Even if you were genuinely convinced that COVID-19 is statistically dangerous for children and that forcing them to wear face masks actually stopped or curbed its spread, the sight of kids in masks should be heartbreaking to you and something you'd want to see gone as quickly as possible.
So imagine what those of us who know the truth, and the utter futility of it all, feel. Countless children are suffering needlessly, and in too many places school boards and health departments continue to ignore that suffering - and the science - in the name of their newfound false face mask god.
As virus rates continue to decline and vaccination rates, especially among the elderly, continue to rise, our overlords continue to double down on the forcible masking of children. Is there something they know that we don't, or are they just doubling down on stupid for no good reason?
In case there was still any question, a prominent 'Team Reality' Twitter account who goes by the Twitter name "Omnipotent Moral Busybody" and describes himself as "one of the few remaining politically neutral social scientists" unleashed a thread for the ages on Friday that utterly demolishes the concept of masking children.
"Masking children to reduce the spread of Covid-19 is not backed by research or data," Busybody wrote. "It is a policy that should stop immediately."
Masking children to reduce the spread of Covid-19 is not backed by research or data.
— Omnipotent Moral Busybody (@OBusybody) May 7, 2021
It is a policy that should stop immediately.
Here is an infographic with over 70 citations since August, 2020. All citations are in the thread. pic.twitter.com/X62QKN4Mtz
And this guy brought receipts, more than 70 of them, primarily from mainstream medical journals and media outlets. The infographic really is a work of art, with 15 points, each backed up by multiple citations. You'll need to open his thread yourself to see and click the follow-up tweets/sources.
Speaking of Omnipotent Moral Busybodies, I'll leave you with the origin of that term, a particularly apropos quote from the great author C.S. Lewis:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.