Moral people don't draw attention to their virtue, but amoral people spend a lot of time...

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://stoehr.substack.com/p/moral-people-dont-draw-attention


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that it was safe for people who have been fully vaccinated to go about their business without wearing a mask outdoors as well as indoors. That sparked controversy of the kind I want to talk about today, the kind that is very, very important to the reputations of a select few members of the pundits corps but that has almost no bearing on normal people. In brief, virtue-signalling is what a few pundits talk about when they’re signalling their virtue, which isn’t virtue so much as ordinary self-centered professional ambition.

I’ll explain but before I do, let me say I’m going to wear a mask indoors (and outdoors in crowds) for the foreseeable future, because I can catch the covid even though I have been fully vaccinated. I’m going to wear a mask because my wife and I have a kid at home who is not yet eligible for vaccination. Children can get the covid, too. The last thing I want to do is catch it before giving it to her. That’s a dad’s nightmare. When will I stop wearing one? The only answer I have is this: When I feel it’s safe to stop.

In this, I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. I see plenty of mask-wearing in my part of New Haven.1 I see masks inside as well as outside, even though Connecticut’s governor has lifted the requirement for wearing them outside. I see them at the grocery store. I see them as the gas station. I see them at the dog park. I see people wearing them in their cars. Nearly everyone was wearing a mask recently during Westville’s outdoor arts festival. No one required or asked us to. We just did. Mask-wearing is a normal part of life. When will it stop? Well, it’s obvious. When safety is again a normal part of life.

Every grownup I talked to at the arts festival I just mentioned had been fully vaccinated. The topic of conversation was about feeling safe without a mask. Some did, some didn’t. That, to me, was the context for the CDC’s latest announcement. That, to me, made the CDC’s latest announcement seem reasonable. The more people are vaccinated, the less likely it is for the covid to spread. The less it spreads, the less risk the public is going to face. Those who are more risk-averse, like me, can keep doing what we’ve been doing without much inconvenience. After all, mask-wearing is so internalized some expect it to return periodically, as the flu season comes and goes.

*snip*

[Siwsan]

1. I really hope that the fully vaccinated who stop masking don't mask shame those of us who don't.

I've read some really disturbing mixed signals from some on DU, but figure maybe people are still finding their way and reacting without seeing the big picture some of us face.

From what we've already experienced, we will know if there is going to be a spike in about 3 weeks, or less.

I have a check up in 3 weeks. I'll definitely be wearing a mask at the clinic, that's for sure.

[maxsolomon]

5. For many, there isn't a choice. Businesses still require indoor masking in my Liberal Bubble.

I'll admit: I'm fucking sick of wearing them. But I do it, and I haven't said shit to the unmasked in 14 months.

Is your clinic still requiring masks? I bet they are.

[Siwsan]

8. You know, I should have asked, but regardless, I'd still wear one.

I really don't mind wearing them. For the very little shopping I do, I am switching over to the store bought, blue 'paper' masks. They are a little more comfortable.

I haven't encountered very few unmasked shoppers in my lovely Blue oasis. No doubt that will change.

[roamer65]

6. Fuck them if they do.

[msongs]

2. umm who was it that said if u want to pray go in the closet and shut the door instead of making

a specatcle of your self in public places

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Ain't that the truth. nt

[keithbvadu2]

4. Proclaiming it often

In my volunteer work, I was in the supervisor's office when a patient came in to complain about another volunteer. Sprinkled profusely throughout his tirade was the statement: "I'm a Christian."
He was most generous in proclaiming it.
One of our other patients, who lived across the street from him, said he was fired from a government job for stealing.

[maxsolomon]

7. I've heard that a lot from Homeless folk.

I think they believe it establishes their sincerity and good intentions.