Sunday, February 28
If you don’t want to be called an “Eugenics Collaborator,” then wear a mask!
I have given some thought to my recent categorization of non-maskers as “virus terrorists” and I hope terrorists everywhere will forgive my appropriation of their hideous behavior. My bestowal on anti-maskers of the term they have worked so hard to give historical legitimacy should not have been casually handed out like a Golden Globe trophy.
In fact, the dismaying behavior of anti-maskers during the pandemic is closer to that of those who unfortunately connive and consort with any invasion of one’s community, e.g., people in France and Holland during World War II who were perfectly comfortable collaborating with the Nazis who had invaded their countries.
The covid virus is an enemy of all human beings on this planet, and anyone who voluntarily facilitates the transmission of this virus should more accurately be categorized as a collaborator; that term should be applied without hesitation to those who refuse to wear masks.
What is their motive, though? As I walked over to Page Against the Machine bookstore this afternoon, it occurred to me that the preference of right-wingers to challenge the wearing of masks is a reflection of “rugged individualism.” The strong — and only the strong — deserve to survive, The weak deserve to perish. It is a way to cull the herd.
As I was talking to the bookstore’s owner, Chris Giaco, our faces lit up as we simultaneously had the same idea: it’s not true that conservative Republicans don’t believe in science. They profoundly believe in it. It’s just that their science is called “eugenics.”
Chris and I had talked about how lovely it was to talk in person, face to face, and how the conversation we had just had about the politics of the pandemic never would led us to the realizations that we mutually hit upon if we had been texting each other. It was the kind of insight that happens with in person, instantaneous exchanges of words.
Thank you, Chris. If you live in Long Beach, please support his store, which is right next to Gusto Bakery!
PAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE BOOKSTORE
2714 E 4th Street
Long Beach, CA 90814
Phone: (562) 588-7075
(Open Tuesday through Sunday)
About Bill Mohr