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When the Pandemic is Over, Can We Integrate Masks in Our Culture?
Masks can benefit our individualistic culture, too
One day, the pandemic will end. A vaccine is going to emerge, and we’re going to line up for it. And then we’ll finally feel like we’re living healthy lives again.
However, we’re living in times of significant social change. The normal we know isn’t coming back any time soon. Hopefully, we’ll emerge into times of equality and environmental awareness.
If there’s one change I want to see, it’s more masks integrated into our culture. We don’t have to change our culture from individualistic to collective. But it would be nice to see more people willing to help one another.
Masks can benefit an individualistic culture, too
One of the reasons there is so much resistance to masks in America is their image. Experts presented them as a form of public safety. People look at it and think, “Compliance.” Others see it as a social fad. Doing our part to protect our communities isn’t selling in a lot of places.
Japan is a more collective culture, but they wore masks since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Years of donning surgical masks for influenza, pollution, and infernos turned masks into a…
