Neoliberalism demands the appearance of normalcy and order. Masks represent disorder and a threat to the attempts to sweep covid and the necropolitics/eugenic worldview at play in allowing it to continue its spread and kill tens of thousands of Americans unabated. This is deeply authoritarian.
UPDATE: NY Governor Kathy Hochul said on CNN last night that she is considering a ban on masks.
This is absolutely shameful! New York has suffered so much from COVID, and COVID is not over. We should be normalizing and depoliticizing masks, not banning them.
I still remember how ridiculously blatant some people were about being more than happy with sacrificing the old and vulnerable as long as they got to go to the grocery store, and how much they'd throw their arms up when you asked them if they understood how psychotic they sounded. Really jarring.
