Letters to the editor July 16

Please note the growing merit in the liberal mantra, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Take one global anthill, with the little critters scattered about. This continent or that, each carving out a survival niche, minding their own business. Then Mother Nature, with her sadistic sense of humor, via bat meat and other exotic tablefare, throws us a curve; a world-wide infection spawned through the conduit of Genghis Khan’s offspring. We become housebound. Locked and loaded with PlayStations, Facebooks, selfie-sticks, undead movies on Netflix, and Twitters to enrich our lives and provide comfort in these fearful days.

A timely moment in history to erase history. Look around. Spot whatever conceivable effigy of insult demeaning one’s unspecified self-worth and set in motion simmering hatred... seeded by our forgettable forefathers and mothers and nurtured by our contemporary capitalist culture who profane this nation.

Yank it down, behead it until we all become Ichabod Cranes scanning the horizon for headless horsemen.

It’s all about perspective. One person’s cooling granite shade looming above a park bench is another’s enabler of pigeon poop.

The big question is who has the fortitude and collective resources to scale and scatter the pieces of Lady Liberty? Fortunately, the “Me Too” Movement is temporarily preserving that monument, but she will go, as certainly as there is a heavy gale of hot air blowing out of New York bent on her removal. Silly French folk should never have made her hollow.

Mount Rushmore? Prime meat, ready for the picking.

It’s an exciting time to rebuild America! The bonus is we can do so camouflaged by our COVID masks.

—Gary Vinson, Kalispell

Give John Fuller (Our response to COVID-19, July 5) credit for steadfastness. His defense of Trump’s handling of the public health crisis reads like the thesis for a degree in political propaganda from the hallowed halls of Trump University.

Fuller’s own words reveal his ill-informed understanding of the situation. “President Trump wisely understood,” the local Republican politico wrote, “that the most important step government could take was to unleash the private sector and then get out of the way.”

And what has been the result of this brilliant strategy – one that no other economically advanced country has chosen to replicate? Sadly, the U.S. claims the highest pandemic-related death tally in the world by far at over 130,000 souls lost and almost twice as many cases, at around 3 million, as any other country. With just 6 percent of the global population, the U.S. is the richest nation on earth and boasts a health-care system that spends twice as much per patient as any other land. Given the tremendous advantages we have, are these dismal results what Fuller is so proud of?

Our caseload and fatality rates continue to spiral higher with every passing day while the European Union and such diverse countries as South Korea, Canada, and Uruguay have largely brought the pandemic under control. Unless you are an inhabitant of Mr. Fuller’s alternate reality universe, where actual data and facts do not seem to matter, the mismanagement of the crisis in the U.S. and the shocking results is has produced should be of great concern.

So, where are we today? Montana is worse off due to the Trump organization’s negligence and callous disregard for the health of our citizens. A recent campaign fundraising event in Bozeman starred Donald Trump, Jr. and his girlfriend, who had contracted and was capable of spreading the coronavirus. No masks, no social distancing, just disregard for the health of Montanans. GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, his running mate and others went into self-quarantine as a result of this arrogant, irresponsible attitude about the disease.

At the same time, Mexico, in an example of sublime irony, has closed part of its border with the U.S. in an attempt to keep infected Americans at bay. European Union nations have banned U.S. visitors. We have become an international pariah thanks Trump’s failed leadership.

Evidently ignorant of the success of their pandemic planning, Fuller took his parting shot at Western European nations, asserting that “Big government socialistic systems are stagnant entities that frustrate and burden the very people they are supposed to help.” Was he referring to the dozens of countries that took the pandemic seriously and developed an effective national plan to protect their citizens? Who, Mr. Fuller, has done a better job of protecting their nations from COVID-19 – Trump’s America or the rest of the advanced world?

—Mark Holston, Kalispell

At no time in the history of the world has an education, be it formal or informal been more important. In a high-tech world it is imperative to understand the complexities of science, technology, math and some engineering if you expect to find a job that provides good money and security. One hundred years ago muscle was all that was required to have a good paying job. It took ten men to dig a ditch one hundred feet long over a reasonable time. Today a backhoe can do it in less then an hour. If you do not know to operate a backhoe sell or repair one you are out of the ditch digging business.

When I graduated from the University of Montana in 1965 any BS or BA degree was all that was required to find a decent job with benefits. Today, a degree in a STEM discipline is becoming very important especially when it comes to paying off that student loan. The University of Montana is finding out that without some engineering courses students are opting to go to MSU. University of Montana’s enrollment has dropped to the point that if big changes are not made soon they may have to institute some draconian measures. I had to go to an engineering program in Seattle to obtain my marine engineering license.

An informal education in one of the trades looks a lot better then most degrees offered at Missoula. IBEW has a program that allows a perspective electrician to become a journeyman after 9,000 hours that they provide, along with the education required to complete the course. My grandson makes seventy dollars an hour as a journeyman electrician in California.

When we talk about equality, money is a very important part of the equation. Students who drop out of high school will have a very difficult time finding a job that pays them enough money to keep them solvent. A study by the Schott Foundation For Public Education has found that 40% of young black males drop out of high school. If these figures are even close to being correct the black community is in serious trouble which means that we are all in trouble. Education starts at home and without parents that can assist with that nurture, a whole generation will be lost.

Unfortunately there is no substitute for an education. Money can not buy you an education without the hard work that it takes to get one.

An education is not a panacea that will right past wrongs, however it my give you the opportunity to better prepare yourself for life in a complicated society. Without an education you are not doomed to failure, however it places you behind the power curve.

No amount of protesting or civil disobedience will make up for an education. Negative stereotypes already exist and no one needs to reinforce them. Equality comes with responsibility and hard work. Their isn’t any substitute for these virtues. In other words there is no way out.

—John Hurd, Hungry Horse