legitimate way to balance power, so I would have to say Butte may be one of the few towns where the working class has kept their eyes open and has not been deluded by talk radio into blaming liberals for everything from hemhorrhoids to the deficit as the rich get richer and they get the shaft. Good for them. It is sad to see the dissembly of workers rights. Sure, labor has plenty of problems, and sometimes outright corruption. But the corporate sector is immune to these? Yeah, right.

Oh yea, they're Irish. That explains it. The Irish can keep a battle going for centuries, and in this case, labor vs. capital is a good battle to keep fighting. And one we are losing in the country as a whole.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by username18

I haven't really visited Montana ...

When you do visit, be prepared to drive 5 hours or so, across an int'l border, to get a pastrami on rye.

[NYMTman]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Oh yea, they're Irish. That explains it. The Irish can keep a battle going for centuries, and in this case, labor vs. capital is a good battle to keep fighting. And one we are losing in the country as a whole.

LOL yep exactly. That said Butte is the most religious (Catholic) place in all of Montana. Despite its leftwing economic bent, I doubt it's very liberal socially.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

Back when Butte was the largest town in Montana ...

Back then, Butte had the largest Jewish population west of the Mississippi River and had 3 synagogues and a kosher butcher. Today, the nearest kosher butcher is in Calgary, Alberta.

(There are reports that the Albertsons in Bozeman is carrying kosher poultry and kosher beef.)

[MTSilvertip]

Don't forget that the first female Governor of Montana, Judy Martz, was a Republican from Butte.

When the mines closed down the unions lost a lot of power, and when Montana Power sold its lines and facilities, and now companies such as Town Pump Inc are big employers, and they are non-union shops.
Times they are a changing...

Even large operating mines around the state are mostly non-union now. When big employers like Burlington Northern left, so did the unions power base.
Most union in Montana these days is some of the trades like the electricians, or the teachers union, or the government workers unions.
Although this is a close shop state, most of the large industries and employers that had unions are gone now, and the ones that remain do not have unions in place.

In most of Montana, (with the exception of Missoula), a liberal here would most likely be catagorized as conservative in places like Seattle or New York.
There are some of the wild eyed eco-wackos still on the loose, but fiscally and socially, this is a pretty conservative state.

Just an FYI.

[NYMTman]

Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan

Back then, Butte had the largest Jewish population west of the Mississippi River and had 3 synagogues and a kosher butcher. Today, the nearest kosher butcher is in Calgary, Alberta.

(There are reports that the Albertsons in Bozeman is carrying kosher poultry and kosher beef.)

That's a stunning statistic... nowadays the Jewish population there is tiny. The Chinese population has also shrunk big time. Yet, it seems that the Irish and Italian Catholics decided to stay there.

[montygarlic]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

Yet, it seems that the Irish and Italian Catholics decided to stay there.

No other place would take us.


mg

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

... nowadays the Jewish population there is tiny.

That's why the consensus is that the Jewish Cemetery in Butte will never be filled up.

[J3Ginger]

In reference to Minnesconsinite's post, I must say that I somewhat agree with her. I grew up in the South and moving to Montana was a huge culture shock. I have also struggled in making friends, which was tough since I moved out here solo. However, I am grateful to Montana because it is where I met my husband (who is a Montana native)!