The new style.
Posted on 05/28/2020 8:36:24 AM PDT by Kaslin
Are facemasks a temporary way to fight a specific virus, or will they become part of our "new normal?"
“I don’t care about philosophy, just tell me how it ends.” That line is repeated on the final page of Len Jenkin’s play ‘Dark Ride.’ I’ve been thinking about Len, whom I had the great pleasure of working with a few times, a lot of late. His work always creates a world a bit out whack, dusty and dim, characters engaged in slow motion chaos. Today’s creepy streets of masked New Yorkers feel like a Len Jenkin play, and all anybody wants to know is how it ends.
When can we take off the masks? It’s a simple enough question. Three months ago pretty much nobody outside of recent Asian immigrants in urban Chinatowns donned the face protectors, but now they are ubiquitous. As with so many changes the Chinese virus has wrought on our lives, the emerging question is whether the changes are temporary and specific to this one threat, or if they will become permanent.
After all, even if the virus disappeared tomorrow through some force of magic, facemasks would still be an effective tool to slow the spread of other deadly diseases like the flu. If the philosophy is that changing our ways is worth it if it “saves one life,” then the end of this will be everyone wearing masks at baseball games and plays, in airplanes and shopping malls.
And mask wearing is, as its proponents point out, a small thing. Just like keeping six feet apart is a small thing, just like not attending church is a small thing, just like being contact traced is a small thing. But the thing about small things is that when you stack them up they can get pretty big. The “new normal” like a pointillist painting will be constructed of small dots that together create an entire vision of reality.
The whole coronavirus crisis has been a long exercise in cost benefit analysis. But as deaths decline and states reopen the crisis may be abating, but its social after-effects could be with us for a long time to come. Is there a metric that can be reached which would mean we could take off the masks? If so what is it? It is my very real fear that for many Americans the answer is no, and they will wear the mask until something other than a virus takes them to their graves.
This is a discussion that we need to be having. Because if we are to become a nation of faceless mask wearers it ought to be an active choice, not a jaundice we creep into by being peevish. We must be in control of the lifestyle changes that come from this experience, not controlled by it. Nor should we acquiesce to medical experts in making these decisions. They have a role to play, of course, but it is not dispositive, nor are they always right anyway.
In emergencies people and societies react fast, often in inefficient and ineffective ways. Life becomes about getting through the moment, not about creating a future. We are now two months into this unprecedented season of death and economic devastation. It is time to look forward.
For my part I reject the idea that the facemask should become a permanent mark of American life. I want to smile at people; I want to see facial expressions and a pretty woman’s lipstick. These are not minor aspects of life; they are deeply ingrained in the experience of being human.
The final line of ‘Dark Ride’ is delivered by a disembodied voice, Len loves a good disembodied voice, it says, “Those who wish to ride again stay in your seats. A man’ll be around to take your tickets. Those getting off, step lively. Exit to your left or your right.” I’m ready to step lively; unlike Len’s play this dark ride is no amusement.
Will we wear the masks forever? Will some of us? Will that mark some division in our society? Is that the mark we want to leave on the world? Do we want to explain to our kids that there used to be a world where faces abounded and fear was not the coin of the realm but we destroyed it? These are the questions we have to answer and we have to answer them now.
i dont wear one now
not planning to at this point
So, as another poster stated, we ate our own Antifa. WTH is the state doing to the citizens? Oh, causing us to play and work, if we are allowed to, by there rules.
No thank you.
Masks have become “Co-exist” bumper stickers for your face. Cheaper than a Prius, I guess....
The only place I have worn a mask so far is the barber shop when they first opened.
STRANGE———
I do NOT remember a single person diagnosed with HIV-AIDS ever being quarantined or having to wear a mask......NOT ONE.
I will wear a mask as long as the virus is circulating in my community. A preventative and/or a cure could change my mind. But the science has to be strong. And that means proven over time.
I don’t know how long that will be. We will see how it goes.
In Nevada- we have been told to wear one when going out of the house.
I live on a parcel that is 389’ X 630’. My house is more than 70’ from ANY of the perimeter fence lines or gates.
I refuse to wear a mask ‘when I leave the house.
Anyonw who has a problem with that can come & try & ‘educate’ me themselves.
That is....IF they can get past the gates that all have NO TRESPASSING signs on them.
Fauci & Brix & Bill Gates are pressing their luck.
The masks are all about power & control. Check out the corruption that goes with the masks via Dictator Newsom of the sewer of CA.
Exclusive: Gov. Newsom’s BYD Mask Deal Profitable for Insider Dealmakers
Lobbyists don’t report procurement contracts, and gov officials stonewalling on public information
The new style.
They say that in New York too, but I don't believe it's enforceable.
Your plan breaks down if you have your cell phone anywhere near you.
Globalism brings disease as well as goods. It happened with the Silk Road with 300 years of the Black Death, it will happen anytime you have the unimpeded flow of people. A smarter globalism will have to replace the stupid variety we have now.
Any disease that crops up in any part of the world can be here in 18 hours. Maybe we need to bring back the 40 day quarantines and apply them to people and goods. Otherwise we will end up like the South East Asian people who customarily wear masks.
If you are in a vulnerable population or aren’t up on your D, C and zinc, that may not be a bad way to go.
Condoms would be more appropriate for that,
What am I missing?
We know who is vulnerable. Those people need to protect themselves. Their doctors and family must step up - HCQ, isolation, whatever. The rest of us - can we live our lives, please?
Wearing a mask is unhealthy!
Now, the lawbreakers are those without the masks.
I have only worn a mask once since this hullabaloo started. Last week, at my oncologist’s office. They made me put it on outside before they let me come in for my six-month. I think I’d go starkers having to wear one all day.
Really?
You might keep wearing a mask even with a preventative and/or cure?
Why stop with a mask?
Why not a full-body biohazard suit?
Just to be sure.
The introvert’s wet dream...
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