Throughout 2020, I complied with all mask mandates, out of respect for those who believed they were important. However, I sympathized with those who refused to wear a mask, because, like them, I was opposed to the mandates. Here are some of the reasons.
Masks aren’t effective
Based on my reading of pre-COVID-19 studies, it appears that there was general agreement among experts that wearing masks in public did little or nothing to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, as Dr. Fauci himself stated publicly. Then, shortly after the lockdowns began in the U.S., Dr. Fauci and some other experts reversed their opinion on this topic. This begs the question: What changed? I never saw or heard a substantive answer to that question. When I searched, I found a couple of studies that attempted to shore up this new doctrine, but they were weak at best. Utterly unpersuasive.
Since that time, there have been more studies and papers suggesting that masks are ineffective, including the Danmask study.
What I find most persuasive, however, is looking at the mask mandates on a timeline, plotted against the trajectory of COVID-19. It is true that correlation does not prove causation. On the other hand, where causation exists, correlation must also exist. And there is no correlation between mask mandates and the spread of COVID-19. There have been multiple instances of COVID-19 cases and deaths increasing dramatically after mask mandates were put in place. Moreover, there are multiple examples of places that have no mask mandate, yet have lower case and fatality rates than places with strict mask mandates. You can see some charts here, here, and here.
If public mask-wearing were effective, there would have to be a consistent pattern of case and fatality rates being lower when mask mandates were in place. That is simply not the case. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that public mask-wearing is not effective.
If masks were effective, mask mandates would be an even worse idea
The human immune system has done a wonderful job of enabling the race to survive innumerable attacks, including many respiratory viruses. It continually adapts to new threats as it encounters them. That means if it’s not exposed to a new virus, it can’t adapt to it. Therefore, if wearing a mask were effective at preventing exposure to COVID-19, that means it would also prevent our immune system from adapting to it.
Likewise, if masks prevent us from being exposed to other pathogens, then they also prevent our immune systems from developing resistance to those pathogens.
If masks were as effective as some would have us believe, then mask mandates would endanger our race by weakening our collective immune system.
Prolonged mask usage does harm, especially to children
With all of the nonstop talk about COVID-19, it’s easy to forget that there are countless other things that can make us sick and/or kill us, and we ought to take appropriate precautions against all of them, without becoming afraid to fully live our lives. Of course, the best thing we can do to protect ourselves from all kinds of illnesses and diseases is to live healthy lifestyles: eat wholesome food, sleep well, exercise regularly, perhaps take supplements as appropriate, and get plenty of sunshine and fresh air. Yes, we all know that fresh air is essential to good health. This is not news to anyone.
Not surprisingly, there is an abundance of evidence that prolonged mask wearing is detrimental to health, including one study that suggests it could exacerbate lung cancer.
Aside from the detrimental effects on physical health, there is also reason to believe that long-term mask wearing is bad for mental health, especially in children. There is ample evidence to suggest that the psychological damage to children may be permanent, as well documented in this article.
Mask are a symbol of our wrong-headed response
As Dr. Fauci himself said, masks are a symbol. Specifically, they symbolize endorsement of our overall reaction to this disease. However, many of us are convinced that the overall reaction has been misguided, harmful, and wrong. And it is immoral to force people to publicly endorse something that they believe is wrong.