Americans incapable of learning from others
Why are Americans incapable of learning from other countries? To Governor Gianforte, please reconsider your decision to do away with the mask mandate. A real world experiment has already been done.
Look at Norway and Sweden.
Norway chose to follow the science and requires masks, but Sweden left it up to the individual, not requiring masks.
Results (as of 12/26/20): Norway, population 5.3 million, 421 COVID deaths, or 79.4 deaths/million; Sweden, population 10.2 million, 8,279 COVID deaths, or 811.7 deaths/million
Therefore, Sweden’s deaths are 10.2 times worse than Norway’s.
Economy: Norway 3rd quarter GDP down 0.2%; Sweden 3rd quarter GDP down 2.5%.
Therefore, Sweden’s economy has fared far worse than Norway’s.
I thought Republicans were supposed to be good managers. If you went to your board of directors with a proposal that would cause the company’s costs to go up by a factor of 10 but would produce much less, you would be fired on the spot.
The Swedes have finally figured it out. King Carl XVI Gustaf said, “I think we have failed.” The Swedish government has recently banned alcohol sales after 10 PM and restricted public gatherings
to 8 people. Their parliament is considering law changes that would put some teeth into enforcement.
So why would you want Montana to be like Sweden? Are you feeling sorry for the Dakotas, whose policies produced a per capita death rate that is almost double ours? Why?
You guys need to change your title from Republican to “Retrumpicans.”
You are nothing like the party I use to belong to. And change your motto from “Make American Great Again” to “Maximum Pain for No Gain.”
Barry Bain
Bozeman
Mask mandates not the answer to the pandemic
I am writing this letter in response to one submitted by Tim Conlan and others. I do intend to make my voice heard, but it won’t be in favor of the mask mandate. I completely agree with Gov. Gianforte and the sentiment that Montanans are capable of making the right decisions for themselves and their families.
Contrary to what Mr. Conlan states, the data does not agree with the assertion that mask mandates work. In a study from rational ground. com done on all 50 states, between May 1 and Dec. 15, mask mandates have been shown to be an abject failure. The study shows that states with mask mandates have a case rate of 27 per 100,000 per day, whereas states with no mandate have a case
rate of 17 per 100,000 per day. At best this shows that mask mandates simply don’t work, and at worst it shows them to be completely counterproductive.
I find great irony in Mr. Conlan’s statement that “God didn’t lay down the 10 suggestions for a reason.” The equivocation of God and government is the very root of the problem. As we as a society become more and more dependent on government to solve our problems, we squeeze God, whose commandments make sense, out of the picture, in favor of the “all powerful” government.
As has been proven time and again in this pandemic, government can not, and should not be expected to be able to control this virus. Neither mandates, nor lockdowns nor any other draconian measures that various governments have tried to implement, have been able to stop this virus. The only thing these measures have succeeded in doing is conditioning us to willingly lay down
our freedoms and God given rights.
Doug Kamerman
Manhattan
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letters to the Editor 1/1/21