I take your point but I'm stunned that mask-wearing is still viewed as political, as "progressive", and therefore as some kind of political marker - and there's the real problem. If somebody says they don't want to talk about it when asked why they're wearing a mask - that's their prerogative. They've been civil enough to answer the question! The American idea of "freedom" is seriously screwed up if folk who choose to wear a mask are politically categorised and made fun of - simply for wearing a medical mask. Thanks for linking the Metraux article, it's an interesting read and reveals a sick culture - in more ways than one.
Oh, come on! You actually write, "You can’t defeat oligarchic capture by treating potential allies as subjects requiring correction." She's an ally and yet you make a mountain out of a molehill by criticising her for using "is" instead of "can be"???
Freedom's at stake in your country for merely wearing a medical mask and this is your beef? She had the courage to speak out and you criticise her and call her a "scold" (which comes across as a gendered accusation to my ears), that somehow her relatively mild piece would cause "fear"? Really?
I wonder if you're missing the wood for the trees in this instance?!
You're actually trivialising an issue that's serious to a lot of (vulnerable) people by criticising the manner in which a valid criticism was made *and* calling the female writer a "scold" which is ("can be" if you prefer) demeaning. You're also making it some kind of win/lose or domination/submission thing which is really weird. It's simple - she called him out and defended her complaint. Not to score points but to defend those who are the butt of the joke. If he then realises he made an unfortunate error then perhaps he'll apologise and I wouldn't view that as "submission" or losing - it's just decency!
She could've said "I get why Jon Stewart said that, but here's something that might make you think twice." But instead she said he was "punching down" and another called him "absolute psycho." That's absurd and does nothing to change behavior.
I agree that the included Bleet is over the top, but nothing the author (Metraux) themself wrote seems over-the-top or excessive. ("Punching down" might be a bit harsh, and "mocking" might have been more appropriate.)
Too many times I've witnessed the "how come you're wearing a mask?" question, to which there's no right answer and it's just a tactic that leads to trying to rip people's mask off or otherwise intimidate or actually injure them.
I’m aware of the Bangladesh study. Is that all you’ve got? Notice the age stratification. No statistically significant difference for anyone under 40. If masks work why do they only work for people over 40? That was an immediate red flag. About a year later I came across this paper:
It is a detailed critique of the statistical methodology of the Bangladesh study. Essentially, the control and experimental group did not have equal numbers and when this is accounted for then the effect size of masking is not statistically significant.
In my opinion people who still wear masks probably should be ridiculed. There is abundant evidence they do little to nothing to prevent infection from airborne (not droplet which is different) illness. At this point masks are evidence of anxiety, serious medical vulnerability, or both. Vulnerable people should be treated with compassion but it would be better if they used evidence based solutions, N95 at least
I am a physician and one well-versed in reviewing thousands of articles on viral illnesses. I am also immune compromised by virtue of a B-cell malignancy, heart diseasea and CKD (chronic kidney disease) as well as age. The topic here is a Microcosm of the entire MAGA vs non-MAGA split in our country. It involves, to be blunt, MAGA relying on Fox News and social media for its medical education vs a far more information-validated non-MAGA group. Let me explain:
• Masking has been used in Asian countries like S. Korea, and China for decades for a number of reasons, but one major one is to lower the risk of air-borne infections during seasonal peaks--Winter for one. Major decreases in upper respiratory infections from the common cold to the more serious RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) or to COVID-19 & Influenza has been found in those that mask versus those that don't.
• The above is most important in crowded conditions, or where air is recirculated (air planes).
• If one combines the above with hand sanitization, the incidence of such infections goes way ↓.
And yes, there are many peer-reviewed papers on this topic. And yes, the CDC and other spokespersons to the Public were moderately lame in educating those who do not access PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed or Google Scholar.
• Trump, in delaying information about COVID-19, and in not having on-hand N95 masks that were easy to obtain and cheap, cost 400,000 Americans their lives. Check this out with your sources. I highly recommend Gemini Pro AI assistant. FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND LIVES. I break my balls as an oncologist to save one life. Can you imagine murdering 400,000 lives?
Yes, sometimes masking makes no sense. If you are out in the open air and not in contact with anyone (e.g., taking a walk, riding a bike, jogging), then the only reason to wear a mask is to filter the air assuming there is significant pollution. Or, if you are with someone and you are feeling ill, coughing or have concerns that you could spread an infection. Stay at home, away from others, and don't spread your infection.
There are some notables on TV who I like very much. But not everyone is an expert, and if you are not, then shut the fuck up. So, Bill Maher, I love you man, but you know shit about masking.
I will say that I invite others in public to challenge me because 99 times out of 100, they don't know what they are talking about. I am never rude or crude in such encounters (as I may be here).
I only wish that major TV shows has some lay people as guests that have been in the trenches rather than pundits who spout the usual spiel. The other day, I did hear a conversation with Tom Nichols of The Atlantic about Ukraine and Putin that was so excellent in content with nothing held back. I wanted to write him and thank him, but closed my Twitter, Facebook and other glib social media accounts.
Retired oncology nurse here. I completely agree with your points, Doctor Strum. I recall a time when masking was not politicized.
On a tangential note, we have an anti-science bias growing in our Country, which is dangerous & already costing lives (IE anti-vaxxers & now a deadly measles outbreak). Too many people are relying on social media wellness influencers to their own detriment (don’t get me started on RFK Jr).
I mask when indoors in public (IE the grocery store) as I am someone who cannot get COVID (past that I don’t explain). People generally respect me, but some time back, when I visited a small town in another area, I was harassed on the street by some guy over my mask.
When workmen need to accomplish a repair in my apartment, I always politely ask them to wear a mask—and hand them a fresh one. I’m assertive, not a “scold”. Along the same vein, I can recall many years ago, telling a VIP surgeon he could not enter our bone marrow transplant unit (immunocompromised patients) until he followed protocol & scrubbed his hands with disinfectant for one minute—just like everyone else we allowed to enter our protected space. Had said surgeon not complied, my head nurse would have backed me 100%.
So yeah, I think masking is a serious issue & not the best example of unhelpful self righteousness. No one has the right to endanger another person’s health or life, because “freedom” (or any other reason).
I reread the linked article, & find on this issue, I’m aligned with Metraux. I like Jon Stewart, but in this instance, I don’t agree with his behavior.
My wife is a retired oncology nurse. You belong to a very honorable society; thank you for your service. When I became an oncology patient and had convinced myself that my life would be over in a few months, it was the oncology nurses that made me so proud to be in a wonderful profession. So sad that many of my MD colleagues became henchmen, trolls of the HMO or "system."
Mary, we could be such an incredible civilization if we not only honored what some call quantitative science, but also what I call "transforming factor." By that, I mean the transformative consciousness that sees health at every level-- from the molecular to the galactic. When we consider the simplicity of quantitative science involved in masking-- a physical barrier composed of fabric-- it is laughable, or 'cryable' considering lives that were lost due to a societal and a presidential blindness (ignorance). The truth is out there in the many peer-reviewed papers. The truth is, or can be assumed, often rightly, in a behavior of intelligent people who wish to preserve life as per the routine masking done in S. Korea and China.
I helped identify the epidemic and later a pandemic status by simply using available information from the Johns Hopkins website and from which I calculated the kinetics of COVID-19 cases as doubling times or as velocity-- the same as I do for patients with known malignancies to discern is this "aggressive" or not.
In the same manner, as an oncologist, I helped pioneer in the Port-A-Cath, writing from a private practice, the first major paper on its clinical utility.
Strum, S., McDermed, J., Korn, A., Joseph, C.: Improved methods for venous access: The Port-A-Cath, a totally implanted catheter system. J Clin Oncol 4:596-603, 1986.
The same curiosity involves a similar routine in making advances in all aspects of life: seek and ye shall find. But when we close our mind to what others have shared with their experiences, we fall into the same potholes. In the case of COVID-19 this could quickly lead to death, and in millions it did. How sad for those of us, like you and me, that witnessed lives lost before their time. You must have some idea of the utter disgust I have for Trump and all his sycophants that led so many people to an early grave. You, Mary, are part of a society of those who care. If I can ever be of service to you, contact me.
Steve, thank you so much for your very kind, thoughtful comment.
Although I’ve been retired for some time, I am an oncology nurse to my core.
I remember our first Port-A-Cath—I remember accessing the device for the first time & how wonderful it was to no longer have to insert needles into scarred peripheral veins to administer chemotherapy. Fabulous transformational device!
What you wrote—“what I call ‘transforming factor.’ By that, I mean the transformative consciousness that sees health at every level--from the molecular to the galactic.”—I could not agree more! Beautifully stated.
As for COVID & the 400,000 deaths—I remain stunned that was allowed to happen, & by how our society has appeared to ‘move on’.
I think there must be some sort of collective denial going on—but also, for a certain sector, rampant selfishness, which the pandemic unmasked. I share your disgust for Trump, who I consider the embodiment of evil. Every day, I fear for our Country, as well as the world.
Steve, thank you so much for your kind offer. One never knows in life. It’s a pleasure to meet you!
You and others have access (free) to one of my books on Amazon. Prostate Cancer. Essential Concepts for Survival by Stephen B. Strum. I believe it is also available as an Audible download that is also free. Within it, you will find a mixture of philosophy and science- however, sometimes for me I cannot separate the two. You will find the concept of SAIN (Systems Analysis & Integrity Networking) medicine interesting. I would love to go back to teaching and focus on the microcosms and macrocosms that make this creation so wONEderful. I am all for feedback if you do take the time to read this. The focus is on concept, and conceptual thinking. I created an acronym of CONCEPT:
Concatenate Our Notions, Create Enlightenment, Provide Tactic (CONCEPT)
*concatenate: To make into a whole by joining a system of parts
*notion: That which exists in the mind as the product of careful mental activity
Nope; not going to agree with your assessment of 'scolding' in this case.
I am one of those medically vulnerable people who masks everywhere...and having people who are suppose to be supportive of the disadvantaged making fun of us for not wanting to be infected with a organ/brain/immune system destroying virus running loose while medical people 'scold' us for TAKING PRECAUTIONS and calling us "mentally ill"!!
NOBODY GIVES A F*** about the medically fragile. THey just want you to die like 'the other side'...so you don't "inconvenience" anybody EVER.
I have to disagree..maybe not with your point, but at least with your example. There are some behaviors that warrant a scolding, and IMHO joking about masking is one of them, in part because it's a tactic already used by the non-masking side (not in a humorous way) to punch down at those of us who protect our health and/or the health of others.
And I don't like being asked about masking either, particularly because it's another tactic used by the non-masking side to belittle and denigrate.
It really doesn't matter what the subject is, relative to the point. Demanding public repentance from someone who meant well—and was not, in fact mocking medically-necessary mask-wearing—is endemic of a virtucratic culture among a certain strain of left-liberal that I must insist is social pathology. If someone wants to have an intellectual honest debate with me on this point, I'd be happy to do it on a Substack Live or something.
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "Oh, are you sick?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
This sure sounds like mocking mask-wearing to me. Whether or not I wear a mask in public, and why, is *none of anyone's fucking business*. If there's more to it than the transcript, then I may be wrong, and he may not have meant it in a mocking way, but it sure comes off that way. Is this better?
Tim Miller: Well, it's a veteran's outlet, so there are a couple of people missing limbs.
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "How'd you two lose your limbs?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
O you communicated it just fine; asking people to mask to save your (and their!) health status is just... TOO MUCH and Jon Stewart's little blooper DEFINES OUR REALITY in EVERY SPACE we try to participate in, EVEN ALLEGEDLY "LIBERAL" spaces.
So we don't. You've successfully marginalized us again here~
I respect much of Brock’s writing. In this case, however, I found the piece off putting and the tone unkind. I am disabled and have to mask. Getting Covid made my health much worse.
From what I understand, Brock uses the Métraux article as an example of how the left engages in virtue-policing, extracts apologies when someone “puts their foot in their mouth”, and as a result, encourages people into the arms of authoritarians who will let them be mean, no questions asked.
I get Brock’s thesis, and it’s true that in some cases virtue-policing has gone too far and discouraged coalition-building.
But calling out someone for making jokes about disabled people or their caregivers for masking is not primarily about virtue-policing. It is giving a voice to people who are vulnerable and often voiceless.
I am often too sick to withstand yet another joke at my expense while I struggle with pain management, immune challenges, and making ends meet. Métraux gave voice to my experience.
Also, the word “scold”, as a noun, has a anti-woman feel in this case, which adds to the unkind tone of Brock’s piece (unintended, perhaps).
Merriam-Webster defines a scold (noun) as someone who scolds, but also as “a woman who disturbs the public peace by noisy and quarrelsome or abusive behaviour.” That’s hardly what Métraux was doing. It’s not noisy and quarrelsome to stand up for disabled people. Too few people want to help us these days. I welcome the solidarity when it does appear.
I take Mike's point I think, but as a medically fragile person who masks I am slightly puzzled by the furor. I have been the victim of anti masking harassment in Walmart...but, crucially, did not realise it till later a few minutes after the event. I was facing desperately important,in fact life saving, surgery and had worn a mask to the store out of real fear that I would lose a second surgery date (the first was lost to covid). I was only at the store to pick up something from the pharmacy that I had to pick up in person. By this time covid was largely spent. This old guy, a bit younger than me probably, spoke at me in what his body language suggested was hostility. But I am deaf and the only word I made out was " mask. " Where I live there has not been much harassment, and I was preoccupied and not expecting it. I would like to think my emotional immunity to what other people think of me drove my reaction: I was not upset, just curious and wondering about why anyone else would care. I read the news and I know it's political, and I must be clueless because it puzzles me why anyone worries about what someone thinks of me for masking. It's my business. Now in places where there has been major impact that cost lives, I might have seen it differently. Stewart here (and I love the guy) is being casually and thoughtlessly insensitive. But the critical article itself is too shrill for me. Perhaps I am wrong. But as one of the seriously endangered... Well, them's my two cents worth of opinion.
Metraux calls out Stewart for a joke that probably crossed the line, mostly because the behavior of the right toward the individual choice of masking is loathsome and hypocritical. It isn't really on Stewart, but here we are, thanks to Trump, MAGA, and our hypocritical media.
Brock calls out Metraux for being too harsh in calling out Stewart, saying that that kind of "scolding" is counterproductive.
However, we've sen the result of not calling out behavior that crosses the line; an entire media industry that won't call out a Republican President's, or Representative's, or Senator's behavior when it not only crosses the line, but leaves the line so far behind so fast you'd think it was moving faster than light - and at the same time calls out every little flaw in the behavior of Democrats, sometimes even calling out behaviors that didn't cross the line in the first place.
It's all too easy to call scolding "excessive", since there are so few instances of it in society today; people expect to be able to get away with behavior that crosses the line, and do in most cases, as stated above. It may be "counterproductive", but it does have to be called out. What do you stand for? An inclusive society, or a society that mocks the least among us?
Is this any better?
Tim Miller: Well, it's a progressive outlet, so there are a couple of undocumented immigrants.
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "How'd you get in the country?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
It's not only possible but more often effective to name and criticize unwanted behavior in ways that are reasoned rather than hyperbolic, calm rather than overly emotional, and invitations to dialogue rather than demands for compliance.
I see so much of the language across the spectrum as little more than virtue signaling that appears to be designed more to gain support from one's "side" than to persuade the persuadable.
Funny. I found her criticism to be "reasoned". The included Bleet (BlueSkyTweet? Flutter?) was hyperbolic, but was used to support her argument that the behavior was unwanted and crossed the line.
This is the left eating its own coalition with a laminated rulebook. Harm is real. Vulnerable people are real. But when morality turns into protocol enforcement, persuasion dies and hall monitors take over.
The sharpest insight here is that apologies aren’t proof the scold was right. They’re proof the threat worked. That’s not ethics, that’s compliance theater. And every time it plays out, the right gets to say, “See? They don’t want you thoughtful. They want you obedient.” You don’t beat oligarchs by supervising people into silence. You do it by trusting adults to reason, mess up, and still belong.
We're not (at least I'm not) saying that Jon Stewart "doesn't belong" or that he needs to be "kicked out". I'm more than willing to forgive him, even without an apology. But if we don't point out when someone's behavior has crossed a line, then we get a dumpster fire of a President who doesn't just cross the line, but barrels over it at Mach 1 slinging flaming poop about 100 times a day.
Many years ago I had a protracted case of pneumonia unresponsive to many of the drugs that my doctors tried and it damaged my lungs for a time and I had a job requiring frequent air travel that inevitably made me sick every time I flew. I started masking on airplanes and it took a few years of that uncomfortable precaution to get healed enough to sit in an aluminum can with 300 other people breathing the same air with at least a half dozen of those folks sick and coughing without having to mask up.
This was in the mid 90s and the glares and occasional aggression that I would get from fellow passengers was surreal (it really wasn't their business and I was not hurting anyone) so the pandemic masking issues weren't a surprise to me. Every time someone would ask me why I was wearing a mask and I explained for what seemed like the 100th time what was actually going on, people became more civil but really should that have been necessary?
Thing is, the pandemic SHOULD have been a learning experience about the fragility of the health of some of the people that we share a subway, plane, bus, crowded market, planet with and that some people, particularly elders, in flu season and COVID waves will mask up. Some folks on chemo etc, may have to always mask in public. That someone such as John Stewart, the champion of 9-11 injured should make wisecracks about maskers/masking, yukking it up with the bros is beyond being merely obtuse.
That he got "scolded" (loaded terminology) doesn't seem much like a fatal failure of "the left" so much as Stewart deservedly got clap back from someone without power and barely a platform. That doesn't seem equal to the fall of the left to me at all.
He may apologize. He seems a decent sort of person but frankly he should have been more circumspect in the first place. FWIW.
Obviously this is a timely and meaningful topic, Mike, given the heated reactions. I'm with you, but man am I tired of worrying about peoples' damn feelings. In my experience, people with whom I'm even slightly aligned politically/socially tend to get over any offense pretty quickly and we apologize to each other. That's good; we could use more of that! Anyone who mocks or acts in a mean-spirited way, I still don't really give a fuck how they feel.
We, as a society need to embrace science and reality…the vast majority of humans couldn't care less about others health when they dont care about their own health. Witness lifestyle and diet that includes smoking that should never be allowed as it damages and or kills all the exposed people that dont… if anyone can profit, its allowed or legal. When people ask about masking, I think they are willfully ignorant and or stupid.
I was a lifelong Republican until Trump came along, though my conversion had been underway long before that. I am still taken aback by the left's inability to grasp how their righteousness often clouds their ability to communicate effectively with those they could convince with a more empathetic approach. Which itself is rather ironic given that there is an assumption that the left has a monopoly on empathy. Scolding is just one way that this lack of empathy manifests itself.
I agree with you, Mike. I’ve never stopped masking in indoor public places even though I myself am basically in good health. Ditto for my YA kid who spent her high school years during the pandemic. We both spend a lot of time with the elderly at my octogenarian Mom’s retirement community (kiddo works there too in food service) and neither of us want to be Typhoid Mary bringing in the germ 🦠 du jour to a population of medically fragile old people. Handling people’s dirty dishes is also a lot of exposure and my kid sees her non-masking coworkers pick up norovirus and all kinds of nasty stuff regularly. We know a lot of people who have been disabled by Long Covid and neither of us can afford to join their ranks. I generally don’t get much harassment about masking and neither does she, but people do occasionally ask why or if I’m immunocompromised and I just tell them the reasons above in a very neutral way. Most of the responses I get are “oh, that’s really thoughtful of you” and of course I have my inner primal scream about the fact that I’m really tired of having to do this because of the general apathy about public health in this country, but ranting/scolding people just doesn’t work to change their behavior. A calm and neutral explanation of WHY I’m masking may not change others’ behaviors but hopefully will set the tone for reasonable discussion and education with people who are fundamentally decent.
Yup. No one likes the patronizing and moralizing posture that is default to establishment Dem response. It’s a turn off in the same way Christian hypocrisy and unempathetic-ness is for the Republicans.
The irony, of course, is that this column is peak scold.
Unless “her tactics” caused inflation and made Joe Biden unable to use the bully pulpit, I don’t see evidence they “help elect” (not “can help elect,” categorical!) anyone.
If you care to address my point, I’d be happy to do you the respect of engaging with your response. (After dinner, probably; I’m about to meet a friend!)
Perfect Timing! I replied to a post today on The Dad Briefs that got 100s of scolds b/c he used Goya beans in a recipe. Maybe there was no option🤷♀️ One or two comments would suffice, after that it's scolding, no longer helpful. Don't get me started on typos and volunteer editors😀
The right is currently *all about* heretics; if you don't believe in their particular visualization of a Great and Powerful Oz in the sky, who sacrificed his son for all of our 'sins', or you don't believe in supply-side trickle-down economics, or in deporting non-whites from America, or that gay and trans people are the spawn of Satan, then on the right, you're worse than a 'heretic' to them.
I take your point but I'm stunned that mask-wearing is still viewed as political, as "progressive", and therefore as some kind of political marker - and there's the real problem. If somebody says they don't want to talk about it when asked why they're wearing a mask - that's their prerogative. They've been civil enough to answer the question! The American idea of "freedom" is seriously screwed up if folk who choose to wear a mask are politically categorised and made fun of - simply for wearing a medical mask. Thanks for linking the Metraux article, it's an interesting read and reveals a sick culture - in more ways than one.
But I conceded that she makes a good point. My issue is with the tactic.
Oh, come on! You actually write, "You can’t defeat oligarchic capture by treating potential allies as subjects requiring correction." She's an ally and yet you make a mountain out of a molehill by criticising her for using "is" instead of "can be"???
Freedom's at stake in your country for merely wearing a medical mask and this is your beef? She had the courage to speak out and you criticise her and call her a "scold" (which comes across as a gendered accusation to my ears), that somehow her relatively mild piece would cause "fear"? Really?
I wonder if you're missing the wood for the trees in this instance?!
The level of reaction here seems inappropriate to the point I’m making. But that’s just me.
You're actually trivialising an issue that's serious to a lot of (vulnerable) people by criticising the manner in which a valid criticism was made *and* calling the female writer a "scold" which is ("can be" if you prefer) demeaning. You're also making it some kind of win/lose or domination/submission thing which is really weird. It's simple - she called him out and defended her complaint. Not to score points but to defend those who are the butt of the joke. If he then realises he made an unfortunate error then perhaps he'll apologise and I wouldn't view that as "submission" or losing - it's just decency!
She could've said "I get why Jon Stewart said that, but here's something that might make you think twice." But instead she said he was "punching down" and another called him "absolute psycho." That's absurd and does nothing to change behavior.
I agree that the included Bleet is over the top, but nothing the author (Metraux) themself wrote seems over-the-top or excessive. ("Punching down" might be a bit harsh, and "mocking" might have been more appropriate.)
I just wish people had thicker skin. I am a middle-aged white man who has been the butt of many, many jokes my whole adult life. It's fine.
Too many times I've witnessed the "how come you're wearing a mask?" question, to which there's no right answer and it's just a tactic that leads to trying to rip people's mask off or otherwise intimidate or actually injure them.
I’m aware of the Bangladesh study. Is that all you’ve got? Notice the age stratification. No statistically significant difference for anyone under 40. If masks work why do they only work for people over 40? That was an immediate red flag. About a year later I came across this paper:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13063-022-06704-z
It is a detailed critique of the statistical methodology of the Bangladesh study. Essentially, the control and experimental group did not have equal numbers and when this is accounted for then the effect size of masking is not statistically significant.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsta/article/381/2257/20230133/112518/Effectiveness-of-face-masks-for-reducing
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34776-7
Anyone with access to a search engine can find much more. Masking beats non-masking. It isn't perfect, but I have to take what precautions I can.
In my opinion people who still wear masks probably should be ridiculed. There is abundant evidence they do little to nothing to prevent infection from airborne (not droplet which is different) illness. At this point masks are evidence of anxiety, serious medical vulnerability, or both. Vulnerable people should be treated with compassion but it would be better if they used evidence based solutions, N95 at least
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449
https://egc.yale.edu/research/largest-study-masks-and-covid-19-demonstrates-their-effectiveness-real-world
Would you like to try for double jeopardy, where the scores can really change?
I am a physician and one well-versed in reviewing thousands of articles on viral illnesses. I am also immune compromised by virtue of a B-cell malignancy, heart diseasea and CKD (chronic kidney disease) as well as age. The topic here is a Microcosm of the entire MAGA vs non-MAGA split in our country. It involves, to be blunt, MAGA relying on Fox News and social media for its medical education vs a far more information-validated non-MAGA group. Let me explain:
• Masking has been used in Asian countries like S. Korea, and China for decades for a number of reasons, but one major one is to lower the risk of air-borne infections during seasonal peaks--Winter for one. Major decreases in upper respiratory infections from the common cold to the more serious RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) or to COVID-19 & Influenza has been found in those that mask versus those that don't.
• The above is most important in crowded conditions, or where air is recirculated (air planes).
• If one combines the above with hand sanitization, the incidence of such infections goes way ↓.
And yes, there are many peer-reviewed papers on this topic. And yes, the CDC and other spokespersons to the Public were moderately lame in educating those who do not access PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed or Google Scholar.
• Trump, in delaying information about COVID-19, and in not having on-hand N95 masks that were easy to obtain and cheap, cost 400,000 Americans their lives. Check this out with your sources. I highly recommend Gemini Pro AI assistant. FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND LIVES. I break my balls as an oncologist to save one life. Can you imagine murdering 400,000 lives?
Yes, sometimes masking makes no sense. If you are out in the open air and not in contact with anyone (e.g., taking a walk, riding a bike, jogging), then the only reason to wear a mask is to filter the air assuming there is significant pollution. Or, if you are with someone and you are feeling ill, coughing or have concerns that you could spread an infection. Stay at home, away from others, and don't spread your infection.
There are some notables on TV who I like very much. But not everyone is an expert, and if you are not, then shut the fuck up. So, Bill Maher, I love you man, but you know shit about masking.
I will say that I invite others in public to challenge me because 99 times out of 100, they don't know what they are talking about. I am never rude or crude in such encounters (as I may be here).
I only wish that major TV shows has some lay people as guests that have been in the trenches rather than pundits who spout the usual spiel. The other day, I did hear a conversation with Tom Nichols of The Atlantic about Ukraine and Putin that was so excellent in content with nothing held back. I wanted to write him and thank him, but closed my Twitter, Facebook and other glib social media accounts.
Retired oncology nurse here. I completely agree with your points, Doctor Strum. I recall a time when masking was not politicized.
On a tangential note, we have an anti-science bias growing in our Country, which is dangerous & already costing lives (IE anti-vaxxers & now a deadly measles outbreak). Too many people are relying on social media wellness influencers to their own detriment (don’t get me started on RFK Jr).
I mask when indoors in public (IE the grocery store) as I am someone who cannot get COVID (past that I don’t explain). People generally respect me, but some time back, when I visited a small town in another area, I was harassed on the street by some guy over my mask.
When workmen need to accomplish a repair in my apartment, I always politely ask them to wear a mask—and hand them a fresh one. I’m assertive, not a “scold”. Along the same vein, I can recall many years ago, telling a VIP surgeon he could not enter our bone marrow transplant unit (immunocompromised patients) until he followed protocol & scrubbed his hands with disinfectant for one minute—just like everyone else we allowed to enter our protected space. Had said surgeon not complied, my head nurse would have backed me 100%.
So yeah, I think masking is a serious issue & not the best example of unhelpful self righteousness. No one has the right to endanger another person’s health or life, because “freedom” (or any other reason).
I reread the linked article, & find on this issue, I’m aligned with Metraux. I like Jon Stewart, but in this instance, I don’t agree with his behavior.
My wife is a retired oncology nurse. You belong to a very honorable society; thank you for your service. When I became an oncology patient and had convinced myself that my life would be over in a few months, it was the oncology nurses that made me so proud to be in a wonderful profession. So sad that many of my MD colleagues became henchmen, trolls of the HMO or "system."
Mary, we could be such an incredible civilization if we not only honored what some call quantitative science, but also what I call "transforming factor." By that, I mean the transformative consciousness that sees health at every level-- from the molecular to the galactic. When we consider the simplicity of quantitative science involved in masking-- a physical barrier composed of fabric-- it is laughable, or 'cryable' considering lives that were lost due to a societal and a presidential blindness (ignorance). The truth is out there in the many peer-reviewed papers. The truth is, or can be assumed, often rightly, in a behavior of intelligent people who wish to preserve life as per the routine masking done in S. Korea and China.
I helped identify the epidemic and later a pandemic status by simply using available information from the Johns Hopkins website and from which I calculated the kinetics of COVID-19 cases as doubling times or as velocity-- the same as I do for patients with known malignancies to discern is this "aggressive" or not.
In the same manner, as an oncologist, I helped pioneer in the Port-A-Cath, writing from a private practice, the first major paper on its clinical utility.
Strum, S., McDermed, J., Korn, A., Joseph, C.: Improved methods for venous access: The Port-A-Cath, a totally implanted catheter system. J Clin Oncol 4:596-603, 1986.
The same curiosity involves a similar routine in making advances in all aspects of life: seek and ye shall find. But when we close our mind to what others have shared with their experiences, we fall into the same potholes. In the case of COVID-19 this could quickly lead to death, and in millions it did. How sad for those of us, like you and me, that witnessed lives lost before their time. You must have some idea of the utter disgust I have for Trump and all his sycophants that led so many people to an early grave. You, Mary, are part of a society of those who care. If I can ever be of service to you, contact me.
Steve, thank you so much for your very kind, thoughtful comment.
Although I’ve been retired for some time, I am an oncology nurse to my core.
I remember our first Port-A-Cath—I remember accessing the device for the first time & how wonderful it was to no longer have to insert needles into scarred peripheral veins to administer chemotherapy. Fabulous transformational device!
What you wrote—“what I call ‘transforming factor.’ By that, I mean the transformative consciousness that sees health at every level--from the molecular to the galactic.”—I could not agree more! Beautifully stated.
As for COVID & the 400,000 deaths—I remain stunned that was allowed to happen, & by how our society has appeared to ‘move on’.
I think there must be some sort of collective denial going on—but also, for a certain sector, rampant selfishness, which the pandemic unmasked. I share your disgust for Trump, who I consider the embodiment of evil. Every day, I fear for our Country, as well as the world.
Steve, thank you so much for your kind offer. One never knows in life. It’s a pleasure to meet you!
You and others have access (free) to one of my books on Amazon. Prostate Cancer. Essential Concepts for Survival by Stephen B. Strum. I believe it is also available as an Audible download that is also free. Within it, you will find a mixture of philosophy and science- however, sometimes for me I cannot separate the two. You will find the concept of SAIN (Systems Analysis & Integrity Networking) medicine interesting. I would love to go back to teaching and focus on the microcosms and macrocosms that make this creation so wONEderful. I am all for feedback if you do take the time to read this. The focus is on concept, and conceptual thinking. I created an acronym of CONCEPT:
Concatenate Our Notions, Create Enlightenment, Provide Tactic (CONCEPT)
*concatenate: To make into a whole by joining a system of parts
*notion: That which exists in the mind as the product of careful mental activity
Steve, thank you! I found your book on Amazon & will download & read it.
Happy New Year!
Nope; not going to agree with your assessment of 'scolding' in this case.
I am one of those medically vulnerable people who masks everywhere...and having people who are suppose to be supportive of the disadvantaged making fun of us for not wanting to be infected with a organ/brain/immune system destroying virus running loose while medical people 'scold' us for TAKING PRECAUTIONS and calling us "mentally ill"!!
NOBODY GIVES A F*** about the medically fragile. THey just want you to die like 'the other side'...so you don't "inconvenience" anybody EVER.
I really do think you have missed my point. With all due respect.
I have to disagree..maybe not with your point, but at least with your example. There are some behaviors that warrant a scolding, and IMHO joking about masking is one of them, in part because it's a tactic already used by the non-masking side (not in a humorous way) to punch down at those of us who protect our health and/or the health of others.
And I don't like being asked about masking either, particularly because it's another tactic used by the non-masking side to belittle and denigrate.
It really doesn't matter what the subject is, relative to the point. Demanding public repentance from someone who meant well—and was not, in fact mocking medically-necessary mask-wearing—is endemic of a virtucratic culture among a certain strain of left-liberal that I must insist is social pathology. If someone wants to have an intellectual honest debate with me on this point, I'd be happy to do it on a Substack Live or something.
Uh...I only read the provided transcript:
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "Oh, are you sick?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
This sure sounds like mocking mask-wearing to me. Whether or not I wear a mask in public, and why, is *none of anyone's fucking business*. If there's more to it than the transcript, then I may be wrong, and he may not have meant it in a mocking way, but it sure comes off that way. Is this better?
Tim Miller: Well, it's a veteran's outlet, so there are a couple of people missing limbs.
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "How'd you two lose your limbs?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
I think it's on YOU to communicate effectively.
What am I failing to communicate, exactly?
O you communicated it just fine; asking people to mask to save your (and their!) health status is just... TOO MUCH and Jon Stewart's little blooper DEFINES OUR REALITY in EVERY SPACE we try to participate in, EVEN ALLEGEDLY "LIBERAL" spaces.
So we don't. You've successfully marginalized us again here~
Nobody is being marginalized, here. I think you need to calm down.
I respect much of Brock’s writing. In this case, however, I found the piece off putting and the tone unkind. I am disabled and have to mask. Getting Covid made my health much worse.
From what I understand, Brock uses the Métraux article as an example of how the left engages in virtue-policing, extracts apologies when someone “puts their foot in their mouth”, and as a result, encourages people into the arms of authoritarians who will let them be mean, no questions asked.
I get Brock’s thesis, and it’s true that in some cases virtue-policing has gone too far and discouraged coalition-building.
But calling out someone for making jokes about disabled people or their caregivers for masking is not primarily about virtue-policing. It is giving a voice to people who are vulnerable and often voiceless.
I am often too sick to withstand yet another joke at my expense while I struggle with pain management, immune challenges, and making ends meet. Métraux gave voice to my experience.
Also, the word “scold”, as a noun, has a anti-woman feel in this case, which adds to the unkind tone of Brock’s piece (unintended, perhaps).
Merriam-Webster defines a scold (noun) as someone who scolds, but also as “a woman who disturbs the public peace by noisy and quarrelsome or abusive behaviour.” That’s hardly what Métraux was doing. It’s not noisy and quarrelsome to stand up for disabled people. Too few people want to help us these days. I welcome the solidarity when it does appear.
I take Mike's point I think, but as a medically fragile person who masks I am slightly puzzled by the furor. I have been the victim of anti masking harassment in Walmart...but, crucially, did not realise it till later a few minutes after the event. I was facing desperately important,in fact life saving, surgery and had worn a mask to the store out of real fear that I would lose a second surgery date (the first was lost to covid). I was only at the store to pick up something from the pharmacy that I had to pick up in person. By this time covid was largely spent. This old guy, a bit younger than me probably, spoke at me in what his body language suggested was hostility. But I am deaf and the only word I made out was " mask. " Where I live there has not been much harassment, and I was preoccupied and not expecting it. I would like to think my emotional immunity to what other people think of me drove my reaction: I was not upset, just curious and wondering about why anyone else would care. I read the news and I know it's political, and I must be clueless because it puzzles me why anyone worries about what someone thinks of me for masking. It's my business. Now in places where there has been major impact that cost lives, I might have seen it differently. Stewart here (and I love the guy) is being casually and thoughtlessly insensitive. But the critical article itself is too shrill for me. Perhaps I am wrong. But as one of the seriously endangered... Well, them's my two cents worth of opinion.
OK, my take on all this:
Metraux calls out Stewart for a joke that probably crossed the line, mostly because the behavior of the right toward the individual choice of masking is loathsome and hypocritical. It isn't really on Stewart, but here we are, thanks to Trump, MAGA, and our hypocritical media.
Brock calls out Metraux for being too harsh in calling out Stewart, saying that that kind of "scolding" is counterproductive.
However, we've sen the result of not calling out behavior that crosses the line; an entire media industry that won't call out a Republican President's, or Representative's, or Senator's behavior when it not only crosses the line, but leaves the line so far behind so fast you'd think it was moving faster than light - and at the same time calls out every little flaw in the behavior of Democrats, sometimes even calling out behaviors that didn't cross the line in the first place.
It's all too easy to call scolding "excessive", since there are so few instances of it in society today; people expect to be able to get away with behavior that crosses the line, and do in most cases, as stated above. It may be "counterproductive", but it does have to be called out. What do you stand for? An inclusive society, or a society that mocks the least among us?
Is this any better?
Tim Miller: Well, it's a progressive outlet, so there are a couple of undocumented immigrants.
Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "How'd you get in the country?" And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it!"
It's not only possible but more often effective to name and criticize unwanted behavior in ways that are reasoned rather than hyperbolic, calm rather than overly emotional, and invitations to dialogue rather than demands for compliance.
I see so much of the language across the spectrum as little more than virtue signaling that appears to be designed more to gain support from one's "side" than to persuade the persuadable.
Funny. I found her criticism to be "reasoned". The included Bleet (BlueSkyTweet? Flutter?) was hyperbolic, but was used to support her argument that the behavior was unwanted and crossed the line.
This is the left eating its own coalition with a laminated rulebook. Harm is real. Vulnerable people are real. But when morality turns into protocol enforcement, persuasion dies and hall monitors take over.
The sharpest insight here is that apologies aren’t proof the scold was right. They’re proof the threat worked. That’s not ethics, that’s compliance theater. And every time it plays out, the right gets to say, “See? They don’t want you thoughtful. They want you obedient.” You don’t beat oligarchs by supervising people into silence. You do it by trusting adults to reason, mess up, and still belong.
We're not (at least I'm not) saying that Jon Stewart "doesn't belong" or that he needs to be "kicked out". I'm more than willing to forgive him, even without an apology. But if we don't point out when someone's behavior has crossed a line, then we get a dumpster fire of a President who doesn't just cross the line, but barrels over it at Mach 1 slinging flaming poop about 100 times a day.
Many years ago I had a protracted case of pneumonia unresponsive to many of the drugs that my doctors tried and it damaged my lungs for a time and I had a job requiring frequent air travel that inevitably made me sick every time I flew. I started masking on airplanes and it took a few years of that uncomfortable precaution to get healed enough to sit in an aluminum can with 300 other people breathing the same air with at least a half dozen of those folks sick and coughing without having to mask up.
This was in the mid 90s and the glares and occasional aggression that I would get from fellow passengers was surreal (it really wasn't their business and I was not hurting anyone) so the pandemic masking issues weren't a surprise to me. Every time someone would ask me why I was wearing a mask and I explained for what seemed like the 100th time what was actually going on, people became more civil but really should that have been necessary?
Thing is, the pandemic SHOULD have been a learning experience about the fragility of the health of some of the people that we share a subway, plane, bus, crowded market, planet with and that some people, particularly elders, in flu season and COVID waves will mask up. Some folks on chemo etc, may have to always mask in public. That someone such as John Stewart, the champion of 9-11 injured should make wisecracks about maskers/masking, yukking it up with the bros is beyond being merely obtuse.
That he got "scolded" (loaded terminology) doesn't seem much like a fatal failure of "the left" so much as Stewart deservedly got clap back from someone without power and barely a platform. That doesn't seem equal to the fall of the left to me at all.
He may apologize. He seems a decent sort of person but frankly he should have been more circumspect in the first place. FWIW.
Obviously this is a timely and meaningful topic, Mike, given the heated reactions. I'm with you, but man am I tired of worrying about peoples' damn feelings. In my experience, people with whom I'm even slightly aligned politically/socially tend to get over any offense pretty quickly and we apologize to each other. That's good; we could use more of that! Anyone who mocks or acts in a mean-spirited way, I still don't really give a fuck how they feel.
We, as a society need to embrace science and reality…the vast majority of humans couldn't care less about others health when they dont care about their own health. Witness lifestyle and diet that includes smoking that should never be allowed as it damages and or kills all the exposed people that dont… if anyone can profit, its allowed or legal. When people ask about masking, I think they are willfully ignorant and or stupid.
I'm not sure how this is responsive to anything I wrote.
obviously you missed your mark on this one
Describe "the mark" to me.
I was a lifelong Republican until Trump came along, though my conversion had been underway long before that. I am still taken aback by the left's inability to grasp how their righteousness often clouds their ability to communicate effectively with those they could convince with a more empathetic approach. Which itself is rather ironic given that there is an assumption that the left has a monopoly on empathy. Scolding is just one way that this lack of empathy manifests itself.
I agree with you, Mike. I’ve never stopped masking in indoor public places even though I myself am basically in good health. Ditto for my YA kid who spent her high school years during the pandemic. We both spend a lot of time with the elderly at my octogenarian Mom’s retirement community (kiddo works there too in food service) and neither of us want to be Typhoid Mary bringing in the germ 🦠 du jour to a population of medically fragile old people. Handling people’s dirty dishes is also a lot of exposure and my kid sees her non-masking coworkers pick up norovirus and all kinds of nasty stuff regularly. We know a lot of people who have been disabled by Long Covid and neither of us can afford to join their ranks. I generally don’t get much harassment about masking and neither does she, but people do occasionally ask why or if I’m immunocompromised and I just tell them the reasons above in a very neutral way. Most of the responses I get are “oh, that’s really thoughtful of you” and of course I have my inner primal scream about the fact that I’m really tired of having to do this because of the general apathy about public health in this country, but ranting/scolding people just doesn’t work to change their behavior. A calm and neutral explanation of WHY I’m masking may not change others’ behaviors but hopefully will set the tone for reasonable discussion and education with people who are fundamentally decent.
Yup. No one likes the patronizing and moralizing posture that is default to establishment Dem response. It’s a turn off in the same way Christian hypocrisy and unempathetic-ness is for the Republicans.
The irony, of course, is that this column is peak scold.
Unless “her tactics” caused inflation and made Joe Biden unable to use the bully pulpit, I don’t see evidence they “help elect” (not “can help elect,” categorical!) anyone.
Go on ...
?
If you care to address my point, I’d be happy to do you the respect of engaging with your response. (After dinner, probably; I’m about to meet a friend!)
Perfect Timing! I replied to a post today on The Dad Briefs that got 100s of scolds b/c he used Goya beans in a recipe. Maybe there was no option🤷♀️ One or two comments would suffice, after that it's scolding, no longer helpful. Don't get me started on typos and volunteer editors😀
An old saying: the right looks for converts, the left for heretics.
The right is currently *all about* heretics; if you don't believe in their particular visualization of a Great and Powerful Oz in the sky, who sacrificed his son for all of our 'sins', or you don't believe in supply-side trickle-down economics, or in deporting non-whites from America, or that gay and trans people are the spawn of Satan, then on the right, you're worse than a 'heretic' to them.