Why does there have to be debates and arguments on whether or not people should be expected to wear a mask?

     Masks were introduced by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) back in March to help prevent the spread of COVID. Since then, the question of whether or not masks take away our liberties and freedoms to not be controlled by the government has been in constant debate. 

    The whole purpose of masks is to keep people safe and prevent your loved ones from contracting the virus. But the idea of people disliking them came from people thinking that wearing a piece of fabric over their face was too controlling. Why has our current political climate come to the point where we have to decide whether or not wearing a piece of fabric on our face to protect others and ourselves is considered “oppression?”

     If wearing a mask is the most oppressed you have ever felt, that’s something called privilege.

     It has been said and proven by not only the CDC but several other health experts that masks work. If you carry COVID and don’t wear a mask, the odds that you pass the virus onto someone who does wear a mask is 70%. If you are a COVID carrier and do wear a mask, the odds that you pass it onto someone who doesn’t wear a mask is down to 5%. If you’re a COVID carrier who wears a mask, the odds that you pass it onto someone who also wears one is 1.5%. 

     Every time you go to a grocery store, church or coffee shop with your friends and you refuse to wear a mask, you are being selfish. You are disregarding the fact that someone you crossed paths with might have asthma, or have a mother with respiratory issues or a grandfather with cancer. You are directly putting others at harm because you insist “you can’t breathe.”

     Masks should’ve never been this big debate about whether or not you should wear them. The only reason they became political is that Republicans insisted that they did nothing and were too controlling and Democrats directly disagreed with them. That began the 8-month-long debate as to whether or not masks should be worn. 

     Masks are not a political statement. They never have, and they never should be. The only question is whether or not you’re selfish enough to be responsible for someone else’s death.