What the flap is wrong with some people? We are in the middle of a national emergency – hell, an INTERNATIONAL emergency – and some people simply will not adapt. I’m talking about all those who have a problem with mask mandates, as well as the anti-vaxxers.
People who refuse to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus are either ignorant, selfish, stupid or cowardly – and probably some combination of the four. One thing all of them are, regardless of their excuses, is unpatriotic. Whatever happened to taking one for the team? A society comprises individuals, and individual rights are important; however, your rights end where your neighbor’s nose begins. A society works – and can protect individual rights – only when everybody follows certain rules.
When anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers hide behind “my body my choice,” they are being self-centered in the extreme. Refusing to wear a mask and avoiding vaccination are not matters of individual rights or risk – all those who are unvaccinated without good reason and go about unprotected pose threats to all those around them. The infection and death rates in the USA would be a lot lower, and ICUs would not be crammed to the gills, if more of us had at least a lick of sense.
Not long after COVID-19 was recognized as a deadly pandemic, “liberation” groups began protesting lockdowns. They claimed that shelter-in-place orders violated their civil rights. Clearly they did not understand the difference between inconvenience and oppression. Individual freedom does not mean doing anything you want, and it does not give you the right to put other people’s lives in peril just because you are a crybaby or don’t like following orders. Just as the better part of valor is discretion, so the better part of freedom is responsibility for one’s actions. Dying stupidly because you didn’t take reasonable precautions to protect against a dangerous disease – especially if you infected others – is a far cry from dying heroically on some battlefield.
During the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, a group called the Anti-Mask League arose in San Francisco. They managed to get a city ordnance requiring mask-wearing in public rescinded. The result? Flu cases in the city nearly doubled over the next month, and flu deaths spiked. Kudos to Arnold Schwarzenegger for roasting anti-maskers with “No, screw your freedom, because with freedom comes obligation and responsibilities.” Way to go, Governator. Those who are unwilling to accept responsibility do not deserve freedom.
If we used our heads and listened to doctors and scientists, we wouldn’t need mask mandates, because everybody would be taking the proper precautions. How can anybody think that an ignoramus with a big mouth and a half-assed blog is more trustworthy than somebody who has had years of education and decades of experience in the medical field? People who actually care about their family, friends, co-workers, drinking buddies, indeed, all of humanity get the “jab,” practice social distancing, and wear masks even if they are fully vaccinated. If we truly want this pandemic to end as soon as possible, we all need to do our part.
Consider seat belts. People have perished in wrecks even while wearing them; however, you are much more likely to survive an accident if you have yours on. Just ask any police officer, EMT or emergency room doctor. Keep in mind that over 99% of those who have died from COVID-19 have been unvaccinated.
This pandemic is not over, and we may – no, will – have to deal with more variants. We will almost certainly need to get more shots. (As for those evil Bill Gates microchips, even the smallest chip is far too large to fit through a vaccination needle!) We may have to endure another round or two of lockdown. But we need to think of others. There is no reason to not wear a mask in public, and unless you have some medical condition that precludes vaccination there is no reason to not get inoculated. The best weapon to use against the coronavirus is common sense – which, unfortunately, is anything but common.
6 Responses to “SOUND OFF! 8/14/21 – Mask Madness”
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Freya, thanks for this and all your columns. Also, love the avatar. I absolutely DO NOT get these nut jobs;they sure are prolonging the pandemic. FreeDUMB. Good time to be retired and live where I like to social distance from ’em. Stay safe,all. P.S. How ’bout that reinstatement yesterday? LOL! Could NEVER make up this stuff.
Freya, you are such n asset to Politics Plus – I don’t even know how to begin to thank you for stepping uip. What you add is immeasurable Every article is a golden winner. (I might add I have the soul of a grammar/diction Nazi and I cannot express how it warms my heart to see “comprise” used the way it is supposed to be.)
These people are, frankly, delusional. And that delusion is rooted in anti-intellectualism, whiich has always been an American trait, sadly. Maybe it gripped the original settlers because, besides Puritans, we also got a lot of convicts (they were not sent exclusively to Australia until after the Revolution), and it appears that combination is a hellbrew of anti-intellectuals. I sispect privilege also has something to do with it. And, if you’re disposed to be anti-intellectual and then get systematically lied to by a bunch of grifting conmen and women, delusions get reinforced.
The systematic destruction of public education starting in the Reagan administration (not that it didn’t exist earlier) has not helped either.
The Bored Panda material is priceless, also.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Like you mention, our country is going thru a National Emergency, yet so many refuse to follow the medical guidelines.
Besides showing that they could care less about their own flipping health, they’re showing others that they don’t give a damn about others either.
I have to agree with SpyKat, that being retired, especially now is a true blessing. We’re not having to be out of our homes, going to jobs with others who may be against wearing masks or getting vaccinated.
I feel for the parents today, who have children going to school right now. Besides not being able to get the vaccines if they’re 12 or younger, we have parents fighting with the schools here in San Diego, saying they don’t want their children to be wearing masks. So the parents who do want it, are having to choose whether they’ll send them to class or just keep them home.
Really a shame that there’s people out there, who don’t want to see an end to this deadly crisis.
I pray that we can somehow get these fools to see the light.
Otherwise like you mention, there won’t be an end to this pandemic.
Thanks Freya
Thanks Freya. Arnie spoke out earlier in the pandemic, too-and I agreed then, too…even though when he first became governor after our last recall election he made some dumb mistakes, too, akin to these anti-maskers only he was willing to learn from his mistakes and only repeated others’ mistakes on occasion after that.When GOP stronghold Mississippi asks for a Navy hospital ship, you should know the problem is real–even if you only listen to GOP voices and a health officer by-passed the governor in FL to request ventilators from the federal stock…and TX governor is begging health professionals to come help their hospitals who are understaffed for the numbers they have as large areas of the state have no children’s ICU beds left–an ounce of analysis of facts should tell you the no mask commonality for those three states might not be what you should prefer to stay alive and keep your loved ones alive.
You probably know that English is my second language and despite having moved to a (sort of) English-speaking country, I’m still amazed by its riches and flexibility most days. But I can also see it lacking in certain areas and here it is a word that would describe the feeling or need to do the right thing by others, irrespective of country, race or creed. There is a word for it, i.e. social, but sadly this has gotten such bad press in America that it now almost means the opposite.
In Dutch, being social can have several positive meanings. You are social when you are part of a community, have a lot of friends and are easy to get along with; as in “socializing” in English. You are also social when you share or think of others. But most importantly you are social when you are aware of the role you play in society, you see others as equals and you are aware of the responsibilities you have towards society in general. In Dutch society it was understood that people are social; so much so that usually only the opposite, “anti-social”, was used to point out those who failed in that respect. It was used so often that it was shortened to “aso” for the anti-social behaviour and people who behaved like that were called “aso” (plural “asos”).
I’ve started using the past term here not because the word has disappeared but because, like all modern western societies, people have become more entitled and selfish and anti-vaxxing and mask-refusal are abounding in The Netherlands too. But the followers of these trends are a minority and still called “asos” because that is exactly what they are.
well said…..