I don't see any legitimate argument against wearing masks. It's just common sense. It lowers the viral load. It adds friction between one person and another. It's not a political things - just common sense that you can empirically test for yourself. Go into a cold car with your mask on. Take your glasses and put them in front of the mask. Now blow hard. It does not fog up. Now put your glasses on and breath. They fog up immediately. The mask disperses the droplets away from other people and dilutes them in the air.
Also try the candle test.
The bottom line is the masks don't work since 90% of people getting infected where wearing a mask, they are basically useless.
"Masks can have a reasonable use-case, therefore it's not a political thing" is not a valid conclusion.
It is if it saves lives in reality. I base my actions on the probability of something being correct, not perfect information. Based on common sense and observable evidence, the likelihood of it being effective is high. Cost-benefit analysis weighs in its favor.
For a year I have not gotten sick with anything, no cold, no flu, no covid. Highly unlikely. Mask and distance probably did the trick.
@rway Yes, Democrats have turned masks into a political weapon, but they do that with everything. It does not follow that just because Democrats exploit various aspects of COVID-19 that masks don't have some level of protection. People spit when they talk. That is obvious. Spit contributes to spread. Wearing a mask cuts that down. It does not mean you can't catch the bug, just that the overall probability of getting it is reduced. Similar to wearing seat belts. Some people wearing seat belts will die anyway, but wearing them statistically reduces the deaths or injuries overall.
It is not worth it to me to fight wearing a mask just on political grounds. Many people I know who scoffed at wearing masks have gotten covid. It's their choice. Not mine.