Posted on 06/08/2020 3:43:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
To mask or not to mask? That’s the question many of us are constantly asking ourselves as we go about our days in various public and non-public spaces, right? Does this store require masks? What about this restaurant or salon? Sure there’s a sign (there’s usually a sign), but will they really enforce it? What about a trip to the park or the local biking trail? Will you be accosted by some mask-shaming Karen if you go for a walk outside?
Even for those of us who know it’s mostly nonsense, the sense of others’ negative perception can be real, especially if you live in an area where most people are wearing them (thankfully, I do not). Certainly, no normal person wants to give any sickness, much less coronavirus, to anyone else if they can help it. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of people believe the latest “precaution” our overlords want to force us to take - forced universal masking - is, for the many reasons I listed last week and more, a bridge too far (although I also would agree that there are limited situations and places where masks might still be appropriate).
As the debate rages, most pro-universal masking arguments can be fairly easily countered. Most. But one of the more effective, yet frustrating, arguments mask proponents use, particularly those leftists and liberal Christians who know how to conveniently turn a Bible phrase to make their own point, is that wearing masks is all about “loving your neighbor.”
“I wear my mask to protect you, and you wear your mask to protect me,” about a zillion people with newly-masked Twitter profiles sanctimoniously proclaim. What a “good person” they must think they are, and they want to make sure everyone else knows it too. You can almost see the syrup dripping from their voices as they say the words with a condescending, self-righteous smirk, as if their position makes them somehow morally superior to everyone who disagrees.
Even in my (mostly) anti-mask stance, I’ve always contended that nobody’s choice on whether to wear a mask or not should be ridiculed. But these folks don’t take that position. Instead, by insisting that mask-wearing is all about loving one’s neighbor, they can’t help but imply, even if they don’t mean to, that those who avoid wearing masks do not, well, love their neighbors. And that implied charge can be difficult to deal with because most people, deep down, want to be perceived by others as a ‘good person.’ Whether Christian or not, most of us want to love others well and be reciprocated in kind, and the desire to avoid public scorn is a powerful motivator that doubtless forces many to comply with the mask-wearing nonsense despite reality, science, and common sense.
In order to come anywhere close to “loving one’s neighbor,” it stands to reason that mask wearing would need to, 1.) actually work, 2.) actually protect against a clear and present serious danger, and 3.) not be dangerous in any way to the wearer. Last week, I addressed and provided multiple resources pointing to evidence for why it doesn’t meet any of those criteria.
In life, at least if you’re not a leftist, some things are simply wrong or right. For example, it’s morally wrong to steal, rape, or commit murder. But there are also shades of nuance around our moral standards. It’s wrong to ‘hate’ your neighbor, of course, but what exactly does ‘loving’ your neighbor entail? If your neighbor refuses to work, should you feed them or pay their rent over and over to the detriment of your own family? Now, let’s really jump in. If your neighbor has an unfounded, irrational belief, is it “loving” to cater to that belief by pretending it’s real? As an extreme example, say your neighbor believes that zombie cats have taken over the planet and not only refuses to come outside but thinks the only way to keep them at bay is for everyone to shave their head. Should you shave your head? It’s a simple thing, really, when it comes down to it. It would cost you very little. So, should you? The answer, obviously, is no, because catering to irrational beliefs just gives credence to fear and other damages such beliefs can cause.
Today, of course, we find ourselves in a situation where most people seem to believe the coronavirus is something akin to the black plague. That percentage is thankfully declining as people wake up and begin to question our overlords, in no small part thanks to their recent contention that this ‘woke’ virus is apparently down with Black Lives Matter but not with demonstrations to keep business owners’ kids fed. Who knew?
But still, there are plenty of people whose fears of this virus, though justified at first, are clearly irrational and unwarranted. I’m obviously not talking about the elderly and medically vulnerable, but I am referring to a hefty percentage of 99.5 percent of the population that believes the virus is dangerous to them when it’s not. They also now think that wearing a cloth face covering, something the New England Journal of Medicine has clearly said is little more than a “talisman,” will adequately protect society from this “plague.”
With no vaccine coming anytime soon, if ever, are we as a society really ready to accept in-and-out lockdowns, forever-masking and all the negative societal and economic ramifications those things bring? If this were the literal plague, or smallpox, or another disease that wiped out significant chunks of the population, perhaps so. But simply put, this virus isn’t nearly as serious as we were led initially to belief. The average coronavirus age of death is higher than the average human lifespan and, even more telling, the virus poses no more risk to those under 65 than the flu. Here’s an idea, for starters. Instead of shuttering businesses and masking every man, woman, and child in America from here until God knows when, how about protecting nursing homes and giving the elderly and those with comorbidities the resources to wear a mask - if they wish - that actually protects them in places where they can’t social distance?
When asked whether you’re “loving your neighbor” by not wearing a mask, you should ask the questioner whether "loving your neighbor" involves continuing to encourage the ongoing yet completely unnecessary national panic and continuing to give credence to would-be tin-pot dictators who want to run our lives and wreck their economies to own Drumpf? Ask them what "loving your neighbor" has to do with pretending something works when it doesn't, or with giving them a useless security blanket to protect against something that, odds are, they won't get anyway and will easily survive if they do? How does “loving your neighbor” involve continuing to participate in what this entire coronavirus response has been - a sham?
Finally, ask them just how many "neighbor” lives have been destroyed by these draconian, overbearing lockdowns? It would be awesome if our overlords showed some love for them, but they're too busy doing power grabs and taking selfies with protest attendees.
Huge wall of text just to say pound sand Im not wearing a mask.
I have told a couple people, “You are not responsible for my health and I refuse to be responsible for yours.”
You are absolutely correct.
Yawn...
To be (a crash test dummy)
Or not to be (a crash test dummy)
That is the question.
Personally, (and I have not been tested) I would rather wait a few weeks and observe if there’s a spike in caseload... or not.
After a construction accident in early January I have been isolated and recovering from a multi-fracture with subsequent installation of pins, plates, and screws.
So sticking around the abode was easily accomplished. PT and OT 4 days per week, plus doing my PT and OT at home every waking hour to bring functionality back to a workable standard (thus avoiding another surgical procedure) is my new normal which takes away any initiative to satiate any lust for dining out and by doing so greatly, reduces contact with spoiled children who don’t give a rats arse about containment.
I wish you well.
Hope is not a method...
The question of masks is now irrelevant.
In suburban stores like Trader Joes it is 100% masks, but 1/3 in rural gorcery stores and 20% in Rural King. In one store the employee had it on but took it off each time she was talking to me. That's not a good test of the theory. We'll see if rural spread exceeds suburban. The jail out here was just hit even though they tested everyone going in, and there were lots of asymptomatic cases there just like the chicken plant. But the low hanging fruit is being used up out here in rural areas.
My best guess is the teenagers will have a few super spreading events and keep it going. But the chance of getting it from a quick exposure in a store is basically zero.
Bump
The only place I’ve worn mine in the last couple weeks was at church on Sunday.
We hadn’t seen our friends for months and they were required indoors. Part of the service was outside and no one wore masks nor did a whole lot of distancing.
Our state is in last place in the race to open. The sheeple dutifully mask up. I’m not a sheep.
I was on a bike trail Saturday and passed a guy struggling to breathe and ride his bike at the same time. Just stupid.
I did blow an interesting opportunity. In Walmart, I didn’t have a mask on. A very large racist who happened to be black started threatening me about my Trump hat. He was the only other guy in the store with no mask.
I should have reminded him what we had in common rather than our differences. We were the only ones who could think. But, I was kind of busy trying to extricate myself from getting pounded by this guy. Did I mention he was a lot bigger than me? A lot.
I have had a number of ‘disagreements’ with my Lib ‘friends’ on Facebook about the efficacy of wearing a mask. I was told I was ‘SHAMELESS’ for not wanting to protect others. I was tested and I am negative. Not one was happy to see that I would not be infecting others. So, since they couldn’t bully me about not wearing a mask, they dropped out of the thread. I am to the point where I don’t think Libs are at all happy if they cannot bully anyone.
Let, me rephrase that, Leftists aren’t happy people.......period.
Lib - Where’s your mask?
Me - Where’s your muzzle?
The mask fad appears to be waning -- as is the Chinese flu -- but as long as it continues this breathtakingly irrational fear of germs will continue to cause significant damage to our society and to our economic recovery, but it does serves the Democrat/Left's objective of thwarting Trump's re-election even as it damages our Republic and hurts, severely, so very many American families.
And containment efforts. i matter how draconian rose not work on a virus already widespread in the community. Enjoy your continued isolation and I will enjoy my freedom
I’m pointing the moral finger at hysterical people who want me to keep breathing stale air.
“And containment efforts. i matter how draconian rose not work on a virus already widespread in the community. Enjoy your continued isolation and I will enjoy my freedom”
So I take it you don’t wear seat belts either...
Safe sex now requires wearing a mask........awkward...
I wear seatbelts. they work. Masks do not
I live in a town with a lot of seniors, so I wear a mask at places like the local grocery store - just to be polite, since most of them do. Other places, no.
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