Two thoughts regarding masks:
1) If masks work, why would anyone wearing care if I wasn’t? They’re protected, correct?
2) If masks work, why are inmates being let out of jail/prison early? Simply make them wear masks while incarcerated.
What's been said about masks (and at this point, I don't know if it's true or isn't) is that they reduce the risk of transmission in both directions. If you're infected (and possible not yet symptomatic or are asymptomatic), your coughing, sneezing, talking, and breathing generates respiratory droplets that carry the virus. Many of those droplets will get caught by the mask and the rest will be slowed down so they don't go as far out from you. This is their main function. As an uninfected person, it may have some effect in reducing the risk of transmission, but mainly it's for people who are infected (and may not realize it). Again, how much of this is true, especially now that they're saying it may be aerosolized, I don't know for certain.
"2) If masks work, why are inmates being let out of jail/prison early? Simply make them wear masks while incarcerated."
For the same reason you still wear a seat belt even though your car has airbags. The airbags "work", but only to reduce risk; not eliminate it entirely. Now, when it comes to masks, how much risk reduction you're getting is definitely up in the air. It seems to depend a lot on what kind of mask, how often it's being cleaned, how it's being worn, and lots of other factors.