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OK, since there is an abundance of COVID 19 and mask wearing threads; I'll be very clear about the purpose of this thread. To moderators, let me know if this particular topic has been addressed already.
The question here concerns the legal aspect of mandating masks. The primary concern is: When the pandemic ends, next month or next decade, will the rules about wearing masks ever be rescinded?
Think of every law, rule, policy, and ordinance that has been enacted in response to a threat. Be it war, disease, or corruption; and ask yourself: Has any of these ever been repealed or rescinded after the threat had ended?
It seems once a politician has enacted new policy. It just gets forgotten, forever to be left in place under threat of criminal action.
Thoughts?
I am not going to think of every law, rule, policy, or ordinance.
I agree that some laws that were meant to be temporary, were never voided afterwards.
However, the mask requirement, I do not believe will stay forever. To me, that is a doomsday mentality.
I won't go into details on what has been rescinded. In some cases, they have. Others have stayed in the books because people did not bother with them anymore, but are not enforced anymore. And, live goes on as if they do not exist.
It's pretty simple. Wearing a mask may prevent the spread of the virus, and therefore I wear a mask just like I also wash my hands when I use a public restroom, or I avoid eating food that is beyond the expiration date, or I don't go into work if I have a bad cold, or I don't send my kids to school if they have colds, or I wash my vegetables, or I wear a seatbelt, or I tie my shoes before descending stairs, or I wipe down the kitchen table after cutting up a chicken, or I clean the toilet, or I brush my teeth, or a million other simple little tasks that may keep me healthier along with those around me. Not wearing a mask is like walking around with your pants down having not wiped your butt. Don't do it.
The premise is ridiculous. Many laws that were created in times of crisis have been rescinded. During WWII we had gasoline and food rationing. All gone. Blackout rules at night are all gone. During the so-called Spanish Flu epidemic there were mask mandates that then disappeared once the threat was gone. All sorts of regs around flight security have been changed or cancelled since 9/11 happened. Remember when you couldn't carry any scissors or tools onto planes, no matter how small? Gone. How about cellphone use on a plane? Used to be totally prohibited. Not anymore.
I see a future where masks are not required but still a choice chosen by many.
No one likes being told what to do and that is part of the reason why covid19 is lingering longer here in America than it has in other countries. That is Americans for ya and it doesn't matter who is in charge.
No responsible person expects US citizens to routinely wear masks forever.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, a once in a lifetime event that threatens us with an illness that no one has immunity for, and for which there is no vaccination or effective treatment. Wearing masks and distancing allows us to continue living with a semblance of normality. We already know of examples of non mask wearing super spreaders. It should be obvious that masking and distancing gives us the some protection.
We are wearing masks because we want this semblance of normality. Where masks are not being worn, the virus is spiking, which could force a quarantine if infections reach crisis levels.
Masking has become a sign of political beliefs, when it really is a nothing more than a measure that we take that allows us to function with a semblance of normality. We can function this way, because wearing masks and distancing does grant some protection.
To an extent, we already apply this principle In an unincorporated township, my not mowing my lawn, potentially hurts the property values of my neighbors’ houses. Yet I am not compelled to mow my lawn. To an extent, I am able to hurl insults and invectives against others, without criminal or civil penalty. And so on. There is an understanding, that intentional causing of serious harm, is a punishable offense. But there’s a gray area, is there not? That is, I may behave curtly, roughly, indecorously, callously, and the like – to a point – and yet remain entirely in my rights, to do so.
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I give conspiracies short shrift, and regard terms such as "deep state" or "globalism" to be puerile insults without cause or substance. Even so, the nature of regulation is inexorably such, that as time goes on, more is added, and rarely is the case, that any old or seemingly obsolete regulation is removed. We refine and redefine, but rarely do we simplify, or alleviate a burden. This is not because evil manipulators oppress us with malevolent intent, but simply because, it is human nature to accumulate more rules and impositions, as some sort of quest for refinement and sophistication. The society that adds more laws and criminalizes more things and institutes more and more granular demands, is deemed to be making progress, ever onward from a rude barbarism towards an enlightened harnessing of nature itself. Who could resist? Who could even want to?
I understand what you're saying, and I won't say that you don't have a point.
When I became the principal of my school, I wanted to broaden the decision making process to include teachers. Well, that didn't go well. There was always an attempt to broaden the rules and regulations for students to the point of codifying every possible infraction. For example, they wanted a rule that if a student chewed gum that he/she would be suspended out of school for 3 days...despite the fact that a third of the faculty admitted they chewed gum in school.
There is a tendency for people to want to codify things. But part of the reason for that is that we have a degree of selfishness in this country that -- in my view -- is unprecedented in our history. I don't remember another time in my 71 years when there is more of an attitude of "I wanna do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it". There was a time -- admittedly not always perfect -- when people did things for the "good of society". And that meant, for the good of other people. It didn't always work well, but overall it was better than what we have today.
Living in Arizona, we just went from a high of over 5,000 new Covid cases in a day, back down to around 1,5000 new cases a day when mask requirements went back into effect and bars were closed (along with a few other things). If I can save a few people from getting terribly ill by not publicly drinking, I'll do it. If I can save a few more -- including myself -- by wearing a mask, I'll do it. Unfortunately, the whiners can't do what's right because they have their rights.
No responsible person expects US citizens to routinely wear masks forever.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, a once in a lifetime event that threatens us with an illness that no one has immunity for, and for which there is no vaccination or effective treatment. Wearing masks and distancing allows us to continue living with a semblance of normality. We already know of examples of non mask wearing super spreaders. It should be obvious that masking and distancing gives us the some protection.
We are wearing masks because we want this semblance of normality. Where masks are not being worn, the virus is spiking, which could force a quarantine if infections reach crisis levels.
Masking has become a sign of political beliefs, when it really is a nothing more than a measure that we take that allows us to function with a semblance of normality. We can function this way, because wearing masks and distancing does grant some protection.
Get used to the masks. They're already talking about many cases of 'normal' flu they might stop. I fully expect this is the new normal.
... we have a degree of selfishness in this country that -- in my view -- is unprecedented in our history. I don't remember another time in my 71 years when there is more of an attitude of "I wanna do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it". There was a time -- admittedly not always perfect -- when people did things for the "good of society". And that meant, for the good of other people. It didn't always work well, but overall it was better than what we have today. ...
While I don't have the benefit of your lifespan, what you say rings true. And yet, is it flagrantly idiotic to wonder: is this sort of selfishness necessarily an evil and a perversion to be expunged - or on the contrary, a normalcy to which, after so many centuries of civilization, we are slowly returning?
To me, the matter comes down to this. When I am weak, I desire succor and support, charity and good will. When I am strong, I resent these things as unjustified impositions. Sometimes I am strong, and other times I am weak. It is of course hypocrisy to wish for both... to be helped when weak, but to refuse helping others, when strong. Well then, is there a symmetry in such things, a give-and-take, which comprehensively we call Civilization?
Perhaps. But here's the thing. What of those who are strong, of whom help is asked, who - upon becoming in turn weak, receive no such help? If I can not file for unemployment upon losing my job, would I not resent paying unemployment-taxes? If I'll likely to die before reaching Social Security eligibility-age, would I not resent the FICA tax? And so forth.
Our social-compact unravels when enough of us suspect that the symmetry has been broken. When strong, we pay. When suddenly finding ourselves to be weak, we do not receive. Some of us are saints. Most are not. The non-saints are liable to say, after muttering some choice expletives: "I feel cheated. I feel no gain from being a good citizen when so asked, and no assistance when finding myself needy and vulnerable. Why then bother? I'm just getting fleeced! And you know what? I feel no responsibility for my neighbor. None. He still hasn't returned my lawnmower. So if he gets the virus, and dies, because I wasn't wearing a mask, then [expletive] him. He had it coming anyway".
All sorts of regs around flight security have been changed or cancelled since 9/11 happened. Remember when you couldn't carry any scissors or tools onto planes, no matter how small? Gone. How about cellphone use on a plane? Used to be totally prohibited. Not anymore.
Get used to the masks. They're already talking about many cases of 'normal' flu they might stop. I fully expect this is the new normal.
I doubt wearing masks will become a permanent norm. We might be inclined to wear a mask in future during flu season, especially if we are vulnerable, I suppose. I do think we will be wearing masks for longer than we wish we had to. I think we will continue into next year. But this will not go on forever.
I doubt wearing masks will become a permanent norm. We might be inclined to wear a mask in future during flu season, especially if we are vulnerable, I suppose. I do think we will be wearing masks for longer than we wish we had to. I think we will continue into next year. But this will not go on forever.
As much as we hope this is over, it might be with us in some shape / fashion for a long long time. Masks are probably going to be the norm for quite a while.
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