Wyoming is undeniably conservative and deeply Republican – it has been since before statehood. But here’s the thing: our wild west, frontier history fostered not just the “rugged individualism” of modern conservatism, but also a culture of communal cooperation that laid the groundwork for progressive ideals. That’s why we live up to both our nicknames – The Equality State and The Cowboy State – in ways that might surprise you.
This piece is part of a series exploring how life in Wyoming isn’t the pure Conservative Haven you might assume. And yes, “more liberal than you might think” isn’t a high bar, but we’re going to clear it anyway.
In my last piece, I mentioned that I get my health insurance from a co-op. Around here, anything that dares to consider not making a profit gets slapped with the “liberal” label, but in practice, co-op/non-profit health insurance isn’t necessarily better or worse to deal with than its for-profit counterparts. The real game changer in this regard is government-subsidized health care.
Here in Wyoming, the setup isn’t that different from other rural areas, even the occasional big city: a slice of our local taxes goes toward funding a hospital, a nursing home, and clinics scattered across various towns in the county. They rely on revenue from insurance payments and patient co-pays. But let’s be clear – without that government funding, much of this infrastructure wouldn’t exist. And for all the talk of rugged individualism, it’s the collective pot that keeps our hospital doors open.
Even with the subsidy, though, seeing a specialist still means a half-hour drive across a state line – unless you’re headed west to Gillette, which is an hour away. Need an in-network ophthalmologist? Good luck with that.
Now, it’s true that we lean heavily on Spearfish, that bustling metropolis just across the border, for all kinds of goods and services, so driving there for medical care isn’t the world’s biggest imposition. And there’s never any traffic. Well, unless you take the back roads and end up stuck behind a rancher moving cattle. But hey, the Interstate avoids all that and is faster anyway.
Still, it’s a funny thing – how the same folks who rail against “big government” don’t seem to mind it so much when that government is subsidizing the ER visit after a fall off a horse or paying for the clinic that checks Grandma’s blood pressure every Tuesday. Maybe that’s the real lesson here: out here in Wyoming, we don’t call it socialism – we just call it getting by.
And really, that’s what the Constitution is supposed to be about – making sure that no matter where you live or who’s in charge, you’re not left to fend for yourself. It’s not some holy relic to be hoarded by self-serving politicians or wielded like a cudgel against people who don’t look or think like you. It’s a document about getting by, together – even if some people seem hellbent on shredding it like a subpoena with Trump’s name on it.
