coronavirus

Anti-Maskers Are Revolting!

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San Francisco has endured mask mandate after mask mandate. In January the citizens had enough and started revolting. A protest began, with the formation of an anti-mask movement. Physicians, civil libertarians, and many distinguished citizens joined this revolution, including one member of the Board of Supervisors. Ugh! Such revolting people!

They held their first meeting on January 25th, and to the astonishment of many, 4,500 fed-up citizens swarmed to this rally. A huge debate emerged at this meeting, as to what to do about San Francisco’s hated ordinance requiring everyone to wear masks in public. Some favored a petition, while others pushed for recalling the city’s public health officer. And some issued angry calls for the mayor of San Francisco to resign.

Many argued that the mask mandate did not follow science, while others appealed to civil liberties, in the case they made against masks.

Two days later, on January 27th, the anti-maskers presented a petition to the city, demanding “speedy relief from the burdensome provisions” of the mask order.

But the mayor held firm. The mayor would only agree to end the law “when the doctors, the Board of Health, and common sense permit.” The mayor defended mask wearing by appealing to patriotic duty, and also claimed that 99.5% of all doctors supported mask wearing.

So the leaders of the movement planned another big, anti-mask rally for February 1st. Today is February 1st, and guess what? On February 1st, the city of San Francisco backed down. The mask mandate was repealed. It was repealed on February 1st, 1919.

That’s right, 1919, exactly 103 years ago, today.

It’s hard to imagine such a rebellious event happening in the super-liberal, and super-compliant San Francisco city of modern times. I guess back then their citizens were a lot more anti-authoritarian and independent-minded. They quickly figured out that the mask mandate was bullshit.

And the strange thing is, their mask mandates didn’t last nearly as long as the mandates of today. The first mandate, requiring all citizens to wear masks, was issued on October 25th, 1918, and rescinded a month later, on November 21st. It had been the first of it’s kind in the world. Europe never had any mask mandates, to speak of. And in cities across America, except San Francisco, only barbers, police officers, and a few other professionals were required to wear masks. Masks were recommended and strongly encouraged for everyone else, but only in Frisco did an actual order extend to all citizens.

New York City only required barbers to wear masks. But many others voluntarily wore them, including this traffic cop.

The mask mandate was in response to the Spanish Flu, which first entered the Golden Gate in September, 1918. By mid-October, case numbers in the city had risen to 2,000. The city’s Board of Health responded by banning gatherings, closing schools and theaters, and requiring any professional who served the public to wear a mask.

But then, on October 25th, they took the unprecedented step of requiring everyone to mask up. That made news across the world, because no other city in America or the world had ever done that before. Although afterward, some cities decided to emulate San Francisco.

Initially, most people complied. But as with any law, there’s always that contingent of rebels who dig in their heels. And so the city added teeth to the rule, and started issuing fines and jail time to violators of the mask order.

Soon the war between anti-maskers and the Board of Health heated up, and matters became highly contentious. In one crazy incident, a zealous special officer for the Board of Health took a shot at a man who refused to wear a mask, and his bullet struck two bystanders.

Then a picture appeared in the newspaper that stunned both the city and the world. It was a photo of a boxing match that was attended by the mayor, a few members of the Board of Supervisors, an admiral, a judge, and even the city’s health officer. And none of them were wearing masks.

A hue and cry was heard across the globe, concerning this unforgivable hypocrisy. In order to smooth over public relations, the health officer paid a $5.00 fine, and the mayor paid a $50.00 fine. But the damage had been done, and on November 21st, 1918, the mask ordinance was annulled. Thus, this first mask mandate of its kind lasted just 27 days.

Flu cases subsided, but in January 1919, a new surge of the flu pandemic hit the bay city. And it seems the city’s leaders forgot all the lessons from just two months prior. On January 17th, 1919, they issued a new mask mandate for the general public.

San Franciscans felt outraged and rose up en masse. An Anti-Mask League was formed, and held their initial meeting on January 25th, just one week after the new mask mandate went into effect. 4,500 pissed-off citizens attended. A petition was issued. Calls rang out for the mayor to resign. And by February 1st, 1919, just 15 days after the mandate went into effect, the city caved under the political pressure. The mask mandate was rescinded.

Thus, during the Spanish Flu pandemic, the citizens of San Francisco endured only 42 cumulative days of mask mandates. But these days, citizens all over our country, and all over the world, have endured far longer periods of mask mandates.

Just like in San Francisco 103 years ago, the leaders who order us to mask up, don’t mask up themselves. California governor Gavin Newsom has issued a mask mandate for all indoor public places, and for large outdoor events, such as sporting events. Yet just two days ago, Governor Newsom, San Francisco mayor London Breed, and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, were photographed maskless at the Rams/49ers NFC Championship game in Inglewood, California.

Newsom wasn’t just posing maskless for a quick photo, as he’s claimed. He was also unknowingly caught on the stadium’s FanCam, watching the game without a mask. But this isn’t his first offense. There was also the French Laundry incident that led to a recall election, and who knows how many other times where he hasn’t been caught? And Breed and Garcetti are also repeat offenders.

Where is the outrage in America over this kind of hypocrisy? Why don’t we take a cue from Canada’s Freedom Convoy, and have mass rallies against Covid restrictions, and against our leaders who order us to do what they, themselves, are not willing to do?

What has changed? Why are people so much more compliant these days than they were a hundred years ago? Are we afraid of being labeled as anti-maskers? If so, then it’s important to understand that we have nothing to fear. It appears the very leaders who order us to wear masks, are secret anti-maskers.

Apparently, they have the same doubts as so many of us, concerning the effectiveness of masks. The difference is, they preach mask wearing, while secretly harboring their doubts. They are part of the anti-mask revolution, even though they don’t want us to know it.

But these kinds of anti-maskers are hypocrites. These so-called “leaders” are actually pushing us from behind. They tell us to do things they’re not willing to do themselves.

I admire the courage of those brave San Franciscans a hundred years ago, who joined the anti-mask revolution. But it is the cowardly, anti-mask politicians who order us to mask up, then fail to do so themselves, that I find truly revolting.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mask_League_of_San_Francisco

https://untappedcities.com/2020/07/15/the-anti-mask-league-of-1919-the-cultural-battle-of-an-enduring-pandemic/

https://www.history.com/news/1918-spanish-flu-mask-wearing-resistance

https://abc7.com/gavin-newsom-eric-garcetti-maskless-magic-johnson-rams-game-photo/11525649/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/newsom-breed-garcetti-rams-49ers-game-maskless-california-mandate

https://www.aol.com/news/newsom-garcetti-blowback-maskless-photos-163514646.html

Categories: coronavirus

92 replies »

      • “Cough, cough!”… sorry, that was my coffee I just inhaled while I was laughing.

        I’m less resistant to masks than to the fact that US officials can’t admit that they took the wrong approach in all of this. Everyone seems to have forgotten that many doctors and epidemiologists from major universities and medical institutes all over the world recommended a completely different approach in the “Great Barrington Declaration” back in October of 2020. Since then, the politicized choice of promoting panic, lockdowns and “flattening the curve” became so politicized that no one can admit that it has been a total failure.

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        • I like the Great Barrington Declaration. But discussion of it on social media has led to censorship and calls for canceling. Consider Joe Rogan who recently interviewed the very scientist who made the mRNA vaccines possible. He seems to favor a Barrington-style approach, and due to that, Rogan was kicked off of youtube, and many are calling for him to be kicked of Spotify.

          I think that as long as free and open debate is opposed in this matter, many will feel suspicious of the medical community, and of our politicians, and resistance to vaccines and mask wearing will persist.

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          • You know I’m not an anti-vaxxer, and the Japanese have worn masks as a courtesy to others (or just to hide under) since… forever. But the Japanese also never locked down, and delayed vaccine distributions for from five to eleven months (depending upon the vaccine) until their own studies had been completed. And yet with half the population of the US crammed into a space the size of California, Japan has had fewer than 20,000 Covid deaths.

            If you look at their approach, it was essentially the “Barrington” model. Once it was clear that very few healthy people under 65-years of age were being killed by Covid, they worked to isolate and protect vulnerable populations while allowing the virus to move through the healthy population and build up a buffer. Now, Japan is at about 80% fully-vaccinated on top of a massive natural immunity pool, so that even the new (less SARS-symptomatic) variants have R-values under “1” (aren’t able to spread).

            Sweden and Taiwan acted likewise, with similar results. And Singapore and South Korea admitted that their initial lockdowns had been economically damaging while ineffective, and reverted to a Japanese-style approach.

            In terms of overall deaths, effectively “flattening the curve” requires isolating vulnerable populations for extended periods of time, constant testing of the general population, and doesn’t take into account the negative effects of prolonged limits to other types of health care. And in the end, the area under the curve, whether steep but short, or low and long, are going to be the same. In the latter, one simply prolongs the suffering.

            Recent British Freedom of Information releases of Covid statistics has really driven this home. The CDC’s own similar (if more opaque) statistics from March of last year show that they already knew that only around 1-in-20 “Covid” deaths were due solely to the virus. And if the US is similar to Great Britain, those deaths were likely highly concentrated in the age range of 75-years and above, that “vulnerable” age group that could have been better isolated over a shorter period of time (Barrington model).

            That 30-something athlete (possibly with asthma or a heart defect) dying from Covid was apparently a statistical flier. And focusing on that kind of convenient numerology is exactly what the establishment has been accusing scientists of doing when they don’t adhere to the party-line. The US approach has been an undeniable fuck up. And since nobody in the government wants to take credit, nobody trusts, or even listens to them anymore… even a lot of us blissfully vaxed-up, mask-wearing sheeple.

            CDC stats from last year… when I quit worrying (replace the “DOT”]):
            cdc[DOT]gov/pcd/issues/2021/21_0123.htm

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            • We could have done well to emulate Japan or Sweden or Taiwan. I remember Sweden getting a lot of criticism, but now it appears they’ve been vindicated.

              Another piece of collateral damage by our CDC’s FUBAR approach is credibility. Public health agencies have prevented a lot of deaths in the past, but it’s important they have the cooperation of the public. With the CDC’s loss of credibility, I worry many lives may be lost in the future when people ignore their warnings about some health crisis or another. They also stand to be drastically defunded by angry Republicans, should they regain control of Congress and the White House.

              I read the Abstract section of that paper. I’m surprised that anxiety disorders are listed among the strongest risk factors for severe Covid. I’m sure all the fearmongering the CDC has promulgated hasn’t helped, in this regard.

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              • That second paragraph is dead on. To see the supposedly apolitical CDC lose so much credibility during all of this is terribly discouraging. But I think there are now also quite a few scientific and public information careers on the line, people who in hindsight simply can’t admit that they made such a costly mistake. The release of disaggregated British Covid statistics has revealed an amazing bunker mentality. The BBC has even accused scientists and medical professionals sharing these officially government provided numbers of spreading “disinformation”!
                Utter mind blow! (replace the “[DOT]”):
                ons[DOT]gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/covid19deathsandautopsiesfeb2020todec2021

                I will say that Japan doesn’t have the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, drug abuse, COPD, hypertension, kidney disease, poor nutrition, etc… that the US has to deal with. And the country (like Sweden, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea…) also has a functional health care system. And this may say more about the sorry state of things here than anything else.

                And congratulations on singlehandedly shifting policy in a major California city!

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                • Wow, those numbers seem very low, compared with the astronomical numbers of all those who died from/with Covid.

                  Yes, true, the US’s dysfunctional healthcare system, and overall poor health, probably accounts for our high Covid death rate.

                  Thank you. It’s very exciting to be a mover and shaker. 😉

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  2. We have quite an aggressive group of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers, and their position is that they should not be mandated in such circumstances. They basically want the freedom of choice. It all sounds very logical and reasonable, until one looks at the stats (at least our stats) on who is putting our medical system at risk with hospitals in general, and ICU’s specifically, in an overload situation. We are now in an unfortunate situation where cancer surgeries are being deferred because staff are being reallocated to help out in ICUs. Further, and no surprise, a large number of medical staff have contracted COVID.

    I think the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers should have the right to say no, however, the responsibility for their decision should be “low priority” when they need medical attention. Sadly they are not agreeing to that. In my best English, that is downright bloody selfish.

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    • From my understanding of the info that our government puts out, it doesn’t seem to matter if you’ve been vaccinated or not, you can still spread Covid. And our CDC also says that only the N95 masks (or equivalent) are good at stopping the spread of Covid. They’ve finally come out and admitted that cloth masks aren’t very effective.

      I would think that under your criteria for “low priority,” then smokers who get lung cancer would also receive low priority, as well as diabetics and overweight people who don’t watch what they eat. And some high priest with moral authority, would have to stand guard at medical facilities to make these priority decisions. I can only imagine the controversies that would arise from that.

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      • You can certainly contract COVID regardless of whether you wear a mask, and regardless of your vaccine status. The issue is not whether you can catch COVID, but rather, how will your body react to it. Many fully vaccinated people here catch COVID and end up in hospital, but only a few end up in ICU and that is generally due to other medical conditions. i.e. Anybody with a compromised immune system is not going to handle COVID too well. In contrast, a very high number of ICU patients here are unvaccinated.

        As for spreading COVID? Again (according our info) if you can catch it, then you can spread it so COVID is fair game for everybody. All one can do is take the precautions suggested by the medical profession and hope that you don’t get it. To do otherwise puts yourself plus friends and family at risk.

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        • Well, in my opinion, the difference in risk between wearing a mask and not wearing a mask is very small. But for some, the inconvenience and discomfort is very high. Especially for those who have to wear one all day long, at work or at school. It is human to weigh risks versus benefits, and then assume a certain level of risk for the benefit gained. In my opinion, its worth the slightly higher risk to forgo the discomfort of mask-wearing.

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  4. I’m not a fan of the hypocrisy either, but I believe in wearing masks. I teach for five hours straight wearing a mask. Would I prefer not to? Of course. But the minor discomfort to me is worth it, even if it only lessens the chance of spreading covid by fractions of a percent. To me, there is almost zero cost associated with wearing a mask, but there is a benefit, even if it is a small one. So for me, the benefits outweigh the costs. But I certainly look forward to the day when I don’t have to wear one.

    From my perspective, the mask issue has become more of a politcial one than a scientific one at this point…

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    • If for you it’s worth it, then I say go for it. But not everyone who wears masks has the same opinion. I’m not against wearing masks, but I want everyone to have a choice in the matter. If some calculate that the risk/benefit ratio favors mask wearing, then let them wear a mask. If others calculate differently, then let them not wear one.

      And yes, of course this is a political issue. Anytime politicians tell people what to do, a political issue is created. And telling people to wear something on their face is very personal and obtrusive. So of course some will object. That’s why we have politics and political debate. By the way, there are many scientists who disagree with mask mandates. But you don’t hear from them much, because they tend to be censored. Their absence from this debate is yet another reason to feel suspicious about mask mandates.

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    • For me, masking is not a big deal, given that I’m retired. At most, I have to wear a mask for a few minutes when walking into those stores that enforce the mask mandate. But some have to work long hours in a mask, and some of those workers find it very uncomfortable.

      But as far as having it too good, you and I are not in agreement. Did they have it too good a hundred years ago? And what is “too good”? When people are happy, going about their lives with freedom, is that too good? Is that when it’s time for the happiness police to swoop down and rain on their parade?

      I like having it too good. In fact I want more of too good. The gooder, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

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      • I put this in with seat belts. And think of the money you can save by not brushing your teeth.

        When I see protests around the world for people who actually have problems with oppressive governments, this still seems silly to me. I have worked all day in a refinery wearing a mask before, mehhh… I thought Americans were tough.

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        • I think if I worked in a refinery, I’d wear a mask too. And I hope I’d be compensated accordingly, to make the discomfort worth it.

          I think seatbelts and teethbrushing promote safety and health much better than masks. Unless you’re wearing an N95, I doubt you’re getting much benefit. So in my view, the slightly lowered risk is not worth the discomfort caused. But for those with a different view, I say go ahead and wear a mask. Just don’t require everyone else to wear one.

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      • I guess I would add that I really don’t care much about the mask issue one way or the other. COVID is now part of normal life. I have no doubt been exposed to it dozens of times by now. I am going to go on living and take smart precautions and be considerate when I can.

        I went to a massive arena concert in a Houston about 10 days ago. I am sure that there were at least 4000 people positive with Covid in the Arena. Whatever. I’m more worried about heart disease to tell the truth.

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        • That I agree with. Covid seems to be here to stay, and if we want to live a normal life, then we have to live with the fact that we’re going to be exposed to it. I’m just glad that the latest variant seems less severe than previous variants. I hope that trend continues.

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        • I agree and yes, heart disease scares me more. Especially since my siblings and parents have all had problems. I do like my latte’s but I have been drinking a lot more tea lately. No cream is needed with tea. 🙂

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    • It’s tough for healthcare workers in some hospitals, although most hospitals in our area don’t seem to be overwhelmed. I would also note that many healthcare workers have been fired, due to their refusal to be vaxxed. This contributes to understaffing, and puts a strain on those who still have jobs at hospitals.

      But it seems like once you get put on a respirator, your chances of surviving are very low. Which to me is a good reason to get vaxxed. Very few vaxxed people who catch Covid end up on respirators. Nonetheless, I’m against vax mandates. I’m for letting people decide their risk for themselves.

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  8. I’m so emotional today it’s hard to comment. I haven’t posted it yet because I’m actually a bit scared, but I’ve done a video speaking my mind more than I ever have regarding it all including what I feel about our gov.
    I’m not sure if You Tube censors or not. FB sure is.
    Our communist gov. is not backing down.
    He addressed the public yesterday but never even acknowledged the truckers or the people. It was cold, calus, harsh and with no empathy. He is a Hitler.
    I wish he’d get arrested.

    Liked by 3 people

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