Corey J. Mahler

Now, of course, democracy is a fool’s errand and it inevitably empowers precisely those types of men who should never be anywhere near the levers of power, and, yet, seldom are those of us who have misgivings about democracy — directed both toward those who rule and those who theoretically select the members of the former class — presented with confirmation of so much of what we believe in a form so perfect as the ‘mandatory mask’ ‘laws’ now being enacted across the country (and even enforced in some places). At the very best, masks of the sort now in widespread use will somewhat slow transmission of various viruses (but, notably, not stop transmission of them); if the true goal were, as originally advanced, to ‘flatten the curse’, then, perhaps, masks would be a reasonable measure, but the current purpose of the masks, whether enforced by informal methods (e.g., peer pressure and shame [more accurately: harassment]) or formal methods (e.g., laws and fines), is removed far afield from any considerations of preventing the medical system from becoming overwhelmed. The present purpose of the masks is simply control, and I could scarcely think of a more appropriate symbolism.