Below is my response to a dear friend who posted this on FB: “here’s what I don’t understand about the anti mask stance. It’s not just *your* body and your choice. People who don’t wear masks actually are putting others at risk, according to science. Which I believe in. If you don’t, that’s where this all falls apart. Why do you not believe the science, tho? How about all the proof of people winding up in the ER, dying, etc? I have personally known people who have died or almost died from it. And at its height, I laid my own eyes on big rig freezer trucks to store the bodies of the dead in NYC bc they couldn’t bury them fast enough. I’m all about freedom and rights too. But that stops when a particular freedom infringes on my or my unvaccinated nephew’s (because he is too young) rights. Like, you want restaurant employees to wash their hands after they take a shit, right? Or does that infringe on their rights? I’m truthfully not trying to start an angry debate – if anyone wants to, go ahead, but I won’t engage w anger – I’m just trying to understand your side of it.”
PART 1:
You’re free to believe “the science” you have been fed. I have delved deeper into the actual statistical data to make my own informed decisions, FOR ME.
“Science,” by its very nature, changes all the time. The more information we have, the better decisions we can make. When the government claims, as they now do, that there is only ONE TRUE SCIENCE, they are lying to you, and they are wrong. The censorship of any counterpoint to THE ONE TRUE SCIENCE is a “tell” that indicates something fishy is going on.
Did you know if you compare countries with or without mask mandates, it makes no statistical difference to the infection rates for a virus that has a 99.7% survival rate? I.e. regardless of what you have been told, masks don’t matter. If you feel better wearing a mask, more power to you. I don’t.
I understand you may be scared. I hope you also understand that you have actively and purposely bamboozled into thinking a certain way about this virus, and, unless you are willing to, say, champion AIDS or herpes or other communicable disease Passports next, you have to understand that arguing, as you do, that “*I* am in some way responsible for whether you get sick when you leave your house” is a terrible way for us to start interacting as a society…
Did you know the U.S. excess death rate was higher in 2017 than 2020? I.e., “In 2017, excess deaths and years of life lost in the United States represent a larger annual loss of life than that associated with the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.” [SOURCE: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/16/e2024850118].
Did 2017 feel like a “pandemic” to you? (Did you know the WHO changed their definition of the word “pandemic” in order to take out “severity of illness” so that contractual obligations by nation states to buy vaccines is automatically triggered at a lower level of severity than before? Stated differently, did you know the WHO colluded with Big Pharma and said: Hey, if a virus spreads worldwide, regardless of how strong it actually is, we’ll say it’s a “super bad sounding pandemic” and guarantee to buy your stuff? Talk about perverse incentives!)
Did you spend 2017 living in fear? Did you feel the need in 2017 to protect yourself from, or judge, your friends and neighbors for their personal choices about their body autonomy? No.
Did you in 2017 think it was OK for unelected officials to ban what medicines doctors can prescribe to their patients? No.
What changed?
Hysterical propaganda from the government, aided by the legacy media and social media platforms, pushing a “product” for which there are NO long-term studies and for which no one can be held liable if it causes harm, to a population that has been literally scared out of their minds. On purpose.
Let me say that again: Scared out of their minds. On purpose.
What you have experienced this past year is basically like a WWII air-raid siren blasting nonstop in your brain, negatively affecting your amygdala and mental health. There is now a large body of work on “the science” of fear and “the science” of propaganda. I recommend you explore this area if you want to better understand what has been happening.
As a starting point, all I can advise is: Turn off the your TV, especially the news, and be careful about your screen time and innocuous seeming “push news” on your phone.
I don’t want to argue with you about this either, but I will not stand down from my position MY BODY MY CHOICE. I know it sounds harsh, but I do not have a duty to protect you from harm–YOU have a duty to protect yourself, and if you prefer to be around only masked or vaccinated people, that is your choice, but it better be in your home and not the public sphere. In public, I have as much rights as you, unless you now think you own me?
I’m unwilling to embrace the idea that I am a permanent germ vector that needs to be punished and forced to do something against my bodily wishes just for leaving my house.
Again, you do you, but you don’t own me. Not even one teensy bit, and definitely not my pie hole! 
That said, I love you, and I hope we can hang again in the future. Galt speed!
PART 2:
Also, unless you think there should be cameras in toilets watched by Big Bro Crap Police with fines, penalties and quarantine camps, that analogy falls way short. What if the person forgot to wash their hands, but there’s no shit or germs on their hands, should they still be punished even if they weren’t spreading a disease? Should we just pretend everyone is sick and diseased, or should we strive for a society where we don’t punish the healthy?
My hot yoga class has a sign from Buddha above the door: “You are what you think.” I suggest we all think about that…