In the beginning, we could blame the WHO, the CDC, or whomever for the confusion regarding the wearing of masks. First it was not encouraged… then it was.
For some time though, the consensus from health authorities has been that the general public should follow several basic prevention practices. Among them: frequent hand-washing, social distancing, and the wearing of masks in public. Simple enough, right? Not quite.
The mask issue began innocently enough, as a guideline. A gentle prod… a friendly reminder. Then, as things heated up and the pandemic took hold of the nation, it became a mandate. Oops…
That change from guideline to mandate has prompted what I have decided to call the Mask-Wearing Civil War of 2020. It is not just that some people are ok with wearing masks and some aren’t. It is that there is a genuine aggressiveness and combativeness involved here.
The Mask-Wearing Civil War of 2020 rages on. There has been violence over the use of the masks. Businesses have actually closed due to threats and intimidation from patrons toward employees. Imagine the plight of one of these poor, minimum-wage employees, having to tell a customer that store rules require the wearing of a mask. Yikes!
The NOT wearing of masks has taken on the form of “you are not violating my rights” struggles. I call it the “Cold Dead Hands Syndrome”, in honor of the late Charlton Heston’s famous line at a 2000 NRA convention. Except in that case, it was a gun being clutched… and in this case it is a mask that is being “pushed away.”
As befitting our modern times, all sorts of supporting “artillery” is being rolled out in support of the anti-mask movement. From fake “Mask Exemption Cards” already debunked by the U.S. Justice Department, to even more fake “letters” supposedly from the CDC claiming that the use of masks is ineffective. This is a no-holds-barred, all-out civil war, which has brought out odd behavior in some people.
All the while, I can’t help thinking to myself how this is JUST ALL ABOUT A MASK. The government is not mandating that you give up your first-born as a precaution against the Coronavirus. Granted… there are people out there who honestly have existing health conditions that make their use of masks impractical and hazardous. But these are the exceptions rather than the rule.
Given the state of affairs, and combining this with the rebellious, “in-your-face” manner in which many are also ignoring social distancing pleas… it is small wonder that the United States has become the international laughing stock of COVID-19, even after having the benefit of seeing other countries struggle with the pandemic first.
It is a society where “You are not violating my rights!” trumps consideration of others, and working together toward a common good. Lest I forget, there is the Conspiracy Theory component at work throughout all this. The pandemic is an elaborate hoax… the numbers are inflated, if existent at all… and mandates for masks and the search for a vaccine are all part of a convoluted government plot to control people’s minds and implement some sort of totalitarian, socialistic stranglehold.
Me… I think it’s nothing that a little less Netflix and some serious therapy couldn’t fix.
Bottom line: This is one of those “pros” of living in Puerto Rico. Our culture, while combative in its own right (i.e. the Ricky Rosselló protests of 2019), is less prone to create an uproar of such magnitude over the directive to wear masks. I personally have been wearing masks in public for a while now, and plan to continue to do so. In the minds of some, that makes me a “sheep.” In my own mind, it makes me a considerate person toward my fellow human being.
there is a plot though. Pizzagate is real and there are actual pedofiles in hollywood & government. Blog klout chasers like you ignore the facts to feed the dumb majority, who would favor this article. understand, evil is real, and believing in covid-19, is allowing yourself to be distracted from the fact that the church and elite powers that be eat & rape children/babies. Your welcome if I ruined your childhood but you should grow up anyway. You also suck as a blogger and this article is worthless. next
My article seems to have struck a nerve, and I would guess it was the reference to conspiracy theorists, a group to which I presume you belong. Curiously, your angry rant has little to do with my article, which was mostly devoted to the current mask-wearing issues in the U.S.
Pedophiles exist in Hollywood and the government? That is hardly a news flash, and I’m sure many in the “dumb majority”, as you call them, are aware of it also. When you say I “ignore the facts to feed the dumb majority”, exactly what facts are those? That “evil is real”? I’m afraid that’s just another case of stating the incredibly obvious, and frankly just undermines your misdirected rant.
Apparently you do not “believe” in COVID-19, and that in itself speaks volumes. Conspiracy theorists have come up with some whoppers… but this one would certainly stand at the top of the heap. Imagine… all those thousands and thousands of actors playing out an elaborate, global hoax. Mind-boggling…
The rest of your comment frankly goes downhill from there, but does follow a pattern I’ve seen with angry conspiracy theorists. I should thank you though, for making me look up “blog clout chasers” and getting familiarized with another cute buzz phrase.
I should also thank you for reading this “worthless” article and taking the time to comment, as I welcome all comments to my blog regardless of their point of view.
The handling of this outbreak-then-pandemic by our leaders (WHO, China, CDC, USA etc…) has been a worldwide debacle.
Logic would dictate that when facing a common enemy like this virus humanity would band together in our efforts to eradicate it. Instead, we have leadership that are cavalierly turning a public health issue into a political one, and their constituents are following suit.
In the state of Florida we have a secretary of education that, at the behest of our president, mandates schools to be open five days a week beginning August 10th, leaving school districts with the looming threat that federal funding may be in jeopardy if they fail to follow the order. Our governor resists issuing a statewide mask wearing mandate and equates going to school to “shopping at Walmart”.
In our neighboring state of Georgia the governor is suing the mayor of Atlanta for defying his order to NOT mandate mask use.
Meanwhile, in the White House, we have a president that turns his press conferences into political rallies, poses for ridiculous pictures with Goya products that he’s probably never heard of or used in his life, all the while ignoring the raging pandemic that we have on our hands now.
After the initial mask wearing confusion caused by the CDC and WHO was cleared up and science began to clearly and unequivocally indicate that mask wearing stops the wildfire-like spread of this virus, it was his duty to urge the public to wear them. Instead, he vehemently resisted wearing a mask himself , setting that irresponsible example for his rabid fanatics.
Now, we find ourselves in this dire situation all because our leaders have failed us when we needed them most. Never has an election been more important. We need to educate ourselves and make sure that those people that we elect to lead us truly have our best interests at heart.
Thank you for your insightful comments, Angela. Indeed our leaders have utterly failed the people in delivering what has been needed most: true and effective leadership. As the saying goes, “the buck stops here,” and that places the ultimate responsibility squarely on the shoulders of our leaders.
I may be a bit harsher on part of the general population, though. The existence of this current President may have emboldened those with twisted mentalities to come out of the woodwork… but the fact remains that they were there in the first place. It is my belief that even the worst President cannot sway those with the maturity and common sense to see situations for what they really are.
What you describe in the states of Florida and Georgia is beyond belief. A governor SUING the mayor of its largest city! And for the reasons you describe. Boggles the mind. My heart goes out to you and all those with school-age children who are caught at the crossfire between these bumbling, political, corrupt, heartless minds.
You mentioned Trump’s (I’ll say his name) picture with Goya products, giving the two thumbs up. Let’s just say I had seen this on Facebook and actually did a FACT CHECK on the picture thinking maybe it was photoshopped, because at first I refused to believe it was real. Alas… it was. So now we have a President hawking products like a used car salesman, demeaning his office even more than it already has been.
Anti-mask warriors use and lean on the initial ambivalence by the WHO and CDC regarding masks as one of their weapons of choice. How unfortunate that a small (but loud) portion of humanity has gotten to this state of inhumanity. Again… much of the blame goes to the leaders who have failed MISERABLY during the time of most critical need. But the public does not get off scot-free. The first comment I received on this article is Exhibit A on the types of mentalities existing in society today… and explains the belligerence people have shown toward the simple directive to wear masks.
You mentioned the elections. Let us hope that people’s memory span is sufficiently long for them to remember all that has taken place not only during this pandemic, but certainly accentuated by it.
You are absolutely right in calling out the inconsiderate, and, let’s face it, downright stupid people that still refuse to wear a mask or even social distance given all the information we now have about the spread of this disease.
Interestingly, the founding fathers a lot of them love to bring up when invoking their “rights” were not particularly impressed by, as John Adams called them: “the vulgar, the herd, the rabble.” In his view people who choose to defy authority in “the pursuance of private prejudices and passions cannot be excused by any principle which can be entertained by a good citizen -a worthy member of society.” Now this was said during the turmoil of revolutionary times, but the sentiment remains the same. There are laws/directives/mandates that for the greater good need to be followed even if one doesn’t like or agree with them.
Some may counter that wearing a mask is not a “law”. In my opinion, therein lies the rub.
With all the currently available scientific data telling us that our best line of defense is to wear a mask then, why on earth hasn’t the federal government issued a mandate to that effect? Why leave it up to the individual states, cities, counties to do as they see fit? At the very least Trump could’ve lead by example and worn one himself from the beginning.
Now, it’s a case of too little too late. When leadership fails and the rabble (cough…cough… first comment) are left unchecked we all end up paying the price. In this instance that price couldn’t be any higher.
I feel bad for those who are paying the price, Angela. I feel bad for those unfortunate enough to live in places where defective (or nonexistent) leadership has affected the lives and livelihoods of entire populations. All we can do is hope and pray (those of us who pray) that wiser heads will prevail above the chaos, and that the pandemic runs its course without too much further damage.
You mentioned federal mandates versus leaving it all up to the individual states. To be fair, it would be unrealistic to compare the U.S. to other countries, based on the makeup of the country and its state governments. On the other hand, knowing the criticality of “getting it right” regarding the pandemic, it would have been vastly preferable to have federal mandates on issues like the wearing of masks. Leaving it up to individual states, in my mind, was the easy, lazy way out.
What we have is a bad combination. Defective (or nonexistent) leadership… combined with enough inconsiderate, twisted, selfish people… is a powder keg for this pandemic. Thanks again for your comments, Angela.