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Life Without Masks

By October 6, 2020Commentary

Every now and then I feel a need to wax philosophical, which I should probably suppress.  To someone who grew up in the Pentagon Papers, Watergate era; government lying and deception shouldn’t be a surprise.  But I am a bit taken aback by the level of misinformation and outright mistruths perpetuated by most governments in this epidemic.   Readers know my perception of the science and data behind mask mandates.  But in addition to whether they make any difference in transmission, the impact on the people wearing and seeing people wear masks should be pondered.

We are told that wearing a mask communicates our concern for others.  Apparently no one in Sweden or several other countries has such a concern.  Kind of surprising given how philanthropic Swedes are.  Seeing people wearing masks creates a feeling of alienation, not closeness or unity.  We can’t perceive the expressions of others.  The mask is a message of fear and distrust.  Wearing a mask primarily communicates “don’t get close to me, I might infect you”.  It communicates a level of risk and danger that simply does not exist.  It is also an expression of compliance to governmental control, to abandonment of individual judgment and freedom.

But there is an impact on the wearer as well as the perceiver.  Wearing a mask is a humiliation at some level, it forces the wearer to feel manipulated and dictated to by government and social forces beyond his or her control.  It leads to depression, anxiety and anger.  It creates fear in the wearer.  We feel more isolated.  We feel the loss of all those small daily social interactions that can mean so much.  We cannot smile at others, or frown.  Communication disappears.

Life behind the mask is not a good life.  The sooner we abandon this useless practice, the better we will all feel.  Just go google pictures of current life in Sweden.

Join the discussion 12 Comments

  • James says:

    It does not seem like there is any plan to ‘end’ mask wearing in Minnesota. Increasing testing will keep us in perpetual panic mode. What is our ‘mask’ exit plan???

  • Mark McRae says:

    Kevin,

    You are absolutely spot on!

    I will say this though, if the science behind masks conclusively proved that they perform as intended, then I would most likely wear one — albeit reluctantly. Besides, if they actually worked, then they would only be necessary for a short period of time. I could live with that.

    However, as it stands now, not only does mask science prove wanting, the real world evidence strongly suggests that, in fact, masks don’t work at all. And I just don’t see and end to this pseudo-scientific mandate — ever! Ugh.

  • Chuck says:

    I have to think the first question asked by “Contact Tracers” to a newly infected case is their mask status. Is it assumed the only people getting infected are going without masks? Yet aren’t the masks supposed to protect others from an infected person spreading the virus? So then the spreaders are the ones not wearing masks? Which is it? And if “community spread” is from an unknown source then how would we know if masks help or not? Maybe a “reporter” could ask KrisE for some stats on infection rates by mask useage?

  • N.S. Palmer says:

    In mask mandates, alienation and humiliation are not bugs, they’re features.

    If you want to weaken and destroy a society, one way is to divide it. The obvious macro-level targets are race, sex, nationality, social status, religion, political party, and location of residence. Anyone who isn’t blind and stupid can see that those targets are under merciless attack, and have been for decades.

    Masks work at the micro level. They separate people from each other. Storm Troopers in “Star Wars” wear masks so that we don’t see their humanity: they are faceless. They might as well be soul-less robots. We don’t care what happens to them. We don’t feel their suffering. In fiction, that tactic of desensitization is relatively harmless. In real life, it is devastatingly harmful. It’s meant to be. And sadly, it’s working. Thank God for people like you who push back against the lies and the panic-mongering.

  • Mark W. says:

    Here in Minnesota I’m seeing more people either go without masks or just have them around their neck, myself included. Not a whole lot more people but definitely more than a month ago. If enough people do this the mandate will become irrelevant.

  • Mike Goergen says:

    Well said. Hopefully the next time the legislature meets they will vote to revoke the emergency powers. Last time the House vote was only three short and I understand that there are a lot of conversations going on to encourage just two more outstate members of the House to vote to revoke this next time.

  • Karen says:

    Thank you. Alongside all you’ve said, wearing a mask (covering your mouth) is a sign of slavery. Hmmmm🧐

  • Lee says:

    And being hard of hearing myself, on many mask wearers (not all), I find myself moving closer just to hear and understand what they are saying. So much for social distancing 🙂

  • South Carolina Fan says:

    Sleepy Joe Biden has talked of a national make mandate.

  • Ganderson says:

    Stopped at a Holiday station in Royalton, MN last night. The gal on duty was maskless. Made me happy

  • MMH says:

    I have been searching for the past 3 months for an adequate description of how mask wearing makes me feel. Kevin, you have captured it perfectly. Thank you.

    “Wearing a mask is a humiliation at some level, it forces the wearer to feel manipulated and dictated to by government and social forces beyond his or her control.”

    SWEDEN….OH SWEDEN!!!!

  • Ellen says:

    Maybe I already mentioned this, but my best childhood friend’s mom had been a teen in Nazi Germany. Seems the mask thing is like the Heil Hitler thing: many people were believers but maybe didn’t know how bad Hitler was and what he was up to; others were intimidated into saying it. Likewise, even before the mask mandate there was intimidation and fear. Who needs a study about masks, since so many employees feel ill from wearing the masks 8 and more hours a day? One employee told me she’d never had a sinus infection in her life before being made to wear the masks. In junior high we learned about respiration; this just makes not sense.

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