David Hill

On Sept. 2, 1889, the Wyoming territory’s elected delegates met to form a constitution for the proposed state of Wyoming. For 25 days Wyoming delegates worked, listened, and debated with each other to establish the Wyoming Constitution. Over the next 136 years, elected officials from around Wyoming have continued to work, debate and fight to improve the lives of the people of Wyoming in the ways they see best.

When Wyoming was admitted to the Union, its territorial delegate, Joseph Carey, stated, “The Constitution in the case of Wyoming was framed by a convention which emanated directly from the people … No better body of men ever assembled in the Western country than the men who composed the convention.”

Debate during the constitutional convention was necessary to work through difficult issues and topics. Pointing out flaws in another delegate’s arguments was never partisan and rarely personal but was instead done to make sure that the people of Wyoming had a system that protected their individual rights, provided essential services, and controlled the powers of government.

Debate has always been a part of politics, even between friends. Unfortunately, in our modern political system, many have started to confuse disagreement with a person’s positions, policies or processes with personal attacks. This often results in preemptive or retaliatory personal attacks toward the speaker. Perhaps this is what Sen. Al Simpson meant when he stated, “in Wyoming, everything is political except politics. And that’s personal.”

Having political discussions necessarily leads to debate and disagreement. However, just because people disagree on one point, or many, does not necessarily mean that they are our enemies. Instead, it may mean that they have a different perspective on that issue. 

When I approach particularly sensitive political conversations and a debate begins, I believe it is important to first understand why the other person thinks their belief is correct. And though I do not have to accept their conclusions as true, listening to their reasoning allows me to improve my own understanding of an issue. By debating issues intensely with others, we can often come to solutions that are better than if we tried to find a solution on our own. 

Unfortunately, over the past months and years, our ability to engage in fruitful debates in our community has become less productive and the ability for some in positions of trust to receive criticism has disappeared. For example, during the last legislative session, I expressed concern when a member of the Legislature stated that “the Legislature has an obligation to really take a stance on dictating morality.” In response to that article, instead of defending their position, the legislator attacked me personally on social media while others piled on. 

While it is fine for those with opposing opinions to sharply debate, it was unfortunate that none of the responses to my concern had to do with the substance of the argument and instead focused almost entirely on personal attacks or name-calling. These tactics only serve to suppress debate, stop discussion, and deter anyone else from voicing their opinion.

For Wyoming to get back on track, we must get back to debating the issues instead of going after the speaker. When we can go past the surface and dive deep into the issues that affect our state and our country, I believe that we will find that we have more in common than we previously thought. And as we debate those issues that are near and dear to us with the intention of doing the best job for our state and its people, we will then achieve the best result for our state, our communities, and ourselves.

The reason I have remained involved in our community instead of drifting into the background is because I believe we can and should do better, especially in the ways that we disagree with each other. We need to take an interest in our communities, and this requires each person to speak up and get involved.

I hope that we can go back to the founding principles of our state and the mindset that our founding fathers had during our state’s constitutional convention, and freely and openly debate the important issues that affect us so dearly. Have courage.