The Weird Logic of COVID-19 Panic
20th April 2022
The Other McCain is not afraid to ask the not-so-hard questions.
Start with a simple question: Does wearing a mask protect you from COVID-19?
If the answer is “yes,” and you are protected by your mask, then why does it matter whether or not other people are also wearing masks? If you think other people must also be compelled to wear masks — because their mask protects you from their germs, supposedly — then doesn’t that imply that your mask is ineffective? But if your mask isn’t working to protect you, then why do you think their mask is necessary, since you apparently don’t think masks really provide a barrier to germs?We could have a long discussion about the efficacy of masks — do they reduce the spread of airborne viruses by 10% or 20% or whatever? — but the real bottom line is that people who act as if masks will protect them from COVID-19 don’t really seem to believe masks work that way, or else they would be content to protect themselves and not worry about whether other people are also wearing masks. And we could say much the same thing about COVID-19 vaccine mandates: If you think the vaccine will protect you, why does it matter whether other people are also vaccinated?
The fundamental fact is that masks and vaccines don’t work very well, the COVIDians know they don’t work very well, but they have nothing but PANIC to fall back on. Security theater is not a monopoly of the TSA.