Among the greatest debates of 2020, ranking up there with the validity of controversial presidential election polls, is whether or not wearing a mask or face covering prevents the spread of COVID-19. Proponents on both sides of the contentious issue insist they are right and spout “facts” to back up their claims. It’s no wonder, then, that so many Americans are torn, confused, and distrustful whenever so-called specialists open their mouths.
The media and local governments have done a bang-up job of terrifying citizens by threatening their certain death or that of Grandma Betty, who will surely die horribly because of their selfishness in not wearing a mask. And now it appears the conformists have added another big one to their list of accomplishments: The National Retail Federation (NRF) has successfully convinced leading retail chains to refuse service to maskless customers.
Wear Your Damn Mask
The NRF said in a press release, “Shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right. If a customer refuses to adhere to store policies, they are putting employees and other customers at undue risk.” At the onset of recommending (not requiring) face masks, people had the choice of refusing to shop where they were made to feel like lepers for not covering their faces. But freedom and liberty are now in short supply, so those not inclined to the mask apparently have to grow their own food and sew their own clothes.
Walmart is the most recent giant retailer to mandate mask-wearing for its customers. In an announcement, it said the new requirement will go into effect on Monday, July 20. And while progressive state governments are screaming to defund the police, the discount retailer has created its own law enforcement: a mask enforcer. Called the health ambassador, this person will wear a black polo shirt and be positioned at stores’ entrances to make sure all customers conform. The new security employees will receive special training to “help make the process as smooth as possible for customers.”
Costco Wholesale was the first to turn its customers into sheep, requiring face masks since May. Recently, Best Buy and Starbucks joined the campaign against maskless customers. The NRF stated, “The health and safety of associates and customers is retailers’ number one priority and wearing a face covering or mask is scientifically proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
Is it, though? Scientifically proven? As Liberty Nation’s Pennel Bird asked:
“Why is it the average American doesn’t know about any of the real science behind the mostly useless muzzles they are browbeaten into wearing at virtually every moment outside their homes? The answer to that is a disturbing meditation on the acquisition and exercise of raw power in 2020.”
And if you need even more “scientific” proof, remember when Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization (WHO) said during a news briefing at the U.N. agency’s Geneva headquarters:
“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual. It’s very rare.”
But before you could take that “fact” to the bank, another WHO authority scrambled to the media microphone to backtrack the doctor’s words since they didn’t support the narrative du jour. No wonder we’re confused.
So if wearing masks saves lives, then from what? A virus that has nearly a 99% recovery rate? A disease with inflated and skewed numbers of infected and dead? But certainly, amid all the chaos of conflicting advice and oppositional data, we all have suffered two great losses: our freedom and our liberty.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
