Getting what they want

Republicans do not like taxes. As a result, states led by Republicans have less money to spend on public education.

Idaho is second to the bottom in spending per student behind Utah. Therefore, people leave school without much education, the ability to think critically or the ability understand scientific information. Therefore, they cannot understand simple facts like a mask will filter out a significant percent of aerosols that transmit coronavirus, or that distance from an infected person will lessen exposure to another, the dose/response relationship where a small exposure to the virus can be managed by the body’s immune system but a large exposure will overwhelm the immune system and result in illness, or the efficacy and safety of approved vaccinations.

This makes the poorly educated people in strongly Republican states vulnerable to unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Therefore, Republicans shun simple protective measures such as masking, social distancing, and vaccinations against COVID-19. As a result, Republicans are dying at a rate three to four times that of Democrats (“Red Covid,” New York Times).

So, in the end, Republicans get what they desire most: no taxes need to be paid after dying. R.I.P.

Wayne Krafft

Spokane