Op-ed by: Heather Groves

Yesterday a local doctor made a public statement that those of us who do not support mandatory universal masking can not claim to support medical freedom, and that when we refuse to submit to noninvasive “protections” such as face coverings, we lose all credibility and public respect.  She refused to acknowledge my scientifically entrenched response to her statement, despite engaging (and many times belittling) almost every other person who responded to her question.

It's easy to shut down open dialogue when you rely solely on emotionally charged generalizations and ad hominem attacks, which is what she, and so many others, have attempted to do from the beginning of this Covid19 situation.  By marginalizing those you disagree with and dismissing them as uncaring, negligent, and, as she put it, proponents of "oppositional behavior", you make it easy to ignore the fact that the scientific evidence and supporting data are simply not on your side.  It’s a play straight from Saul Alinksy’s famous far left manifesto, “Rules for Radicals.”

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.”

Instead of having a conversation about the reasons why someone may or may not support universal masking, we hear the following:

“You want old people to die!”

“You care more about money than you do about keeping people alive!”

“You are selfish!  How do you call yourself a Christian?”

“You don’t support mandatory masking and social distancing?  How do you sleep at night!?”

Despite leveling these attacks to anyone and everyone who disagree with them, most people, the good doctor included, don’t actually want to engage with those who offer a reasonable explanation for not supporting universal face coverings because, as I will lay out below, there are very valid reasons to oppose the practice. Acknowledging this fact undercuts the intended result of social and cultural intolerance directed towards any idea outside of the approved narrative.

Those of us who are not duteous to the current universal masking policies and recommendations do not, in fact, want grandma to die.  Instead, we base our position on both the science behind these recommendations and the future implications of long term compliance.  For example, we know that cloth face coverings are completely ineffective in preventing viral transmission, and can actually increase your risk of bacterial respiratory infection.  We know that viral particles that are exhaled gather on the OUTSIDE of masks instead of the inside, enhancing the risk of cross contamination and viral transmission, especially considering that viruses live drastically longer on cloth than they do on skin.  We know that face coverings increase the instances that a person touches their face and/or covering due to readjustments, releasing increased moisture buildup and because face coverings increase nasal drainage which can be another mode of transmission all on its own.  We understand that cross contamination is a real danger when face coverings are not donned and doffed or laundered properly. We take into account the negative health effects of facial coverings on comorbidities (increases tachycardia, induces hypoxia, increases co2 reabsorption, may stimulate feelings of anxiety/claustrophobia due to inadequate gas exchange, ect).  The World Health Organization has spoken out against universal masking for these exact reasons, and OSHA has stated that only those employees deemed to be high risk or in high risk fields should be masked.  The science is very clear that universal masking is contraindicated, yet those of us who choose to rely on science are demonized and cast to the fringes of society as public enemy number one.

Many of us are asking how, and more importantly, why, this happened in an otherwise seemingly reasonable society that respects an individual's right to bodily autonomy, especially considering that numerous studies have indicated that Covid19 has a similar if not slightly lower fatality rate than the seasonal flu and we don’t mask during flu season.

As a lover of history, I am reminded of a formula for social coercion used by and discussed at length in Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.  Some of the key components of this formula were:

1. Keep the dogma simple and make social changes slowly over a period of time - only 1 or 2 points at a time.
2. Be forthright and powerfully direct.  Speak only in telling or ordering mode.
3. Reduce concepts down to stereotypes which are black and white.
   1. This is for your safety.
   2. Masking and social distancing saves lives.
   3. We are in this together
   4. The virus is the common enemy
   5. We must sacrifice to defeat the enemy
4. Speak to people’s emotions and stir them constantly.
   1. Ohians will do the right thing.
   2. If you don’t mask, you don’t love your neighbor.
   3. The devil prowls the earth looking for bodies.  So does this virus.
   4. Congregating in a church setting is not Christian like behavior right now.
   5. If you break the rules, you risk lives.
5. Use lots of repetition; repeat your points over and over again.
6. Forget scientific reasoning, balance or novelty.
   1. A higher prevalence rate with a decreased mortality rate means the virus is more dangerous.
   2. We don’t have that data, but we use that data to enforce emergency orders.
7. Focus solely on convincing people and creating zealots.
   1. If you don’t mask, you don’t care about the health and safety of your neighbor.
   2. People will mask because it’s the socially responsible thing to do.
   3. If you see people breaking the rules, report them to the local police and health department.
   4. Masking will become culturally acceptable, and not wearing a mask will be considered socially irresponsible.
8. Find slogans which can be used to drive the movement forward.
   1. Don Your Mask, Don Your Cape.
   2. Stay Home, Save Lives
   3. In This Together Ohio
   4. Let’s Save Lives Together
   5. Stay Safe Ohio

I am in no way comparing Mike DeWine to Adolph Hiter, but rather highlighting the social coercion tactics that have been used to induce compliance and create social friction between the consenting and the non-consenting across the ages.  It is a matter of psychological manipulation laced with fear that can convince a society to shake off their freedom and embrace a fallacy that leads to chains. 

For many, a mask symbolizes unity with one another and a weapon against the universal covid19 enemy.  But for those of us who understand that the face coverings do not protect us from this virus, we are left asking what their intended purpose could be.  Are they meant to be a visual trigger for a subconscious fear?  Are they meant to create an urgency and demand for a covid19 vaccine that would otherwise be rejected?  Are they meant to create an artificial barrier between a previously highly social society?  I don’t know.  But what I do know is that they will not protect me or protect you from Covid19, and therefore they’re useless.  And I simply can not comply with a recommendation or a mandate that doesn’t do what we’re being told it is intended to do, even if that stance turns the public ire on myself.  And I hope that, before you demand that I “Don my mask, don my cape”, you contemplate exactly why you’re willing to stand on the other side of science to do so.  For some, it’s virtue signaling, but for many, they truly believe they are contributing to the greater good, and I commend you for that.  I just hope that you remember that, I too, believe that I am fighting for the greater good when I stand in defiance of what I believe to be government overreach and manipulation by refusing to wear a mask.  We can both do what we feel is right in this situation and I promise you that if I see you in the store wearing a face covering, I will simply smile at you in passing without ever questioning your moral compass or social obligation.  I simply hope that you can do the same.

Sincerely,

A nurse who believes we can value life without sacrificing liberty

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"There was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, and this will always be "the man in the street." Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology." ~ Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda

"Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred." ~ Joseph Goebbels

"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise." ~ Joseph Goebbels

"Whoever can conquer the street will one day conquer the state, for every form of power politics and any dictatorship-run state has its roots in the street." ~ Joseph Goebbels

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