I’m becoming concerned that this pervasive mask culture is becoming an accepted norm. We have ads for masks and face shields , TV ads for other products showing masked people, ads exhorting people to wear masks etc. This is September now, we should be thinking about ending it but people are acting like this is permanent. Big Mask! I fear not enough people are as angry as I am about it. I have not accepted the face burqa as a normal part of life but I can’t foresee anyone saying enough is enough now , it’s over, go back to normal life. People’s sheepish acceptance is disheartening. Today I saw a healthy 37 year old man come outside to get in a car wearing a mask and blue gloves! Does anyone have any idea how this madness might possibly come to an end?
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7 replies on “Masks forever?”
I’m seeing resistance happening even in California. So you have to wear a mask as you cross the threshold of a burger joint. Order through the mask, walk out, sit down at the outdoor seating area, take mask off and start sipping your drink. No one say boo about that. Between sips, NO ONE is replacing their masks. Masks stay off while eating. Masks stay off when getting up and walking to your car.
Last weekend, the state of California CLOSED the beaches. Closed. No going to the beach on labor day weekend. Caution tape across the breaks in the wall entrances, do not enter signs…..I should have taken a photo. Our little town, there were at least a thousand people on the little beach. Ignoring the state demands. Not enough law enforcement officers, not enough pages in a citation book, to begin ticketing anyone. So, people just walked under the caution tape and said f’this. Family units did stay together, and groups did stay at least 6′ apart. People were not being stupid about it, but they did disobey state orders.
Resistance to unrealistic demands is happening at least in hyper liberal Santa Cruz, CA, and at the same time, us common folk are still being realistic about donning a mask when we enter a store which requires it, and particularly when we’d be unable to distance ourselves from the elderly.
It’s breaking down, and it’s coming from the people, not from the politicians.
The only way this will end without government giving up its power (and how often does that happen), is with mass resistance. One person takes their mas off in a store which says to 3 others, “Hey, you know what I’ll do the same.” Soon enough, the toothpaste is out of the tube and the powers that bee realize that they can’t enforce the law any more. Hey, it worked 100 years ago with Prohibition and that was a Constitutional Amendment. And of course that was easier because, well, people wanted to drink. The question will be, do Americans still have that independent spirit? I live in a purple area (Spokane) inside a red area (Eastern Washington) of a deep blue state. Masks around here are officially required by stores, but I don’t really see any consequences to people for not using them. I think they’re more corporate policies and the stores put up the “no mask no service” signs because they feel they have to, but they have no desire or ability to enforce them, especially with retail needing all the business it can get right now. Last weekend I drove across the border into deep red Idaho to a Costco and still – masks almost everywhere even though there was no state or local requirement there. My hope is that enough people will break out of this sheep mentality as to render these draconian laws and the Karens who support them, all but meaningless.
Well, there’s money to be acquired (not made, that would mean creating actual value, an honorable thing) in the mask business. Someone is always ready to jump on a bandwagon for a quick buck. Remember fidget spinners? Pet rocks? Tulips?
You’re right, though. Far too many people are tossing their freedom away without a thought. I wear a mask when a place I go to asks me to (because I respect property owners’ right to set the terms for the use of their property). Otherwise I don’t. If Pennsylvania or the feds declare masks mandatory at all times, I’ll pay my fine or go to jail after I challenge the hell out of the gubmint’s authority to do that.
I’m just as angry as you are. Again, you’re right – not enough people are.
My hope is that will change in time. A few months ago I was watching the Ken Burns 3-part documentary on Prohibition. One of the themes is that it was widely accepted at first, but people began to see inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the law itself, and it made lives worse for many in the form of organized crime. Does any of this seem familiar? The only way out of this, I’m afraid, is mass resistance. A law is only as good as it is enforceable. If we get a vaccine (give it 2-3 months for herd immunity) and there’s STILL no end in sight, I have faith in the American people that they’re going to resist. Prohibition ended because as it proved unenforceable, calls were made to loosen the laws, but the “dries” wouldn’t give an inch and their stubbornness was its downfall. So if we can go from 13 years of a Constitutional Amendment to freedom, surely we can go from 4 months of government emergency orders. And I think you should start seeing lawsuits challenging these laws. At the end of the day, they’re little more than executive orders. They can scare us into submission by threatening $1,000 fines and 90-days in jail, but I think deep down they know that if we call their bluff and take the masks off en masse, and say screw it we’re opening our businesses, there’s ultimately nothing they can do to stop it.
Every one of these executive orders or whatever they are called in each state is illegal. None of them can pass constitutional muster. Add that to a massive eff you by We the People and they will not stand.
I do worry, though, that too many people have been indoctrinated by the so-called “education system” over the past 40 years (at least) to even understand the problem, let alone act on that understanding. My son, 37, believes to this day that the only alternatives are “stay home or die gasping.” People from about age 45 on down are nearly all idiots. Not just about the virus but about everything. They know nothing and have no idea how to use knowledge if they somehow get it.
We might win this election and stem the tide of stupidity for a few years, but eventually those morons are going to outnumber us and the country will go down. I fear for my grandchildren.
It will start with each of us saying f this I’m not going to do this any more. I might half-assed wear the mask as I enter the grocery store but as I see one or two people “disobeying” I’ll take mine off to show solidarity. I think around here the stores require them because they have to by law but they have no interest in bothering customers about it because they know they need the business. But I think even most of the people who do wear masks really don’t want to but do so because of social pressure. Once that steam is let off, more and more people will follow suit until the authorities realize that a law is only as good as its ability to be enforced.
You are correct, but it will take more than one or two of us not following the mandate and the way to make that happen is to be a leader. I’ll usually have my mask on my chin when I walk through the door as I don’t want to bother the ‘door monitor/people counter’ as they are paid minimum wage and at least working for a living. After that it goes in my pocket, head nods and solid eye contact between others not masked up are common as we confirm to each other that we’re not sheepel like the masses. It’s a slow process but it’s growing.