Saturday, August 01, 2020

Mask or No Mask...

This current crisis exposes all the flaws of our system & culture.  And you know, the flawed nature of being human.

Thinking optimistically, it is an opportunity for change, growth, evolution & progress.
Thinking pessimistically... hmmm... maybe not...

I guess we shall see.

This "mask thing" really highlights the weird nature of our human predicament. To wear a mask or not to wear a mask. It seems like a little thing. A safe thing. A logical, rational thing. But it is quite amazing and instructive to see how some folks really, really don't want to have to care about anyone else. They just don't want to be told to care, they just don't want to. So they just won't wear a damn mask. Nope. Not gonna do it. Funny. Weird.

The mask is symbolic. It's a way of saying, "Yes. I do care. About you, about me, about the health and safety of the human herd."  And the science, the data tells us that wearing a mask cuts down on transmission of the virus. One person wearing a mask helps a bit, two people wearing masks, helps even more, two people wearing masks and keeping their distance, really dramatically cuts down on transmission. Nothing mysterious about any of this, it's just basic common sense.

But...

There are some folks who really, really don't care about other folks. They just don't. And they don't want to feel guilty about it either. 

There are some folks who really don't care about anyone or anything except themselves.  And who knows, maybe their dirty little secret is that they don't really care about themselves either? That's psychology. Those maximally selfish ones? I mean, basically these are the dyed in the wool assholes amongst us. Maybe there are more of these than we ever realized? You these are some to the same folks who refuse to wear a seat-belt, or refuse to quit smoking, or who continue to drive drunk, who like to play with guns, who like to bully other people, and yeah, vote for toxic-clown, reality-tv idiots.

If you are not one of these folks it's a bit bewildering, eye-opening, surprising, confounding. Maybe pisses you off a bit too. WTF. Get it together people. We are all in this together, whether you want to believe it or not.  

Mask or no Mask. Says a lot depending on which way you decide to go on this issue...