OK, time for an unpopular what-about, even for my feed.
I still see, pretty frequently, these judgemental posts from the, what, 1% of the population that still wears N95s everywhere, and seems to think that, because they mask up, they must be the only people in the world still attached to reality and who care about other people.
It's straight up just a value signal, and it is divisive.
I hate to tell you, but covid-19 is endemic now. We have lost the war against the virus. Yes, it's because people didn't mask, but that was during a crucial period during which the virus could have been eradicated. That time has long since passed. People also were resistant against mask mandates during the Spanish Flu. The Spanish Flu also was not eradicated, and is still with us: We call it Influenza A, which I actually contracted the same month that covid-19 was identified. Were you masking up then? No? Well, you must not have cared about me. You must have been denying the reality of the Spanish Flu.
Are you planning on masking for the rest of your life, then? Should all of humanity forever mask because this one particular epidemic strikes you in a philanthropic fashion?
I'm not telling you to not mask. I'm saying stop using it as a judgement. The world is divided between the ruling class and the exploited classes, not maskers and non-maskers — and no, the 'privilege' of not masking does not overlap with exploitation.
