Wear a Mask or Go to Jail

California, 1918, the Spanish Flu.

Angry mobs protested against mask ordinances, claiming it violated their rights, despite the advice of public health officials. The second wave of the pandemic came, unnecessarily killing thousands more.

It seems we are repeating history. Many of our leaders are either idiots, unable to comprehend basic science or listen to the experts, or craven ideologues who put profits before human lives, or both.

I wonder if and when citizens like the ones above will band together to demand action, in the face of much louder, heavily armed insurrectionists, this time around weaponized by know-nothing pronouncements from the centers of American power.

It might happen. There are more people right now, at the height of Coronavirus, in favor of not lifting quarantines today than the reverse, despite economic hard times. We know that sensible people are in the majority, due to polling.

Wear a mask. Keep your distance. You won't get sick. You'll keep your friends and loved ones safer as well. I know it's not easy. But it's better than death. I wish it was better than jail. Some people need to be hit over the head before they listen. That's just a fact that actually predates science.