> But instead of just saying that, the message from the vast majority of public health officials (and media types like Sanjay Gupta) was that "masks don't work for the public".
The CDC never really said that "masks don't work for public" [0]. Some other health officials and media did. Now, if you relied on the CDC for information everything would be more or less fine. The two things that make this situation worse is - (1) An ever-changing landscape of information and (2) "Whom to listen to?" problem. We are not good at (1) itself, because we are terrible at updating our priors. Then, you throw in (2) in the mix and there's mass confusion.
Zeynep Tufkeci can say that "oh tell the truth" but there's no guarantee that her version of communication would play better than what we have.
> They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!
Yep. The memory-holing is already going strong. In another year, all those "now-deleted" links won't work anymore, and everyone will keep claiming the government never lied, and you'll be a nutter if you claim the government ever said masks don't work. You'll be banned from all forms of conversation, and labeled "alt-right."
The government never said that masks don't work, because "the government" is a thing which does not speak. The former US Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, who was appointed by the former president, claimed that masks don't work in his now famous tweet "STOP BUYING MASKS". Fauci did not say this; Fauci instead said that for several reasons "there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask" at that time. The White House Press Secretary was absent, so there was no comment from the former president's Press Secretary. Which of those voices, or lack of voices, or any other voices, would you say qualify as the statement by "the government"? Unless you're a 2-dimensional South Park "nutter" character, you should realize that "the gubbmint" does not share a single voice, if it has a voice at all.
If you're treating the government as a solitary nebulous entity, then accountability goes out the window. It's important to keep the individuals that make up the government accountable and responsible, as President Biden has with Jerome Adams, who is no longer the Surgeon General. Accountability is also why Fauci still serves as the NIAID Director of the NIH.
>The government never said that masks don't work, because "the government" is a thing which does not speak.
The government speaks plenty, it just has many voices. All the ones you hear are specifically chosen people to speak on the government's behalf, they are even told what to say. I'm not really sure what you are trying to justify with that opener. I mean you realize people on this form are more intelligent than the general population, right?
>If you're treating the government as a solitary nebulous entity, then accountability goes out the window.
I think qualified immunity has a lot to do with it. Also the fact that most of the machine wasn't elected and runs the same way regardless of who we put into office.
Given that one of Fauci's emails shows the same opinion on mask inefficacy, I believe the lie came in the 180 about face claiming they do work (and there wasn't any cost to imposing them).
> Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus
The CDC's main page had much more nuanced advice (as of late March 2020) [1]:
> Wear a facemask if you are sick... If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers.
I agree that the distrust that we are currently seeing has many different sources. It is hard to have consistency when many different organizations are communicating their own messages based on different views of the problem. Even if you could fix that messaging, it would not have addressed the issue of deliberate disinformation.
However, statements like that tweet from the Surgeon General were indefensible based on evidence and clearly damaging to public discourse. Not to mention being nonsense: why would we prioritize masks for health care providers if they weren't effective?
Even the nuanced CDC advice was very bad at the time. In Feb 2020/early March 2020 countries with strong tracing programs were already reporting presymptomatic spread and large outbreaks via the air (following airflow) in enclosed restaurants and workplaces. In such a context "wear a mask if you are sick or caring for someone sick" is really not good enough.
And in hindsight, we now know that Covid is most contagious just as symptoms first appear.
Maybe you really believe this, but to me it comes across as gas lighting. I know what I remember, all the blabbing heads on the media were telling us to stop buying masks because they won't help us. Maybe you earnestly believe otherwise, but I think this line of argumentation will never be accepted by the vax-avoident. On the contrary, it probably contributes to their perception that they are still being lied to, and consequently, will only strengthen their resolve.
You're spreading YET MORE misinformation and you're trying to fool Americans into believing a history that doesn't exist! They're not buying it, and all you're doing is breeding further distrust.
The CDC never really said that "masks don't work for public" [0]. Some other health officials and media did. Now, if you relied on the CDC for information everything would be more or less fine. The two things that make this situation worse is - (1) An ever-changing landscape of information and (2) "Whom to listen to?" problem. We are not good at (1) itself, because we are terrible at updating our priors. Then, you throw in (2) in the mix and there's mass confusion.
Zeynep Tufkeci can say that "oh tell the truth" but there's no guarantee that her version of communication would play better than what we have.
[0] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e3.htm