There has been no accountability for the first round of mask mandates. No apologies. No acknowledgment that millions of people were coerced into wearing ineffective face coverings based on assumptions, hope, and political pressure rather than evidence. And now, emboldened by that lack of consequences, the same voices are back demanding we do it all again.
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Samizdata quote of the day – Mass Mask Delusion: The SequelDecember 14th, 2025 |
 25 comments to Samizdata quote of the day – Mass Mask Delusion: The SequelLeave a Reply |
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The belief that masks were ineffective and there was considerable government pressure to use them always seemed at odds to what I observed. I’ve always thought that our rulers would be rather unhappy to normalise face coverings amongst the population given their unhealthy interest in facial recognition.
Masks were utterly pointless & what I observed was the vast majority of people I know who wore them did so only because they were pressured into wearing them.
I might be talked into masking simply for the benefit of thwarting the above-mentioned facial recognition.
Might buy some hoodies, too.
> Masks were utterly pointless & what I observed…
Clearly, we have had rather different experiences!
Clearly.
@Perry de Havilland (Prague)
Masks were utterly pointless & what I observed was the vast majority of people I know who wore them did so only because they were pressured into wearing them.
I think that is more an indication of your social group than of the general public reaction. Which is why I disagree with the article’s conclusion:
I think that it is expecting a lot from people who are in no position to make an educated judgement. Does the author really think that your granny is going to read that medical study and call out her doctor on his recommendation? She probably doesn’t even know the difference between a bacteria and a virus, and wants some penicillin to cure her flu. No, the fault entirely lies with the medical profession — people we have to look to to give us guidance. We can’t and shouldn’t expect people to get their medical advice from something they read on the internet.
And, in a sense I think this is one of the very worst consequences of this mask mandate abomination. Namely the utter erosion of trust in the medical profession. They did it to themselves (the AMA is a disgrace, for example) but we NEED our doctors to tell the truth and give us good advice, because, for your average person, they simply are not qualified to judge the evidence. It is why the United States is in danger of losing its classification of having eliminated measles. Because the whole notion of vaccination, the medical discovery that has probably saved more lives than any other medical intervention, has been so utterly tarnished by the horrendous dishonestly around the Covid vaccination.
You, Perry, are lucky enough to be surrounded by smart, educated people who can stand up for themselves. Most people are not like that. Covid induced massive panic, and just like wearing a crucifix to ward off vampires, that mask left them feeling that at least they were doing “something” to protect themselves. But self delusion, or worse medical profession’s delusion is often quite deeply counterproductive. Honestly, some people should be going to jail for the massive fraud perpetrated on the public.
They would have found far better analysis.
Re: Measles – I’d look more towards unlimited, unchecked, unexamined immigration for the source of an increase in measles than I would (yet) at vax rates.
@Perry de Havilland (Prague)
They would have found far better analysis.
Would they? When grandma was browsing back issues of the New England Journal of Medicine at the library perhaps?
@bobby b
Re: Measles – I’d look more towards unlimited, unchecked, unexamined immigration for the source of an increase in measles than I would (yet) at vax rates.
Good point, nonetheless, you can’t deny that rejection of the Covid vax brings along with it rejection of many other vaccinations that have proven, over decades of research, to be extremely effective in preventing large amounts of death.
Society has decided to bifurcate into “anti-vaxer” and “I believe in science”, which is ridiculous — I am an “anti-some-vaxer” and the other half are not in fact “I believe in science” but “I believe what the government tells me” because large parts of science has shown itself happy to sacrifice their integrity to large pots of government money. And my God was that Covid pot of money really large.
If I deny that the earth is flat, am I wrong because I am causing people to question other long-held but correct and beneficial beliefs?
And, yes, at this point I am treating an unquestioning faith in the Covid vaxes as akin to flat-earth beliefs.
Maybe she should have listed to the strongly dissenting views of one of the inventors of mRNA ‘vaccines’ (they are only vaccines now because they changed the definition). If people become skeptical of proven vaccines because the same people are telling them this radically different kind of mRNA ‘vaccine’ will stop the spread, stop you getting it, and is perfectly safe, and *all* of that proved to be false… well I know who I blame for that inevitable development.
What is your point? That people are too stupid to look stuff up on the internet when a truly extraordinary intrusion into their life is happening, so they might as well just follow the herd?
Perry de Havilland (Prague)
Maybe she should have listed to the strongly dissenting views of one of the inventors of mRNA ‘vaccines’
How can she do that if they are censored and unable to tell her? Moreover, how is she to know which of the talking heads speaks truth and which does not? For every person talking about the vaccine and mask problem, there were a thousand people, with bigger, louder platforms and a string of letters after their name yelling “Danger, ignore that other guy. If you don’t want to die follow our advice.” When they go to see their personal doctor they get the same story.
What is your point? That people are too stupid to look stuff up on the internet when a truly extraordinary intrusion into their life is happening, so they might as well just follow the herd?
No, my point is that the average man in in the street is simply not qualified to judge the competing medical theories. My point is that the utter failure and dishonestly of the medical establishment is a crime of gigantic proportions and expecting regular people without medical or scientific training to be able to pick through the deception is expecting a great deal.
Any my point is that when this deception is revealed to some brave souls digging through the noise, then they think that their only choice is to judge between these competing medical theories based on their “internet research” when they simply don’t have the skills and knowledge to do so. And before you know it they think their cell phone and microwave are going to give them cancer, apple cider vinegar will cure their kid’s appendicitis, and that homeopathy is the best way to deal with their heart disease.
Which is to say — we need to be able to trust our doctors. Because, you know, I DO believe in science. That is why telling people lies in the name of science is one of the most egregious violations I can think of.
@bobbyb, sorry I got lost in your analogy. Not sure I understand it.
If that was his point, I don’t know that I could fault it.
MPAI. Most people just follow their tribe. Each tribe has its own Creed, and they mindlessly recite and follow their own. The mantra replaces knowledge.
That horse has well and truly bolted. My London GP still keep sending me periodic invitations to get flu jabs (which I have never bothered with) and covid jabs (which don’t work & in any case I actually caught Covid in 2020, so why the hell would I need a jab even if it did work? I told the practice that, makes no difference, they spam me with invites regardless).
So no, I will never listen to a medical professional without looking into what they tell me very carefully indeed.
@bobby b
MPAI. Most people just follow their tribe. Each tribe has its own Creed, and they mindlessly recite and follow their own. The mantra replaces knowledge.
That is true, but not entirely my point. My main point is to say that it is unreasonable to expect people to be able to manage their own health without professional guidance. And the result is people believing all sorts of stuff that is not only stupid but quite dangerous. You need a health issue addressed, certainly look it up. But how is the average person able to judge what is good information and what is bad? Look it up on the internet and you can find any dumb idea you like. After all, a colon cleanse solves every medical condition out there, amirite?
How, for example, was the average person supposed to know if hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment for Covid? There was SO much competing data on that subject that it was impossible to tell, or at least it was for most people.
If we can’t find a way to have the medical system be worthy of our trust again, we are going suffer a lot of unnecessary harm to our health and a lot of people will follow Steve Jobs in dying of a curable cancer because they chose a macrobiotic diet instead of real medicine.
And for sure, a starting point would be a full accountability about the Covid disaster, including preferably some people with big names going to jail, and some deeply dishonest companies going out of business. At the very least, since people like Faucci have been immunized by Biden, some congressional committees should be getting him under oath and at risk of perjury if he doesn’t tell the truth about the nightmare that was his handling of Covid. No pleading the fifth when you have a Presidential pardon in your pocket.
The post is correct – and this is to be expected.
There was no exposure and punishment for the people who smeared (lied against) effective Early Treatments for Covid. And PUNISHED medical doctors for saving lives with effective Early Treatments for Covid.
There was no exposure and punishment for the people who imposed the medically useless, indeed incredibly harmful, “lockdowns”.
There was no exposure and punishment for the people who imposed the useless cloth masks.
And there was no exposure and punishment for the people who pushed the toxic Covid “vaccines” – which were not vaccines and have killed some people.
So OF COURSE the international establishment will carry on with its agenda of world tyranny.
Why should they not do so?
I’m not sure it boils down to MPAI. Chris Whitty and his ilk are surely intelligent (although are of course highly motivated not to admit previous error). Covid vaccination rates are super high in Japan, South Korea, Singapore etc., and these countries have at least a 10 point IQ advantage compared to the UK. I think it comes down to high trust in authorities, a high degree of willingness to conform (surely a major factor in the Far Eastern countries), and soft/not so soft pressure from the state.
And even though side effects were greater for these vaccines than for others, people normally hand wave away any risk that is less than 1% (or whatever) – noting that the state encouraged people to believe the risk from Covid was very high for all age groups.
And for masks of course there is very little downside to wearing them and a huge amount of upside for people who don’t like sticking out.
I was pro-vaccine prior Covid, and believed that they were all safe and effective mostly. It was the hard push of the vaccines even though it was obvious (and confirmed by the authorities pre March 2020) that Covid was of limited danger to almost everyone except those both old and frail, that made me stop and take stock of the situation.
All round very depressing and I have since not been able to relate to people in the same way. All relationships now feel very functional. You take out of it what you can get.
To Perry and knirirr 🙂
I can’t talk about my own experience – I didn’t get the ‘rona – but my wife did. She swears by masks – she works in a big store, the staff are quite negligent and seriously poverty-struck; few wore masks and there were always 2, 3 or more with ‘rona, or about to get the ‘rona, or crawling back out from under it and still communicable… My wife is nothing if not militant, and she wore a mask with religious fervor; she could’ve taught mask-wearing classes to government bureaucrats – in Singapore. She made dozens of two-layer cloth masks, tailored to her; she wore each one of them ONE DAY, then laundered them, she doubled and tape-wrapped wire bag-ties so they’d keep a sturdy nose seal, and discarded them the instant they were the slightest bit off-white for fear of mold – you get the idea. And she didn’t get the ‘rona. Until they relaxed the mask policy and, several months later, she stopped wearing one because she’d hated them the whole time. THEN she got the ‘rona.
I’m militantly anti-mask, and for whomever is keeping count I got the initial two shots – Pfizer – and never had a booster; she has had all the above, and watches for the announcement of each new one to come out. Gotta’ go with results, I guess…
One thing I am hoping we learn from a proper inquiry into the whole COVID mess is “did more people die FROM COVID than died from the “vaccines”. I doubt we’ll ever get the data needed to reach a conclusion on that one way or the other but I hope I’m wrong.
And focusing on just short run deaths does not address the long term harms from vaccines and lockdowns.
If I ever ran into the former Governor of Washington State where I live, in payment for what he imposed on my young adult boys (locked down for several of their most important years), what those lockdowns did to teens (suicides…in my neighborhood)…if I ever ran into him…(can’t finish that sentence).
Effective Early Treatments for Covid existed – but were smeared, lied about by the establishment (government, corporate and “professional bodies”) and doctors who used them to save lives were often punished – yes punished for saving lives.
The lockdowns did NOT “save lives” – indeed they were incredibly harmful, and the harm is still working its way through society.
The cloth masks did not protect people from the Covid virus.
And the Covid “vaccines” did not prevent people getting Covid, passing on Covid, or dying of Covid.
Indeed the Covid “vaccines”, which were not vaccines, killed people – and are still killing people.
If all the above was admitted, the governments and corporate institutions of Western countries would collapse – so it can not be admitted. Hence the British “inqury” – which demanded even more insane lockdowns, and the media which trotted out people to say their relatives had died because Prime Minister Johnson had a slice of cake with people he had already been working with for 8 hours.
So that is the present situation – what may have started as innocent blunders (honest mistakes), is now a Castle of Lies, which our (mostly unelected) rulers can not allow to fall – for they would fall with it.
I wear a crucifix and I have never been attacked by a vampire. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.
On the other hand I got two covid shots plus the booster, and I got covid anyway and came THIS close to dying from it. I mean it was really a near-run thing. I had a priest at my bedside giving me last rites. I suffered lasting damage to my heart. I’ll never get another covid shot and I won’t wear a mask ever again no matter what the experts say. Been there, done that, and look what it got me — or didn’t, as the case may be. Who the hell knows or can know what’s best in these situations.
Leonardo da Vinci was said to be the last man in history to have total knowledge. And I’m no Leonardo da Vinci, not even close, not by 10,000 miles. At the end of the day it’s all just a crap shoot. But I’m not going to stop wearing my crucifix.
This isn’t exactly hard.
There’s viruses such as Measle, Mumps, Rubella, Smallpox and others which are not prone to mutation, which can (largely) prevented by a single shot.
There’s viruses such as the flu and covid, which are prone to mutation, which cannot be prevented by a single shot, but which have their viral load massively statistically reduced by having the shot, meaning that your chances of dying from it (or passing it on to someone who might themselves die from it) are massively reduced if you’re vaxxed. No-one really gives a flying one about definitions – and the technical definition of vaccine very much includes “modifies it’s chances of killing you” anyway, so anyone saying “it’s NoT a VacCiNe” is wrong anyway.
That’s it. It’s genuinely that simple. Just man up, get the shot and stop being big girls’ blouses about it.
I refer you to IrishOttar49’s comment. And then I invite you to go fuck yourself.