I can't believe I'm saying this in 2021, but here's a CNN opinion piece I mostly agree with:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/22/polit...ter/index.html
It's about "hygiene theater" and "mask theater". You can stop reading when you get to the "climate theater" part, as that's about another topic, and is mostly fluff.
But it does raise points I've been making for almost a year now, regarding masking and obsessive cleaning/sanitizing. My points were as follows:
- Sanitizing is either useless or almost useless, when it comes to COVID (great for the flu, not for COVID).
- Masking probably has some moderate benefit, but not much outdoors, and it might actually be an overall net negative because it brings on a false sense of security, causing reckless behavior.
This article oddly makes the "false sense of security" point for the sanitizing, but not the masking. However, it concedes that outdoor masking is mostly for show, and should stop. It also admits that overly restrictive rules simply cause people to ignore everything, and do especially reckless things.
Another thing with the article with which I agree is their characterization of Americans' views of masking: Either masking is an oppression tactic and a violation of your rights, or it's a necessary thing to do all the time which indicates you're a responsible human being. If you don't agree with either of these, you get hate from both sides. This is where I am, and why I get routine criticism from both the right ("you're too afraid of COVID") and the left ("you're an anti-masker"). Positions on masking have become a status symbol, rather than something intelligently reasoned out.
I'm so sick of seeing mask-shaming pictures of poker rooms (usually in Texas), where masking is either absent or inconsistent. My response is, "Anyone unvaccinated in there is indeed engaging in dangerous behavior, but not for the reason you probably think. It's because they're indoors with a ton of people, not because those people aren't wearing masks."