The politicization of masks was an interesting thing, at least in my bubble. Initially when the CDC and the WHO were telling people not to wear masks, my very left-leaning friends and acquaintances were anti-mask and my right-leaning friends were very pro-mask. But once the CDC and WHO came around that (obviously) masks were effective, the positions nearly reversed (my right leaning friends didn't become anti mask per se, but they became very sympathetic toward those on the right who were anti-mask).
Every partisan affair is a tragedy, but this one felt particularly sad. The right had an opportunity to be correct and vindicated and they spurned it. The left initially took the anti-science position (I'm assuming there's no scientific defense for "in the absence of knowledge about a respiratory virus, we should default to masklessness"--and to be clear, none of my left-wing friends were arguing that we should forego masks to save them for healthcare workers), but only came around to masks when it became politically convenient (which is marginally better than the other way around).
Anyway, here's to hoping we can overcome COVID and partisanship in short order.
Every partisan affair is a tragedy, but this one felt particularly sad. The right had an opportunity to be correct and vindicated and they spurned it. The left initially took the anti-science position (I'm assuming there's no scientific defense for "in the absence of knowledge about a respiratory virus, we should default to masklessness"--and to be clear, none of my left-wing friends were arguing that we should forego masks to save them for healthcare workers), but only came around to masks when it became politically convenient (which is marginally better than the other way around).
Anyway, here's to hoping we can overcome COVID and partisanship in short order.