ANOMIE, Part II-- The Masked Men Are The Good Guys... And The Unmasked Are The Enemies Of Society

Face To Face by Nancy Ohanian

Please think of this post as a continuation the 5AM piece on anomie. I had a few questions about what anomie is. And after I realized that not everyone was a sociology major-- I was-- I grabbed the Wikipedia description: "the condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals". Anomie may evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community (both economic and primary socialization). In a person this can progress into a dysfunction in ability to integrate within normative situations of their social world - e.g., an unruly personal scenario that results in fragmentation of social identity and rejection of values... commonly understood to mean normlessness... [arising] more generally from a mismatch between personal or group standards and wider social standards, or from the lack of a social ethic, which produces moral deregulation and an absence of legitimate aspirations."

This relates to the COVID Civil War raging in America now between those who claim social distancing rules infringes on their liberty and freedom and those who claim that without the social cohesion required to encourage everyone to adopt those rules, the entire society is at risk from the pandemic. Tuesday, the L.A. Times published a report by Brady McCollough about the fight over masks. First a tiny bit of background: societies that were quick to adopt masks have largely contained the outbreak. Societies that scoffed at it, are suffering from big outbreaks now. Let me give you a couple of examples. Czechia, South Korea, Argentina, Taiwan and Japan were quick to adopt universal mask wearing. Their caseloads are low:

• Taiwan- 18 cases per million people
• Argentina- 111 cases per million people
• Japan- 121 cases per million people
• South Korea- 211 cases per million people
• Czechia- 738 cases per million people

On the other hand, the U.S., Britain, France, Sweden and Belgium have been grudging and slow to adopt mask wearing. The caseloads are horrific:

• Belgium- 4,382 per million
• U.S.- 3,746 per million
• U.K.- 2,872 per million
• France- 2,613 per million
• Sweden- 2,368 per million

Closer to home, let's look at California. 6 Bay area counties got together and ignored Governor Gavin Newsom's timid and inadequate response. The 6 counties shut down despite Newsom's unwillingness to do so statewide. Los Angeles County has, roughly, 10 million people and 27,815 cases. The six Bay Area counties have a combined population of about half that but just 8,319 cases, a rate of half the infections Los Angeles County has.

Back to McCollough's report in the L.A. Times. He wrote that "As more states reopen their economies, officials say fighting the coronavirus outbreak means wearing a face covering. But some are balking at restrictions." Although the city of Los Angeles (population is not 10 million but just 4 million), got a slow start, Mayor Garcetti ordered masks in all indoor establishments long before Newsom did it statewide. It has helped.

In the bustling college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, residents are allowed to visit restaurants and retailers-- freedoms that most of the country does not currently enjoy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet when the city issued an emergency proclamation Friday that required citizens to wear face coverings, store employees were “threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse,” according to a statement released by the city. In response, Stillwater quickly amended its wording to only “encourage” use of masks.

“This has occurred in three short hours and in the face of clear medical evidence that face coverings help contain the spread of COVID-19,” Stillwater City Manager Norman McNickle said in a statement. “Many of those with objections cite the mistaken belief the requirement is unconstitutional, and under their theory, one cannot be forced to wear a mask. No law or court supports this view.”

About a dozen states have reopened more of their economies since Friday’s calendar turned to May, with several, including Florida, loosening more restrictions Monday. No matter where a state falls on the reopening spectrum, though, all Americans who choose to go outside are being met with a choice that isn’t going away anytime soon: to cover up or not?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says "everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public" to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The federal agency notes that masks are to protect others and that they are not a substitute for social distancing.

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine backtracked last week on an order to require masks be worn in stores as too many Ohioans found it “offensive.”

“It became clear to me that was just a bridge too far. People were not going to accept the government telling them what to do,” DeWine said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.





On Monday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, as part of a tour acknowledging the reopening of most of the state, visited a thrift store in Joplin that is operated by the Disabled American Veterans. The veteran workers wore masks, but Parson did not.

"I chose not to," Parson said, when asked at his news briefing why he did not cover his face.

"I think it's up to the individuals. I don't think that's government's role to mandate who wears a mask and who don't. I go back to what I've said all along: It's your personal responsibility."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed the reopening of most restaurants, retailers, museums and libraries at 25% capacity Monday. DeSantis-- who controversially referred to his state, with its large population of older residents, as "God's waiting room" last week-- is recommending that employees and customers wear masks, but he is not requiring it.

DeSantis' phased opening plan kept populous South Florida counties Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach closed for most business.

Miami reopened parks to the public last week, but only with the mandatory use of masks. By the end of the weekend, park rangers had handed out more than 7,000 warnings to people not wearing face covers, most of them in the popular South Pointe Park, police said. On Monday, the city closed up the park at the end of South Beach yet again.

New Jersey opened its parks Saturday, and although Gov. Phil Murphy was pleased overall with the social distancing compliance shown by the population, he shared one major complaint Monday.

“Not enough masks,” he said. Eighty percent to 90% "of the folks we're not wearing masks."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a mandatory mask order April 15 and said Monday that he believes local governments should have the right to enforce it.

“Because you could literally kill someone,” Cuomo said. “How cruel and irresponsible would that be? … It's not that big of a deal. You don’t wear a mask to protect yourself. You wear a mask to protect me. And I wear a mask to protect you.

“No one said wear a mask all the time. If you go for a walk in the woods, you don’t have to wear a mask. You can have the mask down when walking in the woods, but if you see someone coming the other way, you put the mask on. It’s the least we can do.”

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 68,600 on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than a third of American losses from the disease were in the state of New York, which has become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 24,900 deaths as of Monday afternoon. The global death total has surpassed 250,000. [The U.S. death toll surpassed 73,000 as I sat down to write this post with large case spikes in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Mississippi, Colorado, Nebraska and both Dakotas, all states with limited compliance with social distancing rules.]

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio began his Monday morning news briefing by talking about how nice the weather had been in the city over the weekend-- and how that could lead to a false sense of normality. New York City on Monday reported 13,536 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 and 5,373 deaths in which the cause was listed as the disease but the victim was not tested.

De Blasio said he did not have a problem with citizens returning to outside spaces and enjoying the weather as long as they wore a mask and kept social distancing requirements. He announced Monday that the city would be distributing 5 million three-ply nonmedical masks and 2.5 million cloth face coverings for free in the coming weeks.

“Wherever you turn, you’re going to be offered a face covering,” De Blasio said.

De Blasio and New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea were peppered with questions stemming from a video of an officer pointing a Taser at bystanders in lower Manhattan during an arrest of people accused of not social distancing properly. The video shows the officer punching and slapping a man as he brings him to the ground.

“This one incident is troubling, but there’s been tens of thousands of interactions between police officer and civilians that went very well,” De Blasio said. The officer has been placed on modified duty and the incident is being investigated, De Blasio said Sunday.

On Monday he said more face covers could help prevent future violent scenarios from playing out with enforcement, but in this case, the plainclothes officer was also not wearing a mask.

In Oklahoma, Stillwater City Manager McNickle said in a statement that one of the incidents involving the mask requirement included a threat with a firearm.

In Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered that masks be worn through May, state police investigators are looking into reports that a Flint dollar store security guard was fatally shot Friday after an argument with a customer who had refused to wear a mask in the store, according to the Detroit News.

The man who died leaves behind a wife and eight kids.

"My condolences go out to the family of the security guard," Whitmer said Monday. "It is incredible that people continue to show up to work to protect everyone else. We are mindful of how important it is that people keep a level head, that we do the right things. I ask that all Michiganders keep their wits about them and take actions to protect themselves and others in this incredibly stressful time."

I want to mention a little San Francisco history before we move on. Today San Franciscans are wearing their masks and flattening the city's curve nicely. A century ago, when the second wave of the Spanish flu hit and the people in the city were ordered to wear masks, "a band of San Franciscans, led by several prominent business leaders and physicians, staged a rebellion. The Anti-Mask League held a public meeting on Jan. 25, 1919, that was attended by several thousand jeering residents demanding a permanent end to the city mask ordinance." The city health department was headed by William Hassler, who the Anti-Mask League wanted fired. "The centerpiece of Hassler’s plan," wrote Sydney Trent, "was a requirement that every resident wear a face mask, underscored by [Mayor James] Rolph, who declared, 'Whomever leaves his mask behind, dies.' The San Francisco Chronicle chimed in: 'The man who wears no mask will likely become isolated, suspected, and regarded as a slacker.'... The city was not without scofflaws, however, and soon the $5 fines mounted, and the jails grew crowded. Many who broke the new law merely couldn’t be bothered, but some were more militant. One downtown lawyer argued that the mask ordinance was 'absolutely unconstitutional,' and that police officers could be liable for enforcing it." 100 years later I have witnessed two aggressive non-mask-wearers on grocery store lines get beaten up for breaking social distancing rules.