The return of the masque

Edgar Allen Poe wrote the “Masque of the Red Death” in the early 1840s.  In this short story,  Prince Prospero attempts to avoid the plague by hiding behind the walls of his abbey.  He is joined by a number of nobles and ladies who host a masquerade ball.  A strange guest, dressed in red, appears out of nowhere.  Prospero chases after the stranger and corners him.  He then tries to “unmask” his guest and dies in horror when he discovers nothing is there behind the mask.  Eventually, all of Prospero’s guests succumb to the Red Death.  Regardless of the interpretations of the story, it is a cautionary tale about trying to hide from the realities of the real world.  

All of a sudden there is another COVID variant.  Among the various government suggestions is “mask up” to protect yourself.  There are, of course, new modRNA vaxxes on the way but resistance is increasing because of the growing concerns about the tie between the COVID vaxxes and human injury and death.  However, history has a lesson of two to add to the situation when it comes to masks:  

The 1918 Spanish flu and its companion, bacterial pneumonia, killed about 50 million people worldwide.  To protect against the spread, people were often required to wear masks in public and, according to the Red Cross at the time, “the man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slacker” – sounds familiar doesn’t it.  An “Anti-Mask League” was formed in response and the basic complaints were that the masks were uncomfortable, ineffective and bad for business – sounds familiar doesn’t it.  

 In a 1919 report, the Surgeon General of the US Navy stated, “No evidence was presented which would justify compelling persons at large to wear masks during an epidemic. The mask is designed only to afford protection against a direct spray from the mouth of the carrier of pathogenic microorganisms … Masks of improper design, made of wide-mesh gauze, which rest against the mouth and nose, become wet with saliva, soiled with the fingers, and are changed infrequently, may lead to infection rather than prevent it, especially when worn by persons who have not even a rudimentary knowledge of the modes of transmission of the causative agents of communicable diseases.”  (in the Poe story, the Red Death was wearing the mask and Prospero died in horror when he removed the mask and released the plague.  Maybe Prospero should have left well enough alone.)

The currently available N95 Masks are much “better” than the old gauze masks, but the problems of wet saliva, soiled fingers, infrequent changes and toxic TVOC materials exist.  Thus, bacterial pneumonia which follows the COVID viral infection is still a significant issue.  (As Prospero and his guests discovered, you can’t hide from the real world, and disease is part of the real world.)  By the way, has anybody masked a pet or the squirrels  running around outside?

As it was during the 1918 Spanish flu, it is much the same today. For example, a number of colleges and universities are now requiring entering students to mask up.  Large gatherings are being banned.   Like Prospero’s abbey, the colleges and universities are trying to wall out the real world.  The lessons of history and even the recent past are being ignored or outright ridiculed and rejected. (Note:  Still  prevalent is that those who will wear the masks are good citizens and those who don’t are “dangerous slackers”.)
The reappearance of the mask just in time for the 2024 election is suspicious.  Since masks don’t really work and can actually be counterproductive when it comes to disease prevention, their use is based less on science and more on fear.  So ———- Fool me once shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me.  I will not be wearing a mask and won’t vote Biden or any Prospero Democrats in 2024.