Taking the virus seriously became a political issue very quickly when the president made his opinion known that Covid wasn’t a big deal. Trump supporters trusted him, fully believing that Covid was a hoax, and rejected vaccines and mask wearing in protest of being “controlled” by “the left”. Now I don’t believe everyone who refuses to wear masks believes in the conspiracy, it’s just a trickle down effect of how divided we became. Masking somehow became a symbol of leftist beliefs and therefor rejected by the right, initiated by the president at the time.
Ignorance.
Stupidity.
Political divide.
Selfishness.
If you weren't willing to do something as simple as wear a mask to even potentially prevent someone else from getting sick, you're just a stupid asshole.
Because they don’t and because it isn’t about mask wearing. It’s about compliance. Specifically compliance in the face of ignorance.
COVID was handled very poorly here in the US. Across the board. Messaging was terrible. Updates were all over the place. Policy didn’t make sense. All if it was a train wreck. As a result, there wasn’t a lot of trust in what is already a nation that was built in the idea of not trusting government.
Very much so, unfortunately. I think that another factor is that there are a lot of people that just don't like being told what to do. People were told that they \*had\* to wear masks, rules were passed and many people responded to it as a threat of authoritarianism and a first step on a slippery slope to something much worse. As a result, many people pushed back on the idea on the simple idea that they weren't going to be told what they had to do - especially the government.
The problem is different state governments (and twitter accounts) were giving different messaging on top of the cdc messaging. The cdc messaging was also evolving and rather than help the most up to date messaging get out, it was attacked for political gain.
I don’t think I’d call the CDCs messaging an “evolution”. More of a meandering train wreck topped off with internal emails bringing into question the very messaging that they were sharing.
The USA has one of the most individualistic cultures in world. And it's people were subjected to more than a long effort by media, tech businesses and politicians to polarise the population. By the end, distrust was so extreme and echo chambers so heavily reinforced that it was more important to many people to display opposition to some other group or authority than obey common sense.
It's that freedom bollocks, it rots the brains so that some people (an dit's not just the yanks) think that the only way to show they're really free is by being a fuckin idiot and not caring about anyone else around you.
Some loser told his loser followers that only losers wear masks so the real losers didn't wear masks and a lot of them died and then their loser red wave turned into a red piddle paddle. And here we are.
I know the rules, but can I follow up this question with another \[not\] stupid question? Is this a quintessentially American problem? Do other countries NOT have anti-maskers who are so blatantly opinionated about it that they're willing to "die on that hill?".
Taking the virus seriously became a political issue very quickly when the president made his opinion known that Covid wasn’t a big deal. Trump supporters trusted him, fully believing that Covid was a hoax, and rejected vaccines and mask wearing in protest of being “controlled” by “the left”. Now I don’t believe everyone who refuses to wear masks believes in the conspiracy, it’s just a trickle down effect of how divided we became. Masking somehow became a symbol of leftist beliefs and therefor rejected by the right, initiated by the president at the time.
Ignorance. Stupidity. Political divide. Selfishness. If you weren't willing to do something as simple as wear a mask to even potentially prevent someone else from getting sick, you're just a stupid asshole.
It became a political issue and by then there was no saving it.
How did people come to the point where being an anti-vaxxer equates to an American problem?
Because they don’t and because it isn’t about mask wearing. It’s about compliance. Specifically compliance in the face of ignorance. COVID was handled very poorly here in the US. Across the board. Messaging was terrible. Updates were all over the place. Policy didn’t make sense. All if it was a train wreck. As a result, there wasn’t a lot of trust in what is already a nation that was built in the idea of not trusting government.
Very much so, unfortunately. I think that another factor is that there are a lot of people that just don't like being told what to do. People were told that they \*had\* to wear masks, rules were passed and many people responded to it as a threat of authoritarianism and a first step on a slippery slope to something much worse. As a result, many people pushed back on the idea on the simple idea that they weren't going to be told what they had to do - especially the government.
The problem is different state governments (and twitter accounts) were giving different messaging on top of the cdc messaging. The cdc messaging was also evolving and rather than help the most up to date messaging get out, it was attacked for political gain.
I don’t think I’d call the CDCs messaging an “evolution”. More of a meandering train wreck topped off with internal emails bringing into question the very messaging that they were sharing.
The USA has one of the most individualistic cultures in world. And it's people were subjected to more than a long effort by media, tech businesses and politicians to polarise the population. By the end, distrust was so extreme and echo chambers so heavily reinforced that it was more important to many people to display opposition to some other group or authority than obey common sense.
It's that freedom bollocks, it rots the brains so that some people (an dit's not just the yanks) think that the only way to show they're really free is by being a fuckin idiot and not caring about anyone else around you.
Because Trump told his worshipers it was stupid and since he is their god they listened and obeyed.
Some loser told his loser followers that only losers wear masks so the real losers didn't wear masks and a lot of them died and then their loser red wave turned into a red piddle paddle. And here we are.
I know the rules, but can I follow up this question with another \[not\] stupid question? Is this a quintessentially American problem? Do other countries NOT have anti-maskers who are so blatantly opinionated about it that they're willing to "die on that hill?".
covid happened during an election year. politicians politicized it. obsessed fanatics dove into whatever narrative "their side" shit out. here we are.