Here's why you wear a damn mask. If you don't, you are either a Maskless Moron thinking you won't get the virus or a Maskless Psycho who doesn't care if you spread it or not. Don't be a psycho or moron. Wear a damn mask.
Also, here's another important point: Because you can get the virus and not show symptoms for 48 hours (sometimes never), you can go from Uninfected Maskless Moron to Maskless Psycho Carrier without any clue that you switched. All those tough guys and gals crying "'Merika! and Freedom!" don't realize that the virus will make them their bitch and dupe them into spreading itself before they have any chance to do the right thing and seek treatment or self-quarantine.
Some people point out that cloth masks don't work and cite articles like this or this. Note that the first article undermines itself right at the top: "because no studies have been done on the effectiveness of cloth masks in preventing transmission of coronavirus to others, it is impossible to assess their benefits, if any. "
The "no studies" part is false (see below) but even if the rest of the article is 100% accurate and truthful all it is saying (same as the 2nd article) is that wearing a mask doesn't protect YOU but the authors aren't sure whether it might protect OTHERS if you are infected.
In fact, we do know: Masks help stop the spread of coronavirus – the science is simple and I’m one of 100 experts urging governors to require public mask-wearing.
Also, many cloth masks allow inserts such as vacuum filters and coffee filters which add additional (not perfect, N95-level) protection to the wearer.
I like the pee analogy: If you aren't wearing pants and pee in my direction, I'm going to get wet whether I'm wearing pants or not. (Although, maybe I'll get less wet if I'm, in fact, wearing pants.) However, if YOU wear pants and pee in my direction, I'm probably not going to get wet (but I will laugh at you).
Here's another analogy: Fire retardant shoes make us safer. Normally we don't need them but people have suddenly developed a problem where their feet catch on fire (invisibly) and leave invisible, burning footprints. Anyone who steps in their footprints gets it, too. Therefore, until we have invisible-fire-detecting glasses and have perfect invisible-fire-resistant socks it is safer for everybody to wear the less-than-perfect, fire-retardant shoes we have. To flaunt the risks and ignore recommendations is to cave to the tyranny of individual stupidity where we, as a society, are held hostage by the worst instincts and short-sightedness of a few individuals who are willing to foist significant risks on others because of a slight inconvenience or, worse, a twisted sense of personal liberty.
Also, I find it ironic that even the staunchest Libertarians will argue that the sole, legitimate role of government is protection and security, etc. Yet, when government actually does its job in a crisis to do just that, the tough guys w/ "thanks for your service" ribbons on their cars go running to the hills away from personal responsibility and small sacrifices for their fellow humans. Man up. Wear a damn mask.
