The Great Mask War of 2020 - The Dumbest Fight in Today's Society

PHOTO: Today's Show

Welcome to the great war of 2020!

If you are wondering, it is not the war against the pandemic or another country. It is not even the war we should be fighting which is against racism and police brutality. No, the war we are fighting right now is The Great Irrelevant War, otherwise known as the War of Masks.

Yes folks, with the country tearing apart at the seams and millions of people teetering on the edge of financial collapse, we find ourselves at impasse over the presence of a small piece of fabric covering the oral and nasal cavities of the face. This is how far our society has fallen.

With the Covid-19 pandemic plagueing the country, many Governors have asked people to wear masks around people (along with social distancing) to help prevent the spread of the disease. Additionally, the Center for Disease Control has put out guidelines detailing what masks to be worn, how to wear them, and where to wear them as masks have been shown to help lighten the spread by containing respiratory droplets. As cases have seen a drastic uptick since states have begun reopening, some governors such as Governor Newsom of California have required all residents to wear them in public or face legal action. As masks (or other facial coverings) are readily available, seems like a simple order to follow, right?

Wrong!

As with any government action, people have gone batshit crazy. For many people, asking them to wear a mask is the equivalent of asking them to hand the government both legs and a right arm. Why you ask? Because the big bad government asked them to do it.

We have reached a point that anything the government does these days is seen as government control of the worst regard. Don't believe me? Check out the video of people in Palm Beach saying that the government has no right to "regulate breathing". One person goes as far as to insinuate that God didn't wear a mask when breathing life to Adam so why should we?

Are you just fucking with me people?

Why won't people just wear the masks? An excellent question. Some claim it stops them from breathing. Other people claim headaches (due to them re-breathing their own air). Finally, others claim they are just flat-out not wearing them because no one can tell them they have to. Sounds like a bunch of assholes, no? For one, most of the people complaining are the ones that have to wear them for maybe a shopping trip, as opposed to wearing them all day. If you wear them all day, yeah, your ears may ache or your face might get hot, but if you just aren't wearing one for a shopping trip, just shut up. Secondly, yes, I am sure you can easily find multiple "sources" claiming that re-breathing your own air is killing you. Newsflash: I have yet to see an actual doctor or even biologist be among those sources. Why? Because there is no evidence that breathing in to mask all day is harmful. Could you get a headache from the band? Maybe, but it certainly isn't from your own air.

Quite honestly, the whole mask debate is a farce. Think of it this way: if you wear a mask in public and it turns out there was no need, what was the downside? You were slightly inconvenienced? If you don't wear one and it turns out you spread it, what was the downside? You contributed to the spread of a virus that could be deadly to one of that person's relatives (or themselves). Does that give you comfort, or do you still genuinely not care because "ain't no government gonna tell me what I can't do"?

If you have a medical condition that genuinely prevents you from wearing a mask, that's fine. You know what? It is for the rest of society to protect you by doing our part. However, if you are simply not wearing one because you do not want to, take a long hard look in the mirror. Is your reason for wearing one justified? Probably not; you are simply doing it because you want to make a statement. We have reached a point in society that something as simple as protecting the health and welfare of your fellow citizens is a political statement. We have such disregard for others that something as simple as wearing protective gear that may inconvenience us is just too great of a burden to bear. Yes, that is all it comes down.

If you have no problems, just wear the damn mask. True, no one can tell you that you must wear it (unless it is the law). But, people can surely decide who they want to be around, and that is the burden you will have to bear. In the time of a pandemic, there is no such thing as too careful. So, don't be surprised when others avoid you just because you chose to "make a stand"; for my family and me, you can be sure of the people we just may not want to see right now.