There’s no connection between “right wing thinking” and misunderstanding of masks. This is just a continuation of labeling anyone who questions anything from the government or ‘official NGO’ bodies as ‘right wing conspiracy theorists’.
There’s a connection between misunderstanding of masks, and the inability of governments and health organizations to put out consistent and non-conflicting guidelines involving social distancing, which IS arguable effective, and mask use which is less arguably effective, and now the new big pharma wundervaccine.
We’ve gone from “masks do nothing don’t buy them!” to “just kidding they’re the only thing that will save you!” to “actually you need two masks!”. The wundervaccine narrative went from “if you want to stop wearing a mask you’ll need to get the vaccine!” to “even if you get the vaccine you’ll have to keep wearing a mask!” and “more vaccines might be needed”.
I understand the need to trot out that security blanket strawman and misrepresent anything right wing as backwards and uneducated, but there is a lot of valid criticism from both sides of the spectrum about the “official guidelines” and dismissing it all as ‘right-wing bunk’ reeks of corporate American media propaganda, but maybe we shouldn’t looking for much more from a dude who beats off to an arm of the US military-industrial complex.
The connection between right wing thinking and misunderstanding masks is easy, friendo. They both revolve around the immediate concern of “how does this benefit or inconvenience me personally?” 9 times out of 10, if someone online is under the false belief that the purpose of masks is to reduce your personal chances of catching the virus, I have found they are a right winger. The thought process goes:
1. “This doesn’t reduce my own chances, as the evidence shows.”
2. “I consider this an inconvenience to myself.”
3. “Personal benefit not worth the inconvenience, I will now make anti-mask rants on social media.”
At no point is there even a faint concern for others, or the hint of an idea that the masks are not to benefit yourself. The idea that a personal inconvenience for yourself will lower the chances of fatal infections to more vulnerable people around yourself apparently too alien a concept to grasp.
Also, implications of poor education or understanding of science and the world is not strawman. Inability to grasp scientific principles is a relevant direction for argument when discussing viral transmission, period. If I called you ugly, when discussing Covid, that would be strawman. Saying you don’t know what you’re talking about is not a strawman. When you argue with doctors and immunologists, billions of dollars of research and over a year of practical observations with sample sizes of whole countries, then your lack of understanding or education is not a strawman attack, it is an entirely relevant point.
Now, I’m sorry your government put out conflicting and poor quality information for the last year, but you voted for them (I would assume). Mine hasn’t been much better, but at least they’ve been clear on masks, because Europeans didn’t turn a piece of cloth or paper into a major political issue.
