OP ED: Don't Let the Old Man In: 2026 Can Be Our Best of Times

Times are tough for a lot of Montana families right now. Interest rates are high, housing is expensive, and grocery bills aren’t getting any smaller. And when life feels tight, it’s easy to buy what the pessimists are selling—especially on social media—and before long that “old man” talk seeps in: “Kids these days.” “Nothing works anymore.” “We’re headed downhill.” We start pining for a past that never really was.

But my gray hairs—plus a few wins and hard lessons—have taught me this: we’re limited less by circumstances than by this very negativity. When old-man pessimism takes the wheel, it s...