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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

No. I have no objection to wearing masks. I'm not kidding when I say I actually like them.

And no -- I don't want things to return to normal. Covid has been a home run in terms of time management, productivity, and economic gain. I've always positioned myself strangely, to capitalize on a sea change. I thought 2008 would be it. It wasn't. But Covid has delivered... and then some.

I'll happily wear a mask, all day, every day.

My objection is general. I don't like the stupid, the performative, or the divisive. If I enter a building and they only require me to wear a mask on the first floor, that's just stupid. Make me wear them on all floors or don't make me wear one. But don't be stupid. Stupid policies normalize stupidity among the credulous compelled to follow them. We can't afford more stupid in this country.

These policies also allow for performative behaviors that we need to eradicate from society. I never wore a mask outside - ever - because, well, unless you're on a crowded street (and there were few of those at the height of covid), that was just stupid. And yet I'd be tsk tsk'ed by some for not being vigilant. Sorry. If you're biking or jogging with a mask on, you're either not terribly literate regarding airborne pathogens, paranoid, or performing. If you're wearing a mask in your car while alone, you need to see a fucking therapist.

The desire to demonstrate that one "followed the science" became a way to telecast one's party, self-perceived status, etc. Vigilance displays. "I'm more careful than you! I'm the bestest person. Gold star for me."

This makes people both annoying and stupid. As annoying and stupid as your cousin in Nebraska who's still refusing the vaccine because four people in Denmark got myocarditis from it (he's "Doing his research with the Google").

This takes me to the last problem I have with dumb policies. They divide. The knuckle draggers decided to give the "libtards" the finger by refusing both vaccines and masks. This of course made an already awful situation worse. But one has to ask, why would people divide so severely that a sector of society would put its health at risk to demonstrate bona fides within a fringe political tribe? I don't know the answer. Low IQ is certainly part of it. Lack of scientific literacy is part of it. Maybe some of it is misinformation. But I think that explanation is overblown.

So I come back to my initial thesis. The cause of idiotic behavior at the political poles is in great part the actions of the opposing poles. The performative on one side fuel the performative on the other.

It's true hatred. And it can only be short circuited by smart, knowledgeable people in the middle ignoring such behavior. No attention for the performative. Not even mockery. You want to tell me why you don't need a mask or vaccine? Fuck off. You want to behave like a paranoid loon, all but wearing a hazmat suit, to show me how virtuous you are? Fuck off.

Hard to square this with the things you were saying a few days ago, but whatever.