"my theory is that in places where there is a lower socio-economic class gap between staff and customer, owners and staff feel no need to cater to this burgeoning sense of privilege. "
I am a member of the lower socio-economic class - i.e., working class. I dine only at working class breakfast joints, diners and pizza shops. And where I dine, you see almost no masks on anyone including the staff.
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
You are spot on for all the reasons you state. As an Emergency Doc I looked into masks well before COVID for influenza protection. Some patients, especially Asians, would wear masks (as they do in Asian countries). Frankly I was surprised that all the studies showed zero, zip, nada effect. So of course I argued this with my colleagues (and friends and family) when COVID came BUT no one would accept the findings of well done studies. You see Gato, it "obvious that they protect" so no silly studies needed. Of course we have precedent for this: our cooling climate that is clearly due to solar cycles is in fact due to "Global Warming" or man made "Climate Change" or whatever nonsense that everyone is supposed to accept because it's "obvious". As you surmise, it's really all about subservience and humiliation. Shameful, disgusting. We shall be free and have no more of these moron tyrants!!
Well said, as always! We recently visited a resort in the DR. Every employee dutifully wore their mask at all times while the guests did not. (Well, except for the odd requirement that we wear one from the hostess stand to our table. Duh!) Even the lifeguard in the tower on the beach was forced to wear one, I'm sure at the threat of losing his job if he didn't. It made me sick. I never once saw the smiling face of an employee at the hotel. Getting to know the staff is one of the joys of travel. My husband is hard of hearing. He simply didn't interact. Reviews of the hotel said, "The staff seemed unhappy." Seriously? 'Ya think??? Ellos estaban enojados!
I can't stand walking into a restaurant and seeing all the servers forced to wear masks. I've gotten to the point where I refuse to eat at any establishment that subjugates their employees to this humiliation. Vote with your feet.
I have always felt badly for waiters and waitresses that have had to cover their faces during this. Many still are in our area altho we can walk into a restaurant w/out a face cover. I always tell them I would like to see their smiles and hope that their boss ends this requirement. The last restaurant review I did included "I won't be back until your wait staff is unmasked". Hope the head honcho reads it. The woman I was with was of a different mindset and wanted them masked because "they spit on you when they are standing over you"- won't be eating out with her anytime soon. She also thinks because of climate change the world is going to "end" in 2-3 years...what has happened to my acquaintances????
The actual science of mass mask wearing effectiveness vs. airborne respiratory viruses has never changed. They are as certainly ineffective at preventing the spread as wishing is at preventing gravity. Given that, it was clear initially that the mass masking was not about health, rather it was about keeping the threat and fear of the virus front and center within populations. In other words, it was about keeping the masses afraid and away from each other.
As the "pandemic" has evolved, the masking is still about keeping people afraid but it's also become about a caste system. It's all really horribly frightening to live through a history that will certainly be looked back on in history in similar fashion that we look back on things like the Salem Witch Trails today, but hopefully this one will serve as an even more indelible reminder of the danger and reality of the madness of crowds.
It's the same in the UK. Masks are no longer mandatory and they have very quickly become a class maker. The higher end supermarkets are filled with masks whilst the cheap, budget supermarkets, nothing.
I absolutely love this. Months ago after tyrant Phil Murphy removed indoor mask mandates in NJ and we started going out to restaurants, I made it a point every single time to tell the waiter/waitress that they did not need to wear the mask. I always got the standard response that it was "policy" but I wanted them to know that this was not OK with me. And many times when I left, I told the manager we would not be back until the masks came off the staff (and I have maintained this personal rule and have not gone back).
When I see kids masked, I get physical ill. The people that did this need to pay dearly.
All true. And yet another one out of the park by our favorite bad cat.
There is another aspect that you touched upon with the allusion to that economist from your alma mater. That is, the damage that has been wrought to the medical profession by their own hand. I knew we were in trouble in early 2020 when the “leaders” in my own organization waxed poetic about how “masks work!” This came primarily from non surgical types, ie those who don’t habitually wear those paper masks that are a part of every surgeon’s daily routine. They abandoned all scientific reason, all the skepticism that they gleefully hurl at surgeons on a regular basis over the slim to no benefit of common operations.
My own PCP tried to persuade me to get jabbed by making the argument that since he and many others were jabbed, they now presented a GREATER danger to me than the unjabbed. IOW his logic was: Since I acquiesced to this untried, potentially dangerous and likely ineffective treatment (“breakthrough infections/cases were already occurring in early 2020) which actually worsens the situation, YOU should too! I politely declined.
Next doctor in 2021 asked if I’d been jabbed. No, I replied. He asked, Why not? I replied, A “vaccine” whose efficacy wanes rapidly after 3 months, and YOU’RE on your THIRD shot now? No thanks. He just looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights stare and said, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
As you so elegantly pointed out, the elites won’t pick a fight with an intellectual, social equal. The haughtiness, superiority, appeal to authority, bullying won’t fly with their equals. They are left only with the defenseless, the weak and the weak minded to abuse-with the invaluable aid of the toadying, the scolding, the neurotics and the collaborators.
“Masks work!” I’ve never been so ashamed to be a member of a once proud, sensible cadre of caring individuals.
Very well said. This smacks of classic “-ism” theory that is beloved by demagogues to, as you said, elevate themselves not through merit or value, but by devaluing their peers through a characteristic that the peer has little to no control over (e.g. historically race). It is hard for me to enjoy a night out at a restaurant because the server must be adorned while I am not. And no matter what I do, the server is harmed. If I refrain from dining, they lose money. If I patronize, I am reaffirming this classist divide.
Thank you Gato for covering masks quite extensively - they are one of the most reprehensible parts of this charade. Did anyone stop and consider the possibly lifetime damage we are doing to kids? No. Masks were always a tool of submission, control and to prolong the public hysteria. This is why I never put on on my face, not once. Lots of stares and not so fun when 99% of everyone was doing it, but it was the only thing I felt I could do at the height of insanity. Show my face and smile.
"my theory is that in places where there is a lower socio-economic class gap between staff and customer, owners and staff feel no need to cater to this burgeoning sense of privilege. "
I am a member of the lower socio-economic class - i.e., working class. I dine only at working class breakfast joints, diners and pizza shops. And where I dine, you see almost no masks on anyone including the staff.
My reality confirms your theory.
The Taliban make their subservient women wear masks too. In the West we have the Karen-ban.
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
—Frank Zappa
You are spot on for all the reasons you state. As an Emergency Doc I looked into masks well before COVID for influenza protection. Some patients, especially Asians, would wear masks (as they do in Asian countries). Frankly I was surprised that all the studies showed zero, zip, nada effect. So of course I argued this with my colleagues (and friends and family) when COVID came BUT no one would accept the findings of well done studies. You see Gato, it "obvious that they protect" so no silly studies needed. Of course we have precedent for this: our cooling climate that is clearly due to solar cycles is in fact due to "Global Warming" or man made "Climate Change" or whatever nonsense that everyone is supposed to accept because it's "obvious". As you surmise, it's really all about subservience and humiliation. Shameful, disgusting. We shall be free and have no more of these moron tyrants!!
Well said, as always! We recently visited a resort in the DR. Every employee dutifully wore their mask at all times while the guests did not. (Well, except for the odd requirement that we wear one from the hostess stand to our table. Duh!) Even the lifeguard in the tower on the beach was forced to wear one, I'm sure at the threat of losing his job if he didn't. It made me sick. I never once saw the smiling face of an employee at the hotel. Getting to know the staff is one of the joys of travel. My husband is hard of hearing. He simply didn't interact. Reviews of the hotel said, "The staff seemed unhappy." Seriously? 'Ya think??? Ellos estaban enojados!
I can't stand walking into a restaurant and seeing all the servers forced to wear masks. I've gotten to the point where I refuse to eat at any establishment that subjugates their employees to this humiliation. Vote with your feet.
Your best essay yet. And I posted it, so now everyone I know will hate me lol. Meh, whatever. Worth it!
The faceless masses…
Extermination programs are easier for the elites to perpetrate if the victims have been dehumanized. No face, no humanity. An object.
I have always felt badly for waiters and waitresses that have had to cover their faces during this. Many still are in our area altho we can walk into a restaurant w/out a face cover. I always tell them I would like to see their smiles and hope that their boss ends this requirement. The last restaurant review I did included "I won't be back until your wait staff is unmasked". Hope the head honcho reads it. The woman I was with was of a different mindset and wanted them masked because "they spit on you when they are standing over you"- won't be eating out with her anytime soon. She also thinks because of climate change the world is going to "end" in 2-3 years...what has happened to my acquaintances????
The actual science of mass mask wearing effectiveness vs. airborne respiratory viruses has never changed. They are as certainly ineffective at preventing the spread as wishing is at preventing gravity. Given that, it was clear initially that the mass masking was not about health, rather it was about keeping the threat and fear of the virus front and center within populations. In other words, it was about keeping the masses afraid and away from each other.
As the "pandemic" has evolved, the masking is still about keeping people afraid but it's also become about a caste system. It's all really horribly frightening to live through a history that will certainly be looked back on in history in similar fashion that we look back on things like the Salem Witch Trails today, but hopefully this one will serve as an even more indelible reminder of the danger and reality of the madness of crowds.
It's the same in the UK. Masks are no longer mandatory and they have very quickly become a class maker. The higher end supermarkets are filled with masks whilst the cheap, budget supermarkets, nothing.
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/?r=raurr
I absolutely love this. Months ago after tyrant Phil Murphy removed indoor mask mandates in NJ and we started going out to restaurants, I made it a point every single time to tell the waiter/waitress that they did not need to wear the mask. I always got the standard response that it was "policy" but I wanted them to know that this was not OK with me. And many times when I left, I told the manager we would not be back until the masks came off the staff (and I have maintained this personal rule and have not gone back).
When I see kids masked, I get physical ill. The people that did this need to pay dearly.
All true. And yet another one out of the park by our favorite bad cat.
There is another aspect that you touched upon with the allusion to that economist from your alma mater. That is, the damage that has been wrought to the medical profession by their own hand. I knew we were in trouble in early 2020 when the “leaders” in my own organization waxed poetic about how “masks work!” This came primarily from non surgical types, ie those who don’t habitually wear those paper masks that are a part of every surgeon’s daily routine. They abandoned all scientific reason, all the skepticism that they gleefully hurl at surgeons on a regular basis over the slim to no benefit of common operations.
My own PCP tried to persuade me to get jabbed by making the argument that since he and many others were jabbed, they now presented a GREATER danger to me than the unjabbed. IOW his logic was: Since I acquiesced to this untried, potentially dangerous and likely ineffective treatment (“breakthrough infections/cases were already occurring in early 2020) which actually worsens the situation, YOU should too! I politely declined.
Next doctor in 2021 asked if I’d been jabbed. No, I replied. He asked, Why not? I replied, A “vaccine” whose efficacy wanes rapidly after 3 months, and YOU’RE on your THIRD shot now? No thanks. He just looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights stare and said, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
As you so elegantly pointed out, the elites won’t pick a fight with an intellectual, social equal. The haughtiness, superiority, appeal to authority, bullying won’t fly with their equals. They are left only with the defenseless, the weak and the weak minded to abuse-with the invaluable aid of the toadying, the scolding, the neurotics and the collaborators.
“Masks work!” I’ve never been so ashamed to be a member of a once proud, sensible cadre of caring individuals.
Apologies for the length of this rant.
ive never worn a mask and the looks i get from the masked are of fear and hate.
they are self imposing the masks here in quite large numbers in the UK even though the government says it has given up
Very well said. This smacks of classic “-ism” theory that is beloved by demagogues to, as you said, elevate themselves not through merit or value, but by devaluing their peers through a characteristic that the peer has little to no control over (e.g. historically race). It is hard for me to enjoy a night out at a restaurant because the server must be adorned while I am not. And no matter what I do, the server is harmed. If I refrain from dining, they lose money. If I patronize, I am reaffirming this classist divide.
Thank you Gato for covering masks quite extensively - they are one of the most reprehensible parts of this charade. Did anyone stop and consider the possibly lifetime damage we are doing to kids? No. Masks were always a tool of submission, control and to prolong the public hysteria. This is why I never put on on my face, not once. Lots of stares and not so fun when 99% of everyone was doing it, but it was the only thing I felt I could do at the height of insanity. Show my face and smile.