The Real Enforcement of Mask Mandates Doesn’t Come From Government, But Rather Woke Twitter

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As a fierce and consistent critic of mask mandates, especially for children, it has been rather remarkable, and almost weirdly inspiring of respect, to see how, at least in bluish areas of a nation formerly founded in freedom, mask mandates have somehow been able to maintain themselves. After all, they are not based in actual law, and even here in heavily-woke Los Angeles the county sheriff has made it very clear that law enforcement does not punish those who defy the mandate.

So, how is it then that so many organizations have continued to force people who participate in them to mask up, and that the vast majority of people are still abiding, usually without even a hint of pushback? The answers to this question are fascinating from a human behavioral perspective, and not necessarily an indication that a majority of people really believe that masks significantly reduce your chances of getting or transmitting the virus (if this was the case, we would not routinely see packed outdoor football and baseball games with barely a smattering of masking, even in very blue cities like LA).

The first and most obvious explanation is pure peer pressure. When the majority of a group, especially when that side has been given the perception of moral superiority by the news media, is taking such an overt action, it causes weak and confused members of the minority group to cave and conform (which is partly why you see so few masks at major outdoor sporting where the Mask Nazis have lost their magical virtue-signaling powers). The impact of this is seen most dramatically in public schools, were I personally know many very anti-mask teachers who are terrified to say or do anything about it because they know they are in the minority within their realm.

On the first day of picking up my nine-year-old daughter from school this year (where she is strictly required to wear a mask at almost all times, despite little real-world science to justify it), as I stood outside waiting with the other parents it was about 50/50 with regard to mask usage. On the second day, that ratio jumped to about 70/30 in favor of masking. It was at that point when I knew where this was going, and that I could no longer endure picking her up in person, instead opting to do so by car after most of the crowd of what I perceive to be anti-science, child-abusing, lemmings have dispersed (a pickup scenario which, thankfully, my daughter actually likes).

Another factor solidifying support for mask mandates is a quirk in the way most people perceive data/evidence, especially when the media coverage of a subject is so incredibly biased. My primary point against mandates has always been that, despite massive quantities of real-world data over the last year and a half, there is not enough real-world evidence backing the theory that mask mandates reduce the spread of Covid enough to justify their implementation. If there was such evidence, it would be overwhelming by now due to the unprecedented amounts of data being collected.

Individually, the vast majority of the population, and by extension compulsive mask wearers, have not tested positive for Covid. Consequently, mask-wearers naturally attribute the fact that they personally have not been infected to their religious use of masking (when it could simply be because the virus isn’t as contagious or common as was first feared, a concept clearly backed up by the fact that Pfizer, even during the Delta wave, had a difficult time finding kids sick with Covid for their most recent vaccine study).

However, this does not do much to explain how and why so many private entities have strongly enforced mask mandates, often beyond what the state or the public is demanding. There is a clear correlation between how sensitive an organization is to outrage from the Woke Mob, and how much they make sure that everyone involved with them is strictly masked.

For instance, big-name places like Disneyland, despite being mostly outdoors, force universal mask use and, cruelly for young children, distancing from its characters. Not because the already crazy state of California dictates it, or the science remotely suggests it, but rather because anything that happens at Disneyland is combustible ground for a social media firestorm, specifically on Woke Twitter where the pro-mask sentiment takes on a cult-like intensity.

Airlines, despite not having major mask usage for the first few months of the pandemic without evidence of significant spread, are another example of this phenomenon where businesses with the most vulnerability to social media attack are the most vigilant in enforcing mask usage. With the federal mandate in place on airplanes, any photo of someone committing blasphemy by not wearing one properly will go viral, thus preventing any lack enforcement in a place where the extremely good ventilation system already makes Covid spread very rare.

But no area of life is quite like academia, where mask usage, even in totally asinine situations, has now taken on a life of its own as a primary sign of being a respectable educational institution. I recently had a very bizarre experience — not coincidently on Twitter — which really confirmed just how insane things have gotten.

I was somehow tagged by an acquaintance in a tweet congratulating a local girl’s high school volleyball team on winning their league title, along with a photo of the team celebrating, with no masks or social distancing. Unsure what to do, but excited that the girls were at least not forced to mask during their victory photo, I responded by briefly cheering the win while giving them a fist-pump emoji for not wearing masks.

Much to my shock, my benign reply created so much consternation and controversy that the twitter account of the team responded with a terse statement explaining that they girls always wear masks except for this very brief moment. They then blocked me and, most depressingly of all, in an obvious panic over what might happen next, deleted the photo of the girls celebrating their win.

In a world where Twitter did not exist, or at least where it was not so dominated by pro-mask forces, it is clearer than ever that mask mandates would be far less feared, and that much of the country would turn into a red-state college football game where few wear a mask, and where there are no signs of major Covid spread. Woke Twitter is the glue which ultimately holds mask mandates together, acting as the muscle of intimidation to scare even high school volleyball teams into having scrub evidence that the abuse the super-liberal academic system causes athletes to endure, via pointless forced masking even during play, was relieved for a few harmless moments of celebration.

The most nefarious aspect of this perfect storm of irrationality is that there are many people, especially among those in power, who have become so deeply invested in the idea that mask mandates must work that they cannot possibly allow mask usage to stop. After all, if it ever does, and nothing unusually bad happens, then those who ordered masks will be proven to have been wrong (evidence around the country, and the world, suggests mandates are wrong, but our news media has tried hard to ignore this reality). And of course no one wants to admit that they wore a mask, and forced children to do the same, for well over a year, for little legitimate reason.

There is no more outrageously transparent proof of this selfish motivation than the CDC inexplicably saying the kids still should be masked in schools even AFTER they get vaccinated, which raises the very real possibility that some mask mandates will never be lifted. Schools are just one of many areas of life where we are continuing mask mandates so that no one has to confront the possibility that we all have endured a ton of aggravation, abused our kids, and greatly polluted the environment, for little but the psychological benefit of a security blanket.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.