One of the most successful efforts to unite right-wing voters during COVID was the irrational rejection of face masks in the name of “freedom.” Proud Republicans strongly objected to government suggestions and some institutions requiring masks so that people could avoid getting the virus.
These independent-minded Americans were superficially expressing their strength, superior knowledge, and right to risk getting sick if they wanted to – “the government can’t tell me what to do.”
I have a right-wing close relative, who like many, was told how superior and independent he was by his favorite media sources and rejected masks. He got COVID and spent at least 10 days in the ICU and was lucky to survive.
But who paid for his chest-thumping independence which cost in the range $20 to $30K for his hospital stay?
Since he was over 65, Medicare paid the bill.
Independence? More like extreme government dependence. He depended on the government that he so disliked. But he seemed to be blind to his own hypocrisy.
Beyond his sticking taxpayers with the bill, all his pride and independence must have quickly evaporated when he was laid up in the ICU like a child dependent on his mother, being nursed back to health by compassionate nurses. Nurses and caretakers even endangered their own health by tending to his needs.
He had multiple brothers and sisters who took a more rational approach to the disease and who did not get COVID.
But we can ask “What is rational about wearing masks to stop the spread of disease?” Here is a simple answer.
Every surgeon and operating room worker is required to wear masks to stop passing on infections to patients and this has been the case for many decades.
How many of these independent-minded people would like to undergo surgery with surgeons and nurses coughing into their open wounds during surgery. I would wager that the answer is “none.”
Face masks obviously stop the spread of disease – both viral or bacterial.
But these same proud people demanded to fly with one or two hundred others on a plane for hours and refused to wear masks based on listening to a constant stream of right-wing disinformation. Many would rather risk getting sick and dying in the extreme pain of respiratory distress than ignore the false claims of right-wing media.
Some anti-VAX conservatives are also documented as requesting a COVID shot when they were dying in the ICU when it was unfortunately too late to save them. Most people could be sympathetic to such a tragic situation.
So, what was the result of my relative’s close encounter with death? He remains a true believer in right-wing disinformation.
Soldiers at war are heroically willing to die when they believe their cause is just. Many Republicans were willing to risk their lives with COVID based on their beliefs and cultural identity.
But unlike fallen soldiers, there seemed to be little honor or respect from their fellow right-wingers. There were no medals, no buglers, no presentation of flags to loved ones, or admission of guilt or regret by the right-wing media whose disinformation about vaccines and face masks put their lives in danger.
Theirs was an unacknowledged war as these sad culture warriors simply faded away.
