Talk about commitment! The anti-vaxxers feel so strongly about their cause, they’re willing to die for it. Why?
For two reasons. The first is populist and “democratic”: elites of all sorts, including your doctor, are stupid, cynical, and self-interested, so you are better off trusting yourself and some guy you don’t even know on the internet who wants to sell you a useless product that supposedly cures the virus. The second revolves around the right-wing cult of strength and the rugged individual. As with climate change, there is no rugged individual solution to the pandemic, so the best way to deal with it is to operate as if it doesn’t exist. Get on with your life; if you die, you die heroically, as a free man and a patriot–not as a captive cowering in the basement.