I've said above that I'm on board with masks, especially inside businesses and workplaces. But there's a psychology at play here that shouldn't be ignored. People who trusted the media, the government, and the public health authorities were told, in roughly chronological order:
- Don't wear masks.
- This is no worse than the flu.
- This is WAY worse than the flu.
- New York City must lock down completely because the hospitals will be overwhelmed. Upstate New York must also, because New York City.
- Detroit must lock down because the hospitals will be overwhelmed. The upper peninsula of Michigan, which has many counties which have yet to see a single case, must also lock down. Your business, restaurant, barbershop, beach, and park must close. Do you care about money or lives?
- Everywhere must lock down! New York City is Portland is Topeka is rural South Dakota. Anyone who disagrees is murdering their neighbors.
- Florida was murdering people when they opened their beaches. See you in two weeks.
- Georgia was engaging in an "experiment in human sacrifice" when they allowed restaurants and barbershops to reopen.
- Wisconsin was murdering people when 43k people voted in an election in April. Just wait two weeks!
- Missouri was murdering people when it allowed a pool party in the Ozarks. Something about two weeks.
- Eleven people at a funeral is murder.
- 10,000 people at a protest march is not only OK, it is encouraged. Openly cheered on and even joined by the media and the same public health authorities and elected officials who told us eleven people can't go to a funeral because it's too dangerous.
- Kids can't play at playgrounds, murder. School is not essential.
- A *different* type of political gathering, for the wrong guy, is murder. We're still in that two-week window for this one, so let's see.
- It was never about hospitals being overwhelmed. It was about keeping everyone safe. Stay home, stay safe - the motto and the mandate. What curve?
- Everyone should wear masks.
...
- Wait, there's pushback on the masks? Why don't they trust us?