Wearing a mask, during a pandemic that can help other Americans stay safer, seems to be just barely above doing nothing.....so I feel we should expect this from our citizens even though we are inherently selfish.
My beef, or concern, or whatever with this line of thinking is that wearing masks will always prevent the spread of disease and save lives. So should we expect it all the time, pandemic or no? Why is it selfish now when 120k-ish people in the US have died in the last 5 months or so, but not when 60k-ish die of the flu in the US in a similar time period? Where is the line between when it's selfish and when it's not? I had a similar conversation with a coworker this morning and she basically thought that we should all wear masks in public all the time permanently, which it me seems utterly ridiculous. I'm not saying we shouldn't wear masks now. It's certainly a fine thing to do for those around us. I just struggle with it being called selfish not to wear one now, but not at other times, when, again, it can always save lives. I think the vast majority of things we do are selfish, so "stop being selfish and wear a mask" is not a very convincing argument to me.
You raise some good points. And ultimately, it comes down to a risk/benefit analysis, which admittedly does make wherever we draw the line
somewhat arbitrary and subjective. And I get why that, in turn, makes it unpalatable for some people when others label the failure to comply as "selfish." I get it.
But here's the thing: The risk/benefit analysis is much different with the pandemic than with other diseases. This is, in fact, undisputedly, a pandemic. That isn't so of the common flu. And while the fatality rate has been only double the rate of a bad flu year, even if we say x2 of some of the worst flu years is acceptable, there are still some key differences. First, it is pretty much undisputed that the fatality numbers are what they are only because of the extreme measures taken to reduce the spread. Second, the infection rate is a lot higher than common flu. Third, severe respiratory and/or organ complications are much more common than with the common flu. These facts are all virtually undisputed in the medical community.
Granted, even with no protective measures taken, the odds of getting this are still very small. But they are a few magnitudes higher than the common flu, and even putting aside mortality rates, the chances of severe health complications are a few magnitudes higher. And by taking very simple measures (wearing a mask and/or social distancing in public, not touching one's face, and frequent, thorough handwashing), it is proven to reduce the infection rate by several magnitudes.
To oversimplify all of the above: We know that although the chances of getting it are fairly small, the potential consequences of getting it are much worse than most other common diseases, the infection rate is much higher, and simple things can drastically reduce the changes of spreading it. I could have it and not know it yet. If I get together with my friend, and I do NOT take these simple precautions, I increase his odds several times over of getting something that could pose a serious health risk, than if I did not take those precautions.
Several times over. As much as I try not to judge and label others' intentions, it is hard for me to not see that as unacceptably "selfish" given what we know.
Topic: Coronavirus (Read 435722 times)
