by Caleb Jones
In February, I welcomed a few hundred electric cooperative friends to Jefferson City for our 2026 State Legislative Conference. They came from every corner of the state with one shared purpose – to make sure rural voices are part of the policy conversations happening under the Capitol dome.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend my career in public service, working at the local, state and federal levels. While I still feel like a young man most days, I can’t help but reflect on how much has changed since the first time I threw candy from a parade float while campaigning in a local sheriff’s race more than 40 years ago.
If you turn on the TV today, it’s pretty easy to feel frustrated. It’s all political unrest and protests. Finding common ground is so much harder than it used to be. There seems to be more and more days where I’ve traded the nightly news for reruns of “Gunsmoke,” “Green Acres” or “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
In times like these, it’s easy to forget we live in the greatest country in the world. Simply by being born in the United States of America, our kids are given opportunities that others can only dream about.
My kids are getting great educations, and my family can attend church on Sunday without fear of being arrested. My daughter has the chance to grow up to be a doctor, a business owner, a farmer – or even the president of the United States – if that’s what she wants to be.
And when America faces problems, we fix them. When rural families didn’t have electricity, we fixed it. When there were no roads to connect our country, we fixed it. When families lacked access to doctors, we fixed that too.
That’s who we are and what we do. America has always been, and will always be, the greatest country in the world. This greatness doesn’t come from one person or policy. It wasn’t handed to us, we build it through hard work, determination, and grit. That’s the American way.
Every single day, people from across the world risk everything to come here. Why? Because they want what we already have – the opportunity to chase the American dream.
Yes, the challenges in front of us are real. But there is no doubt in my mind that Americans will rise to the occasion – just as we always have. Because when something is broken, we fix it. That’s our legacy.
So, when the world feels heavy, remember this: we can still choose hope. We can still believe in America. Our best days aren’t behind us – they are still ahead of us.
Caleb Jones is the CEO of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. He is a member of Boone Electric Cooperative. Email him at cjones@amec.coop.