Hey Siri, is it over yet?
Siri: I’m not sure I understand what you mean by ‘over’.
Siri: Did you mean, “Are Anti-Masks protests over yet?”
Siri: Here’s what I found:
“…hundreds gather for anti-mask protest…” 1 week ago
“…police break up anti-lockdown protest…” 1 day ago
“…anti-masker speaks at anti-lockdown protest…” 1 hour ago
Siri can be caustic sometimes, but she’s biting at something we should be paying more attention to, and most certainly not fall trap into.
On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Fast-forward to half a year later, we’re seeing a proliferation of another kind – not a new deadly virus strand but one that holds a similar sense of potency in its lethality: Anti-mask protests.
Across the globe, large numbers of people have taken with them to the street their personal dissent on the mandatory use of face masks in garish and obtrusive fashions. Spain, Canada, France, various states across America – a simple online search of ‘anti-mask protests’ will lay out a seemingly endless list of rallies and protests held in many places around the world, with one of the most recent ones held in central London where thousands convened defiantly under official orders against it.
Even here in Japan, a country that has been widely labeled to be law-abiding and rule-obeying has shown similar symptoms of contracting a disease of ignorance and self-entitlement. Back in August, a demonstration was held by Masayuki Hiratsuka, the leader of the Popular Sovereignty Party who recently ran an almost inappreciable campaign for the Tokyo governor seat. Through his persona on YouTube, a small but conspicuous rally was organized outside Shibuya Station, a popular and highly frequented location for many. Participants, some of whom had unabashedly brought along their young infants and children, held up signs proclaiming their refusal to practice any form of social distancing and were all, unquestionably, unmasked throughout the hours-long protest.
Disinformation, fake news, baffling conspiracy theories; maybe add in “a fight for freedom, personal rights, and liberty”— you’ve got the basic ingredients for most, if not all, public rallies in protest of government measures put in place to contain the virus. Despite the WHO repeatedly issuing official guidelines urging the general public to use masks and extensive findings propagated publicly to defend claims of the benefits of wearing masks, many still find ways to ignore and disregard them, some even to the extent of skewing and distorting scientific evidence. With reports of coronavirus-positive clusters forming from such gatherings where people choose to not wear masks, it is candidly appalling — this irresponsibility that some show, and choose to do so deliberately in such perilous times. What is this freedom that we speak so highly of? Through the actions of exercising our personal rights and in our supposed defense of its sanctity, does any of it warrant an ignorant dismissal of the rights of others and their desire to keep safe in our society? Freedom is not a loose term for one to misuse.
While a good many of us (I hope) will strongly frown upon such reckless behaviors, “Is the pandemic over yet?” is perhaps the question that has been on everyone’s mind; the year’s ending and the stagnancy that is 2020 seems to be perpetually unchanging – we are tired. Tired of forgetting to wear a mask and having to walk back up to the apartment to get it; tired of turning heads when we hear a cough or sneeze somewhere; tired of our hands losing all its youthful luster to harsh sanitizers and alcohol wipes, yes, when will it be over? To that, I’m sure no one truly knows, but to lose stamina now, after all those months of conscientiously taking precautions, the ‘over’ that we have all been looking forward to will only, and surely, prolong.
Imagine all of us in a single rescue boat. Healthcare providers, government agencies, and everyone involved in the frontlines: they are desperately pumping air into the float; trying their very best to keep us safe. We all want to return back onshore, but with some of us deliberately poking holes into the boat, we somehow find ourselves sinking even before the island appears in sight – so remember to wear your masks diligently and properly, continue to safe-distance and we’ll see other back on land!