[gailtate]

I don't think it's reasonable to be anti-mask.

I think it is at least somewhat reasonable to doubt the efficacy of masks. As BC pointed out at the beginning of this epidemic there wasn't really compelling data either way. At present, the data favoring masks is still not conclusive to the point we can say how much good they do. That said, the mandate to wear them isn't some kind of conspiracy to limit our freedom. It is the best estimate at present of what we can do to limit the spread of the disease given what we know now. It isn't political.
We all have to follow regulations and laws with which we may have some doubts. They may be "incorrect" in some sense. However, in order to make society "work", we have to comply. It is perfectly fine to think masks aren't very useful. It is not perfectly fine to not wear them. It may turn out that at the end of they day they didn't help much, but as of now they required. That is just how it is.

If we could just look at this on a risk- benefit scale, it would be so much easier.

I'll admit, I don't spend a ton of time obsessing over COVID and updating my knowledge to the latest findings. Last I had heard, there was a lot of data supporting the idea that masks will at least reduce spread, and some that show no benefit. So on the whole, much more likely they are positive impact than no/negative impact. But I'll concede that when all is said and done, we may find that mask wearing had negligible direct impact (though maybe had indirect impact of making/reinforcing people being more careful in their daily interactions to reduce spread). And I'll concede that there may be (very rare) cases of people who would experience personal harm in wearing a mask. But given that the current best science is that masks reduce spread and keep other people safe, there's no justification for going out and about without one, unless you have a legitimate medical reason not to wear one (I'm not even aware of what this might be).

The (few) people I know who have problems with masks have these things in common: they are knee-jerk skeptics about anything having to do with public/government institutions and Democrats; and they spend a lot of time on Facebook and Fox News. Anybody else see a pattern here?

[gailtate]

I don't think it's reasonable to be anti-mask.

I think it is at least somewhat reasonable to doubt the efficacy of masks. As BC pointed out at the beginning of this epidemic there wasn't really compelling data either way. At present, the data favoring masks is still not conclusive to the point we can say how much good they do. That said, the mandate to wear them isn't some kind of conspiracy to limit our freedom. It is the best estimate at present of what we can do to limit the spread of the disease given what we know now. It isn't political.
We all have to follow regulations and laws with which we may have some doubts. They may be "incorrect" in some sense. However, in order to make society "work", we have to comply. It is perfectly fine to think masks aren't very useful. It is not perfectly fine to not wear them. It may turn out that at the end of they day they didn't help much, but as of now they required. That is just how it is.

If we could just look at this on a risk- benefit scale, it would be so much easier.

I'll admit, I don't spend a ton of time obsessing over COVID and updating my knowledge to the latest findings. Last I had heard, there was a lot of data supporting the idea that masks will at least reduce spread, and some that show no benefit. So on the whole, much more likely they are positive impact than no/negative impact. But I'll concede that when all is said and done, we may find that mask wearing had negligible direct impact (though maybe had indirect impact of making/reinforcing people being more careful in their daily interactions to reduce spread). And I'll concede that there may be (very rare) cases of people who would experience personal harm in wearing a mask. But given that the current best science is that masks reduce spread and keep other people safe, there's no justification for going out and about without one, unless you have a legitimate medical reason not to wear one (I'm not even aware of what this might be).

The (few) people I know who have problems with masks have these things in common: they are knee-jerk skeptics about anything having to do with public/government institutions and Democrats; and they spend a lot of time on Facebook and Fox News. Anybody else see a pattern here?