Weirdo levels of Calvinism is apparently still slinking among Americans. But I really thought that most people supposedly valued FREEDOM in America. Not so if you read the letters to the editor about the mask bans in Nassau County New York. There you find people with authoritarian mindsets who want a totalitarian surveillance state with no way to make a move without being watched and presenting papers.
One person wrote: “The idea is to cut down on crime by trying to foreclose anonymity.” and said that people should “get over it” if they feel “insulted or put out” for being asked: Papers, Please! by random authorities.
Another person suggested: “we should start taking pictures of people wearing masks and send them to the police.” Would this person be ok with rando strangers creeping around taking pictures of their family when they walk out in public? I bet not. This person also added, “Obviously, we shouldn’t try to make any arrests.” But not because that would be criminal vigilantism – But because they claim that people who wear masks might be criminals, and that the elderly could be “in costume” and actually dangerous.
This is bonkers level and really a form of incitement – suggesting people should fear elderly and disabled people, and other people who wear masks to avoid sickness. This sort of thoughtless fear mongering ignores the fact that disabled people already get assaulted for being disabled. This is not hyperbole since MAGA people like Ivan Raiklin are suggesting weird vigilantism by ex-military people who are resentful toward vaccines who expect to be deputized by local county officials in order to, he said, “conduct live streamed swatting raids of every single person that we can identify that conducted the necessary unlawful activity by county on my deep state target list”. And if history shows anything, when this kind of thing gets started, it can go further.
This is completely unAmerican and contrary to our societal values, or at least as I have heard them espoused my whole life. And it’s very obviously counter to any community care I’ve ever heard of.
Mask bans are part of the facism directly related to women not being allowed to have governance over our own bodies. Apparently there have always been these bizarre fringe elements lurking in the shadows in America, and the halls of Congress. But it’s dangerous to ignore it.
They can go back into the shadows. Me and my N95 should not have to.