I messed up again. Yesterday I wrote that Senator Al Novstrup had shown some civic responsibility in following the Board of Regents rules for wearing a mask indoors at the February 6 crackerbarrel at NSU. I even posted a screen shot of Senator Novstrup in his mask to show how he has renounced his “masks are for show” rule-breaking at the first crackerbarrel and decided to serve as a role model of good, simple pandemic prevention.
Silly me—Al still isn’t a role model. He’s the same ass as always, hewing to his party propaganda instead of the common good. It turns out the handout he made a point of distributing to crackerbarrel attendees was actually obsolete information trying to discount the usefulness of masks:
In opening comments before the session, Downs reminded all in attendance that the university and board of regents policy is to require the use of face coverings and encouraged all to wear masks while seated in the auditorium.
District 3 Sen. Al Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, distributed a handout prior to the cracker barrel that included current COVID-19 statistics for the state and an article published April 1, 2020, by the Center for Infections Disease Research and Policy. That article questioned the effectiveness of masks because of limited data.
Current information from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy lists mask wearing as one way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 [Elisa Sand, “Legislators Asked About Need-Based Scholarship, Alternative Education at Crackerbarrel {paywall},” Aberdeen American News, 2021.02.07].
The president of the university hosting the event reminds everyone of the importance of wearing masks to prevent the spread of disease, and Senator Novstrup spreads outdated information to undercut that public official’s useful message. So much for setting a good example.
To be clear, as I noted in a comment yesterday, the latest science (as well as most of the preceding science) shows that amidst the coronavirus pandemic, wearing masks saves lives and saves money:
— face masks were 79% effective in preventing transmission, if they were used by all household members prior to symptoms occurring;
— the use of masks was strongly protective, with a risk reduction of 70% for those that always wore a mask when going out;
— transmission was 7.5 times higher in countries that did not have a mask mandate;
— the difference between U.S. states with mask mandates and those without found that the daily growth rate was 2 percentage points lower in states with mask mandates, estimating that the mandates had prevented 230,000 to 450,000 COVID-19 cases by last May 22;
— face masks have a large reduction effect on infections and fatalities, with a potential impact on U.S. GDP of $1 trillion if a nationwide mask mandate were implemented; and
— the marginal benefit per cloth mask worn to be in the range from $3,000 to $6,000 [Liz Spear, “UCLA Public Health Researchers: Mask Mandates Save Lives, Money,” Patch, 2021.01.18].
If Senator Novstrup were a responsible public official, his handout would have included that up-to-date information to help keep the public safe. Instead, Novstrup focuses on distributing misleading information meant to keep his party leaders and his prejudices safe.
My article yesterday favorably noting Senator Novstrup’s compliance with NSU’s mask rule gave the false impression that Senator Novstrup can learn and show genuine concern about science and pandemic safety. I regret the error.
Related, perhaps, is news that Rep Aylward has tested positive for the virus. I’m guessing he will not be the last legislator to test positive before sine die.
My daughter has been wearing a mask in China since she was a student there during the SARS outbreak in 2003. There’s a long history of mask-wearing during flu season in Asian countries, and there is long history of data to show that masks slow down the transmission of disease. People tend to put on masks when they get sniffles. They don’t do that to protect themselves. They do it to protect others from any droplets or aerosols that they might be emitting. But, of course, American culture focuses on “Me,” so protecting others from “Me” transmitting the disease to someone else does not occur to people. An American’s focus is firmly on the first person singular, and the plural, whether first person, second person or third person, let alone the second or third person singular, is the only thing that matters. We are a sick, sick culture. Our inability to get control of Covid reflects as much on our culture, as on the virus that causes the disease. Covid, it seems, is showing how superior Chinese culture is to American culture. It’s as if cultures are being naturally selected, and we are headed for the dustbin of history.
Good factual comment, Pay! The “Me” culture you speak of is primarily what gives us the 2nd Amendment ‘cameo crazies’ and the Maga crew that so defiled our Capitol with battering rams, hockey sticks, crutches, fire extinguishers, bear spray, feces and urine! They wouldn’t have even been there if it hadn’t been for the King of “ME” or should I say “Maga” inviting them over a period of months to “come to Washington on Jan 6 and fight! “Ir will be WILD!”
Impeachment trial starts in Senate tomorrow in fron of 45 Republican jurors, already stating ahead
of the trial, that their minds are already made up to vote “NOT Guilty” before the trial even starts!
Oh Justice “Where art thou?!”
Thank you for sharing this, Donald Pay. The notion of “individual” and “individualism” itself takes on a considerably different connotation in Chinese philosophy than it does in western cultures, especially, as you note, as it does in the US. “Freedom” in the US veers too often toward “license” to do whatever one pleases.
https://iep.utm.edu/ind-chin/
“Impeachment trial tomorrow” where we hold public officials accountable for political misleading.
“Trump’s Senate impeachment trial is a referendum on voters’ constitutional responsibility, writes @steve_vladeck.
We, the people, can and should hold our elected representatives accountable for not taking the Constitution seriously.”
https://nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-senate-impeachment-trial-referendum-voters-constitutional-responsibility-ncna1256982
The name of Noem: Personal Irresponsibility in the Name of Freedom.