That statement is: “I care about my fellow citizens.”
OTOH, not wearing a mask also makes a statement
That statement is: “I’m a self-centered idiot.”
The math is pretty simple. Suck it up for a few months and get the transmission rate below 1 (translation: brush fire vs. current raging inferno). Or go unmasked and rant about “personal liberty” while tens of thousands of people needlessly die.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has estimated that if there were 95% compliance with mask-wearing in the United States, there would be about 33,000 fewer deaths from COVID-19 between now and Oct. 1, 2020. To put this in perspective, in 2018 (the last year for which data are available), there were 16,214 homicides in the country. Between 2001 and 2019, there have been a little fewer than 2,500 active military personnel killed in Afghanistan. Both of these are tragic losses of life, yet both are dwarfed by the number of lives that could be saved in just three months with near-universal mask wearing.
If your moral compass is broken, here’s the “save the economy” capitalist argument for masks:
Wearing a mask doesn’t just save lives, it can also help people save money. If the United States were to mandate that all Americans wear masks, it would save the country from deleterious economic lockdowns that would reduce the gross domestic product by 5%, or about $1 trillion, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs.
And please spare me the “government overreach” argument. During World War II, all Americans had to make sacrifices to fight the enemy – food, gas, even clothing was rationed. We’re at war again, against an invisible enemy. Wearing a mask is patriotic, Bubba. It’s a minor, temporary inconvenience that saves lives AND saves jobs. So get one on your face and get over it.
“Good Lord, people, you have to wear a seatbelt. You have to have a driver’s license. You can’t drive while you’re drunk,” she said. “There are all sorts of rules and regulations that you have to follow every single day. This is not some infringement on anybody’s rights.”
Karen Keith, commissioner in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, in this NYT article
My buddy Craig called me a few weeks ago (he’s been very good about staying connected in the age of coronavirus) and we wound up chatting about a wide range of subjects. Somehow, the topic of the India-China border spat came up. (“Somehow” = I brought it up.)
In case you’re not up to date on silly international skirmishes (the list is rather long), apparently India and China have been bickering over a border for decades. Yes, decades. (1962 Sino-Indian War, to be specific.)
The disputed border has the Monty Python-esque name of “The Line of Actual Control.” Or maybe it sounds like something from the old Get Smart TV show.
It would be laughable… if it weren’t for the fact that people are still dying fighting over a patch of dirt. On June 15th, Chinese and Indian troops clashed at the border. More than 20 soldiers died.
soldiers wielded iron bars and threw rocks and punches on the steep, jagged terrain. Many of the deaths occurred when troops fell off mountain ridges
Will we ever get to a day when these border arguments end? You’d think that a pandemic would make us realize how interconnected we are. I keep thinking of the great lyrics of the song “Territories” from Rush:
In every place with a name They play the same territorial game Hiding behind the lines Sending up warning signs
The whole wide world An endless universe Yet we keep looking through The eyeglass in reverse Don’t feed the people But we feed the machines Can’t really feel What international means….
The final couplet really sticks with me:
Better the pride that resides In a citizen of the world Than the pride that divides When a colourful rag is unfurled
Craig sent me a text earlier this week with the line “you can sleep a little easier now” and this image:
Thank heavens they’re working toward “peace and tranquility.” But why has it been going on since 1962?
Maybe, eventually, both sides will realize that there is no Line of Actual Control (literally and figuratively). Much of life is complete chaos. Can’t we respond with kindness, instead of rocks and clubs?
Kevin Sullivan on Life advice from a man who lived it: “A good one Damian. Bring our lens into focus after the long weekend or our long life journey.” Jul 7, 09:38
You done said…