The wearing of masks has been shown to be effective (for example, see this study) at preventing community spread of the coronavirus. It saves both the mask wearer and others nearby. Yet, there is a significant number of politicians in powerful roles with the ability to shape public opinion who believe that masks (and other virus prevention tactics) are unnecessary. Sadly, trump made this a partisan issue. So, no-maskers are from one party.
The prediction that nearly 100,000 LIVES CAN BE SAVED if over 90% of Americans wear masks has been widely known. Not sure they got the memo and shared it on right-wing radio and TV networks.
Biden often refers to masks as (1) the right thing to do to help others (altruism) and (2) the patriotic thing to do.
Trumpsters define patriotism differently. They liked (and still like, according to election results) the “disrupter” mode of governing. To them, chaotic disruption, tearing down institutions, is patriotic.
The psychology of mask wearing is a parallel exercise in disruption. Nobody is going to tell no-maskers what to do, even if it means saving their lives and the lives of their families. The contortions required to make being ignorant and wanting to die and helping others to die as “freedom” defy rationality. This must be reversed.
Biden appeals to our altruism, selflessness and helping others making it sound as if these attributes are a source of pride in our shared culture. I think he overestimates its prevalence. Caring for others is on the wane in one of the two Americas. When over 70 million voters think the virus creates no present danger to themselves or their families, too many of us appear heartless and ignorant.
Political pundits refer to the American form of a democratic republic as a grand experiment. Trump and his wrecking crew effectively gutted that democracy by ignoring norms of decency and tradition breaking laws (ignoring court orders, agency secretaries operating illegally, etc.) without consequences to date.
We are also now engaged in a great social experiment to test whether or not we can control the coronavirus begun in 2020.
Daily new cases hit 160,000. Total cases in the 10 months since the pandemic began in the U.S. — 11,307,313, with 248,550 deaths (NBC News).
Graph from New York Times
As hard as the work fatigue is, the “societal fatigue” is harder, said (Nathan) Hatton, the Utah pulmonary specialist. He is tired of walking out of an ICU where COVID-19 has killed another patient, and walking into a grocery store where he hears people saying it doesn’t exist. Health-care workers and public-health officials have received threats and abusive messages accusing them of fearmongering. They’ve watched as friends have adopted Donald Trump’s lies about doctors juking the hospitalization numbers to get more money. They’ve pleaded with family members to wear masks and physically distance, lest they end up competing for ICU beds that no longer exist. “Nurses have been the most trusted profession for 18 years in a row, which is now bullshit because no one is listening to us,” (Whitney) Neville (Iowa-based nurse) said.
from The Atlantic
No One Is Listening to Us by Ed Yong
At WBI, we’ve seen rationality tossed aside when bullies come to dominate talented others who trigger their envy and jealousy. On one hand, I can explain the insistence by no-maskers to be ignorant and defiant, but not justify it.
Neither can I accept it. The resistance to social responsibility must stop if we are ever to curb the virus. The majority, backed by the science of disease transmission, should be able to wrest control of the narrative and demand compliance to save American lives. Social psychology demonstrates the formal power of obedience to commands. Resistance dissolves to compliance when directed by a perceived strong authority (trump wears no mask, neither must I, but if he did, they would follow). To date, however, no-maskers resist public health mandates because trump has told them to believe him, not the scientists (authorities to make-wearing Americans) or politicians who support science (e.g., Gov. Whitmer in Michigan).
Exploiting conformity is a less formal and potentially successful method to reverse the no-maskers. Research shows that people mindlessly copy others. The power of social media “influencers” to attract followers who then buy suggested products.
With trumpsters, look at the numbers of red hats, t-shirts, flags (doubled up and stuck into truck (yes, it’s always trucks) bed posts to show support for their favorite authoritarian (faux “strong man”)). They are desperate for an identity and voluntarily, proudly conform. They are hoping to obtain “strength” from a “leader.” They inadvertently clone themselves, believing themselves to unique. They are conformists.
Biden and the majority have to harness the power of conformity. Give the public a model of strength (not conciliation or mediation or middle of the road, the leader need not be Biden himself), position mask wearing as reclaiming the power that others tried to take from you (aggrieved white folks, both men and women), and watch public behaviors (forget attitude) change.
COVID thrust upon us unexpected challenges. As Biden said, we have passed these public health tests in the past. Now, we have to master the social challenge and crush the no-masker movement. We have to do it to save our lives. Though they won’t thank us, we will save their lives, too. Right now we are failing the social test.
