Image: Pixabay

Member-only story

The Argument Against the Argument Against Facemasks

Resistance rooted in liberty clashes with the unalienable right of life

Robert Roy Britt
6 min readMay 18, 2020

--

Never has it occurred to me to question the ubiquitous “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” signs at restaurants. I mean, who wants to eat next to… well, you get the idea. In fact, no state has a law requiring shoes or shirts in dining establishments. It’s a regulation set by individual businesses that, according to some accounts, became more widespread during the hippie era. It’s since become a societal norm.

Now Americans are being asked to wear facemasks in crowded public places, for the greater good. About a dozen states are requiring it. There are, of course, vocal pockets of resistance. Yet the vast majority of Americans— 80% based on a recent survey — think masks make sense (whether they actually wear them is another question).

Graphic: Understanding Coronavirus in America Study, led by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research

As people begin heading back to work amid justifiable concerns of additional waves of infection, amid a lack of effective testing procedures and only limited abilities to trace and contact people who might have been exposed to the virus, facemasks will (or could) play a vital role in slowing or…

--

--

Robert Roy Britt
Robert Roy Britt

Written by Robert Roy Britt

Editor of Wise & Well on Medium + the Writer's Guide at writersguide.substack.com. Author of Make Sleep Your Superpower: amazon.com/dp/B0BJBYFQCB

Responses (5)