Idiocy Unmasked

The baffling idea that wearing a mask is giving into tyranny and fear.

By
225

One of the things I love about America—and there are many—is her deeply ingrained rebelliousness. When the government tells us to do something, we instinctively question it. 

Of course, all principles can be taken too far. It’s good to question authority, but if a sign says, “Do not swim in pond, there are alligators here,” and your response is, “I’ll do what I want, you’re not the boss of me,” you’re an idiot.  

If you’re on a lifeboat with several other people and everyone agrees to ration the fresh water, but your answer is, “Shut up, I’m thirsty,” being the sole dissenter makes you the jerk, not the hero.

Which brings me to the newest form of fashionable rebellion in some quarters: refusal to wear face masks when warranted. 

Keep reading with a free account
Create a free Dispatch account to keep reading Get Started ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
225
By
Comments (225)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    Here's another good bit of data to inform the "economy versus safety" debate: regardless of what governors said, people *voluntarily* quarantined themselves *before* orders were given. This is what the daredevils don't get: you can "open" all you want, but people are mostly *not* stupid and are actually *afraid* of getting this thing. Opening up early has no upside if people stay afraid, and if the cases come back up because of the opening then guess what: people are going to be *more* afraid than ever before, meaning *prolonged* damage to the economy.

    Governors are making lousy bets here by opening too soon.

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-didnt-wait-for-their-governors-to-tell-them-to-stay-home-because-of-covid-19/

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Stephanie

    I want to say right away that I read every one of Jonah's pieces. I enjoy the humor, and I also think Jonah's rhetorical abilities are top notch. Very persuasive and articulate. (I also appreciate David French for the same reasons.) I'm glad that I joined, though I'm a centrist pro-choice Democrat--hopefully I won't be pigeonholed for saying that.

    With Jonah, there's always a loose thread to pull out, though, an idea I can disagree with. Maybe it's intended that way to provoke responses, though no 2 people are going to agree 100% on most things.

    I do feel that Trump and Pence and all the others should be wearing masks in their public and TV appearances. Other world leaders do. The fact that our own leaders don't carries an obvious message--that they don't take precautions seriously. I see it as part of the doublespeak--put Fauci and Birx up there to give one message, then tweet out "liberate Michigan" and "very fine people" messages out of the other side of your mouth.

    Those group photos of people clustered around Trump are especially egregious. They're jarring, in fact.

    I don't care if they get tested 3 times a day. The first positive test is going to make that argument look ridiculous, as a test will only show that it's too late to take precautions. And the tests have an unacceptably high false-positive rate. Also, close associates of both guys have now tested positive.

    Reminds me of when I was a health care provider to juvenile delinquents. They pass around a lot of STD's. Many of them shrugged off protection. Their excuse was that they could come to me and get tested and treated. As for HIV, they would religiously get their HIV test every 3 months (showing their knowledge of the window period for positivity, but not of their understanding of cause-and-effect). COVID-19 is not in the same category as HIV of course. But it represents what we're trying to prevent the spread of.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Stephanie

      Editing myself: the COVID 19 tests have an unacceptably high false NEGATIVE rate. In other words, if 100 people with the virus have the test, up to 30 of them will have a negative test.

      Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Logical

    It was all over with the LIBERATE tweets. Trump told his companions essentially that he was being held hostage by the deep state health goofs, and that don't trust any guidelines he issued because it was done under duress.

    Collapse
  4. B Johnson

    I am a senior, with autoimmune disorders. I wear seatbelts (beginning at the other end of the age spectrum) and do not text while driving. Why? To protect myself. Selfish? Not to me; for the benefit of my disabled sons and wife who depend on me. A big part of me, if alone in the world, would welcome a natural passing. Life is hard. The rewards are primarily in faith and family. Then there is the broader duty to serve others. Life is not about me.

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    We must also take into account how intrusive government is today. I grew up on a cattle ranch in western Montana, where now the same businesses have binders of regulations to adhere to. I believe part of this is driven by the sum total of this somewhat smothering environment. For Trump supporters, the Republican Party was little more than progressive light, who consistently failed them.
    In this current crisis, how often have regulations been the cause of real damage?

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    Related, here's a good link to have handy for any idiot who thinks getting the virus is no big deal since only about 5% of people die outright from it:

    https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms

    "A third study from China suggests this is not just for critically ill patients; its authors found that of 58 asymptomatic patients, 95 percent also had evidence of these ground-glass opacities in their lungs. "

    In summary, a *large* percentage of people who only have "mild illness" that doesn't require the ICU or even hospitalization get *permanent* damage to their bodies like lung scarring, heart damage, strokes, and so on.

    Rush Limbaugh's initial admonition to his listeners that, "this is the common cold, folks", is now showing itself to *catastrophic* in terms of people's perception of this disease. It's impossible that his words have not killed and maimed thousands of Americans. Right-wing conspiracy theories stopped being funny circa March of 2020...

    Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    Billehrich85

    My Christian faith tells me to love my neighbor. Wearing a mask around others is simply a form of caring about the well-being of someone other than myself. It's that simple. I don't think it's evil when people don't do it, but you're certainly not entitled to enter private property without one if the owner of said private property wishes to require the use of a mask. I'm not going to judge why people do or don't wear a mask. It makes me feel incredibly awkward to wear it, and many are just uncomfortable. I, like you, am simply tired of this being made into an argument about liberty. The Lockean way to look at the world is that government exists to protect your life, liberty and property. Last I checked, life comes first.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      As I said in my comment, we have millions of people who have learned a ten-year-old's concept of "liberty" as the principle of Liberty that our country was founded on...

      Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Picov Andropov

    Really enjoyed your article. I know I asked this before at the livestream but do you or any other writers at The Dispatch have any practical suggestions for engaging with people who believe conspiracy theories about coronavirus? What has been the most effective way, in your experience, to convince people who hold these extreme beliefs that they are not true?

    Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Saied

    Simple math. Virus is transported by small droplets that float in the air. For the sake of argument, let’s say masks are not very effective. They only stop 20% of the droplets from leaving an infected person and only 20% effective in passing through the mask of a heathy person. If both people wear masks, total effectiveness is 36%. If each mask is only 30% effective, the total effectiveness increases to 51%. Solutions employed in tandem don’t have to be effective individually to be effective in combination.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      And your viral load would be *way* higher from a droplet than from an aerosolized single virus...

      Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    rlritt

    Forget about wearing a mask to keep from killing grandma, why is it freedom to spread your germs. Occasionally, before Covid, I would see Asian people wearing masks. I thought they were germophobes. Then someone told that in some cultures its good manners to wear a mask if you have a cold or flu so you don't spread your germs. I like that. Being free and being thoughtful of others are not mutually exclusive.

    Collapse
Load More