“Our body, our choice” anti masking folks chanted. I would bet good money many of the same folks are “pro life” when it comes to women’s healthcare, too, not realizing the irony.
Some will try to convince (distract) you from wearing a mask saying it isn’t healthy, but medical workers wear them all the time without harm. So why is it wearing a mask is such a flash point? How many of your friends or family have to get sick before you wake up?
As the numbers of Covid cases rise in Hamilton County, the one thing we could do to open up the economy, safely, and reduce the number of infections is everyone wear a mask. It has absolutely nothing to do with politics. This is public safety, period.
When mandatory seat belt laws were enacted it wasn’t to own the libs or the cons, it was meant to save lives. Folks screamed “my choice” then, too...but it worked, with fines, at reducing the number of deaths in automobile accidents.
The problem we have now, since some folks are refusing to mask, is some elected officials are too timid or incompetent to do the same, temporarily, with masks. (Our governor and county mayor are examples). In fact Chattanooga’s mayor mandated masks but was overruled by the Hamilton County mayor several weeks ago. Many new infections or deaths since can be traced to Mr. Coppinger’s decision.
And a quick note to businesses. If you don’t require masks for employees and customers, there are many of us who will not spend a dime in your store. If you don’t care about us why should we support you?
There are many folks, and you might be one, that aren’t symptomatic or are pre-symptomatic and aren’t aware they are spreading a deadly disease. Wearing a mask protects others from your germs...not you from others. However, to do that you have to actually care about someone other than yourself...realize masking isn’t about rights or freedom, just basic caring about your friend, neighbor, Mom, Dad, child or grandparent.
Using the excuse that it’s your “right” to put other people at risk is selfish, self centered and dangerous to the entire community.
Randy Price
Hixson
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Thank you so much, Mr. Price, for being concerned for my health and well being. I have a few more suggestions to add to the list of laws that should be passed in the interest of public safety.
Mandatory crash helmets for all occupants of motor vehicles, think of the lives that will save. You know while we're at it, why not crash helmets for just walking around in public? Sudden falls are a danger to us all.
Once we confiscate all firearms and register and monitor all machine shops plus computer software and hardware so we can make sure no one manufactures any home workshop guns then we can move on to making Major League Baseball only use Nerf bats and balls to prevent those dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands. Then we may as well mandate that all knives must be manufactured with blunt tips and edges that must pass government dullness tests before sale to the sheeple lest we accidentally shear ourselves.
Mandatory vaccinations for all regardless of religion, self determination or just being down right scared of getting the latest experimental cure-all from our quack, I mean respected scientists and doctors. We all know Uncle Sam would never use any of us citizens, military personnel or prison population to test experimental drugs, defoliants or nuclear fallout on.
You know Mr. Price we can get as stupid with all this and take it as far as you and like minded accolytes want too. With the help of our friends in broadcast media we're sure to win first prize in the contest of countries that started out free and then fell into politically correct, self censoring house arrest.
Please sir by all means practice your right to pursue all of the above so you can prevent your own demise and live forever but kindly leave me out of your plans. If you are protecting yourself from the big scary world by wearing a mask then why should I wear one? I promise I'll sneeze into my elbow or down my shirt or when I am in my new age yoga class I'll sneeze into the back of my knee.
I do recommend you read the first and fourth amendments in the United States Constitution, you'll discover it talks about personal freedom, freedom from onerous knee-jerk proposals and undue interference from our elected government. I don't wear a mask. I practice normal daily hygiene. You know hand washing, showers and I have faith the Lord will watch over me and someday take me from this world when He is ready. If you want to be afraid of life and not enjoy the little things, like breathing straight through your nose without sifting the air through a chemically contaminated, man made mask shipped all the way from that bastion of idyllic socialism China, laced with who knows what kind of bacteria and disease, then that is your choice but don't force it on me. You are right about one thing, I am pro-life because I don't believe man or woman should decide if the life in her womb is unfit to live.
Best regards and by the way I have an unopened bottle of SPF factor 3150 sunscreen you can have if you want it. Guaranteed to bounce those rays right back to the sun.
Mathew Hopkins
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To the respondent of this opinion piece, the mandate to wear masks is not to protect you from yourself, it is to protect others from you if you are infected and contagious. As a several weeks previous opinion writer wrote, liberty without responsibility isn’t worth much. He also noted he has served in the military and knows a bit about duty.
The mandate for wearing masks is issued to a populace that is about four percent of the world’s population yet about 25 percent of the world’s Covid cases.
If you wish to educate yourself on history, the National Institute for Health has a good account of 102 years ago with a flu pandemic. There were then as now two schools of thought, one of mask wearing prudent behaviors and the other of liberty from such tyranny. This is not a natural disaster. When those happen, curfews and rationing go into effect. In 1918 medical professionals were given charge of municipalities because that pandemic had such a mortality rate. This time most leaders are following epidemiology and hence the head butting that some naysayers adhere to.
It has nothing to do with tyranny, it is for public health, that is, the common good. A lesson could be with Hong Kong - 1,200 cases in a population of 7.5 million is their count. They did not shut commerce, dining out or mass transit. They did what they had to do years prior in the SARS pandemic. They are still doing it, they wear masks.
Prentice Hicks
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If some knows or thinks they have the virus and still insist on going out in public to weddings, parties, churches or anywhere else, should they be held responsible if they spread it to other people?
There are laws on the books in several countries and states on spreading infections such as HIV and other diseases that carry up to seven years in jail.
Should that same thing include COVID-19?
HIV has been with us for many years and has killed 35 million people worldwide. We have had over 575,000 that have died worldwide in about six months.
As the saying goes "Follow the money." There are several theories about the virus and most of us have them all from being fake news to China sending it over here. The best one I have heard was that God put it on us to get rid of the infidels. The man who told me this said, "I can't get it because i am a man of God." So I asked him if God was a racist because it was killing more Blacks, Hispanics and Asians than anyone else. He did not have an answer for that.
So as for myself and the safety of others, if you see me out, I will be wearing a mask and social distancing.
A lot of stores sell a plastic face shield that will serve the same purpose that won't affect anyone's breathing so no one has an excuse. Everyone please wear one of some kind.
Jerry McClendon
Soddy Daisy