I made this argument back when the first mandates were happening. I don’t recall any major uproar about seat belts yet for some reason it’s a big deal when we do the same thing for masks.
The craziest part of it is to me is that seat belts basically only affect the person wearing it, but masks affect both the person wearing it and the people around them. So if anything it makes more sense for masks to be mandated over seat belts.
And not just seat belts, we already mandate clothing in the form of public exposure/indecency laws. And that doesn’t even have any tangible effect on anything. Technically we could all be running around naked but I don’t see any uproar about that either. I can at least somewhat understand wanting freedom and/or autonomy but the people complaining aren’t even consistent about it.
When I brought up seatbelts to anti maskers they usually told me they didn’t think the government should be allowed to tell them to wear a seatbelt either. These people are idiots who will fight against self preservation on principle, bless their hearts.
Bonus drinking and driving from the '60s
Oh it was the same uproar (it’s uncomfortable, it will harm me, we’ve never had to do this before, I can’t breathe, my religion says I shouldn’t, etc.) but at least that was a bit more in face about saving your life.
Masks… Ugh.
