One of the problems with reflexive anti-developmentism is that it doesn't differentiate between, say, a low rise apartment building in a walkable neighborhood that fights sprawl and pollution and a McMansion in a new exurban subdivision that was built on former forest and creates a lot of environmental damage and pollution. It tends to just try to stop all development in the name of supposedly preserving the community for "actual residents", which creates a housing crisis that pushes out poor and disadvantaged people, both long timers and transplants.
This is *so* good. Thank you for writing it. As a New Mexican, I’m just glad this isn’t the part of the Mountain West that Sheridan decided to tell these tales about. Yeesh.
Thanks so much for this! Megan Kate Nelson and I have done several Instagram Lives about this show (we're both from Colorado and have been watching from the beginning), but you really articulated a few things I haven't been able to. My family is now south of Missoula, but they originally homesteaded near Ringling. (Yes, *ahem* blood on our hands.) I grew up steeped in the Western myth (I do have a cowboy dad). I feel like some of the ethos of the show rings true because it walks that Libertarian purple line that the West long did or said it was trying to do. You did care about your neighbors, not just your own land. Or at least you were supposed to and that set you apart from fake Coloradoans or Montanans. I think that 60s-90s era Mountain politics allows Sheridan to tread the line between a Red State or Blue State show. But for my money, I want to see a showdown between Beth and Shiv. I know who I bet on between the Roys and the Duttons.
I often wondered while watching whether Yellowstone was sponsored by Montana's Office of Tourism. It reminds me of potatoes in France. They were once considered "pig food" until the industry decided to encourage people to eat them. They got soldiers to guard the potato crops, which just made people want them more. I'm certainly not equating Montana with pig food, just that creating an elusive "you can't have it" vibe only makes people want "it" (whatever it is) more.
BTW, they should have just called the latest season "The BETH season". I'm so over Beth.
One of the problems with reflexive anti-developmentism is that it doesn't differentiate between, say, a low rise apartment building in a walkable neighborhood that fights sprawl and pollution and a McMansion in a new exurban subdivision that was built on former forest and creates a lot of environmental damage and pollution. It tends to just try to stop all development in the name of supposedly preserving the community for "actual residents", which creates a housing crisis that pushes out poor and disadvantaged people, both long timers and transplants.
This is *so* good. Thank you for writing it. As a New Mexican, I’m just glad this isn’t the part of the Mountain West that Sheridan decided to tell these tales about. Yeesh.
Thanks so much for this! Megan Kate Nelson and I have done several Instagram Lives about this show (we're both from Colorado and have been watching from the beginning), but you really articulated a few things I haven't been able to. My family is now south of Missoula, but they originally homesteaded near Ringling. (Yes, *ahem* blood on our hands.) I grew up steeped in the Western myth (I do have a cowboy dad). I feel like some of the ethos of the show rings true because it walks that Libertarian purple line that the West long did or said it was trying to do. You did care about your neighbors, not just your own land. Or at least you were supposed to and that set you apart from fake Coloradoans or Montanans. I think that 60s-90s era Mountain politics allows Sheridan to tread the line between a Red State or Blue State show. But for my money, I want to see a showdown between Beth and Shiv. I know who I bet on between the Roys and the Duttons.
I often wondered while watching whether Yellowstone was sponsored by Montana's Office of Tourism. It reminds me of potatoes in France. They were once considered "pig food" until the industry decided to encourage people to eat them. They got soldiers to guard the potato crops, which just made people want them more. I'm certainly not equating Montana with pig food, just that creating an elusive "you can't have it" vibe only makes people want "it" (whatever it is) more.
BTW, they should have just called the latest season "The BETH season". I'm so over Beth.