Okay, so this is something that has been on my mind for a long time due to recent events. Many states have started to require masks for all people over a certain age, and if the states have not then many different counties inside those states have. I think that we can agree there is major misinformation going on around the nation right now…from doctors, media, and political officials. We need to all step back for just a moment and examine what exactly these masks stand for. Are they there for the safety of the citizens, or are they there as some kind of over-reaching power grab by the government? These are questions we each have to ask ourselves and come to our own conclusions.
Let’s get to my personal opinions. The requiring of masks is an inappropriate action for the government to take. I believe it is wrong, and frankly illegal, for our government to force its citizens to wear masks. The misinformation has legitimately scared a few people (and a small percentage of them SHOULD be scared) but it has fooled many. These news sources have created an emotional response that is a form of mind control. Do we truly believe that the needs of the minority should impact the freedoms of the majority? Let me dig deeper into my personal opinions.
“The requiring of masks is an inappropriate action for the government to take.”
Austin
Thanks to Brian McGowan for sharing their work on Unsplash.
First, let’s get entirely political. There seems to be a strong divide between the two main political parties…the Republicans and the Democrats. How do they divide? If you have to ask that, then you are not paying attention. Many Republicans believe that Covid-19 is an overblown sickness that does not need the amount of fear that many people are experiencing whereas many Democrats believe that this situation has been largely mishandled by President Trump and is as large (or larger) as the media tries to make us believe. No one can be sure of which side is right, and please notice that for both I did not say “all.” That emphasis is important for everyone to notice…not all Democrats believe like the others and not all Republicans believe like the others. However, both sides are using this to push their own agenda. The Democrats have used the relief packages to fund their own pet projects such as Planned Parenthood and the Kennedy Center. Things that are totally disconnected from the Coronavirus and are 100% just Democrat projects. Republicans are using this to further the divide and pull a few of the middle-road Democrats over to their camp and are trying to limit the amount of government overreach.
Now, let’s get more to my own personal thoughts about everything. These masks show that the government can overextend their reach at any time, in the name of safety. We have set that precedent up and you better believe that the government is going to use that loophole as much as they can. This will not be the last ‘disease’ that will happen in America where the government feels the strong desire to reach into American citizen’s freedoms and take a few of them away. This will be a recurring process and we better get used to it…unless we are willing to stand against the mob that is sure to try and cut us down.
I do not believe for a second that after coronavirus (that is if we will ever see the official end of this) we will see the end of masks. I kind of hinted at this above by saying that we will see this overreach again at anytime. It is likely that anytime there is any kind of disease outbreak (even during the flu season) that we will be required to wear masks and to close down different businesses. This will happen again, get used to it. Don’t assume that the only reason that things have taken the route that they have is because Covid is some kind of super-infectious, dangerous disease. It’s been proven over and over that it is not something we must fear to the extent that we do now.
I truly believe that this government overreach, in 2-3 years, will not be considered ‘overreach.’ It will be normal and I would guess that these so-called ‘conservative’ news sources (Fox News…I see you.) will no longer consider this as an ‘overreach.’ It will just be the helpful government jumping in to save the poor Americans.
This is all I will write on this subject for the time being, but believe me, I have plenty of thoughts to share in later writings.
This post was written by Austin, co-host of Seriously Political.
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