Mask mandates are a yellow star..
It’s all about a visible sign of submission. We all know that masks don’t work to prevent the spread of a virus, that vaccinated, “already had it,” and non-symptomatic people are not giving it to anybody anyway, that it doesn’t affect children, and that the mask is simply a sign that you are doing what the government tells you, no matter how irrational.
If the government told these people that henceforth they could never let their feet touch the ground, they’d be dragging themselves along on the ground by their elbows. But masks are easier.