It’s horrible the media is more focused on trying to frame people who are masking as “hold outs”instead of investigating why political leaders prematurely dropped protections to serve corporate interests when polls show the majority still support mask mandates.
@luckytran Wait, what polls show that?
90% of people are choosing not to mask, so it seems inconceivable that there's a majority in favor of forcing others to do things they aren't doing themselves.
@LouisIngenthron @luckytran people are too susceptible to peer pressure. They know masking is the right thing to do but aren't willing to be the oddballs who do it when most other people aren't. They want the mandates to give them cover to mask up.
@jik @luckytran So they have to use the threat of government violence to force everyone do something they're too scared to do themselves?
Even if you believe that's true, please don't repeat it. It makes the anti-vaxxers sound credible and empathetic in comparison.
@jik @luckytran Any government mandate is backed by violence. Usually disproportionately against marginalized communities.
And you're confusing correlation with causation. Mask mandates coincided with the worst waves when we didn't have vaccines yet, AKA, higher risk times when people's individual risk assessments led them to mask more anyway.
Finally, I have to disagree with your numbers. I never saw more than 50% compliance, even in the bluest areas of Florida during mandates. And I never once saw anyone even try to enforce it on the other half, which shows how hollow and pointless it is.
@LouisIngenthron @luckytran
There is ample research showing that government mandates, even those that are completely unenforced, substantially change individual behavior.
Also, lol on thinking that Florida, even the "bluest areas of Florida," is representative.
What matters is not whether government mandates are backed by violence, but rather whether most people think of them that way, which they don't.
You've made it clear that you're not worth my time, so 👋.
@LouisIngenthron @luckytran
Government mask mandates are not perceived by most people as a "threat of government violence." That's a radical perspective not shared by most people, and it's certainly not what I said.
The mere existence of a mandate, even one that is not enforced in any sort of "violent" way (or in any way at all), has been shown to increase mask-wearing from <10% to >75% in many contexts.
People are absurdly compliant.