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Mask Bans Are an Insult to Disabled People and Protesters Alike
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this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2024
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Politics
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If you don't show your face in a political protest in a free country, then you don't actually believe in the cause.
This is obviously different in countries that are not free.
If you don't have the freedom to cover your face at a political protest, the country you are protesting in is not free.
OP sure did.
Oh. Sorry. Didn't realize risking bodily injury from tear gas, rubber bullets, beanbags, and nightsticks because something fucking matters was cowardly. You bring up such eloquent and well reasoned points. I'll keep them in mind the next time the police are kettling me or a Nazi throws a brick at one of my friends. I'll say to myself "you know. We probably deserved this for being so cowardly"
How is it cowardly?
Not sure what you’re talking about. Comment was deleted.
Why is it cowardly? What do you think the purpose of a protest is? Your face does not lend a protest additional credibility, it just makes it easier to target you. The purpose of a protest is to show that people support a cause. Who those people are is irrelevant unless you plan to target them.
It is cowardly to hide behind a mask in a free country where you have nothing to fear of government from protesting.
I do however agree that it is sensible to mask in a country where protesting in and of itself will arrest and mistreatment from the government.
There is no such thing. Surveillance is something to fear. Tracking is something to fear. Lack of anonymity is in itself something to fear, because anonymity (i.e. privacy) is a right. It's not just about arrests or physical abuse.
There is nothing "cowardly" about exercising your right to privacy.
If the position you are pushing is truly of no concern to the government, it means either that a) they're on board with it, so it's not actually a protest just a rally, or b) you're not large enough for them to care yet. More likely, you just don't realize they do actually care.
You're basically just making a variation on the "if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't care about not having privacy" argument.
I fully agree that surveillance is something to fear, but again, if you are living in a free country like Sweden, then you won't be arrested simply for protesting, vandalism and violence however, those are things you will be arrested for.
A surveillance camera could also prove that you were peaceful if you are caught up in a bad situation if you can be identified.
Just to be clear, you think you're allowed to protest, but also think that you may have to prove your innocence, rather than having your guilt be proven?
It sounds like you actually realize that you're more at the whims of the government than your claims about being free let on.
"I am going to alter my actions in order to ensure that I am as safe from false accusation as I can be" is just self-censorship because you actually do fear your government.
I get what you are saying, and no, I don't believe you should have to prove yourself innocent.
I simply ment it as if I happened to be part of a mass arrest by accident and can be identified as having done nothing, I would be let go with an apology.
If you live in a society that lives under mass surveilance, it is not a free society. You're not making me think you know what protesting is. You're describing petition, and you're really making it sound like maybe you have access to the kinds of privilege that are hard to imagine within an overall hierarchical society. It sounds like you don't want countries your nations companies profit from to rise up in rejection of the fossil fuel profiteering that gives you access to these things. Please realize the "free society" you live in is the same tortured society the rest of us are trying to dismantle that you're saying don't have enough freedom to qualify for your masks off argument.
Which is to say nothing about that this whole discussion has pulled us off the original accessibility concern immunocomprimised people experience. Your masks off argument would see these people stripped of access to the right to petition that you hold dear. When I think about it it genuinely makes me angry just how dismissive of what everyone else is saying. We're telling you about a REAL and present threat and your response is just to say if we lived in a free society we wouldn't have to fight for our rights. We know! We know that! That's why we fight. But what's frustrating is that your society isn't as free as you're saying. You live in a country with active neo Nazi and white supremacist factions. What are you going to do if they gain access to that mass surveilance mechanism. How are you going to tell them you don't want the descendants of slaves in your country to get lynched? You gonna ask politely?
We have had those environmental glue protests here, while I dislike their methods, I have never seen them try and hide their identities, I do respect that, that tells me that they actually are believing in what they do, and not just using the cause a way to cause destruction.
So far, I can't remember any of their protests devolving into rioting or violence, at least not from their side.
In my experience neo nazis are way more prone to mask in their protests than other groups.
Not discussing anything where the point being debated was removed.
Sorry.
Classic lemm.ee response
The top level comment mentions freedom?
Reply with a pic of your face or you're a coward and your comments mean nothing.
This is blatant doublespeak, and has been removed because of such.
Oh, and which countries are "free"? I'd like to know which state has liberated all its people. I'll wait.
There is an ongoing pandemic and the global capitalist efforts to downgrade, downplay, and minimise this pandemic for " the economy" mean that it's even more important to mask, not least to challenge the health supremacy and ableism of this current capitalist culture. Masking is one of the most easy yet powerful ways we can promote safety and engage in intersectional anticapitalism (in times of universal deceit, and all that).
Protests are not about "being seen" as individuals to gain clout or appear cool and edgy, not least with the increased assault on the right to protest.
To truly "believe in the cause" is to act, not attract recognition. Besides, if you want a revolution, you'd better start dressing for the occasion.
Tell me, what does showing your face add to the protest, other than making it easier for opposing groups to target you?
So... the US? People are regularly arrested for perfectly legal, not even a shadow of a doubt, activity at protests. And protesters are vulnerable to not just cops, but dangerous actors who support the thing they're protesting against. Whether it's doxing, billionaire-funded slander, your boss not liking the cause, or actual violence, there's plenty of reason not to want your face to be easily identifiable, even while orderly protesting for a just cause. Never mind health concerns like not wanting to catch COVID (or breath tear gas).
The idea that orderly protesting is safe in the United States is incredibly naïve.
At this point in time, I do not see the US as a free country in this context.
This is a story about protests and mask bans in the US and non-governmental actors can still be a threat to protesters in a "free" country.
All rights are won through violence.
I was here. There is no fucking way that I would have shown my face at a Nazi rally. That very night in Eugene the Nazi's were going door to door looking for people to arrest. Of course, the article is saying that it was antifa who instigated... As if a literal Nazi rally isn't instigative of itself.
I kindly disagree that showing your face makes people take you seriously. All it makes you is a target. I think the key factor is what is the protest for, as whether or not I wear a mask depends on what I am protesting. If I'm protesting a hate group or hateful ideology, I am going to keep myself safe. If I am protesting social and environmental issues I generally do not feel the need to.
Also, going to protests is inherently dangerous because peaceful protesters are not treated with peace. In that article I linked, tear gas was fired at us, the peaceful protesters, when the Nazi's were the ones crossing the police lines. Also the police had their back to them the entire time, facing us with their riot shields. I wonder why the cops were protecting the Nazi's at the "far-right" rally. Peaceful protesters against being treated with excessive force being met with excessive force... So honestly, no. Wearing a mask is necessary because you will be targeted and will be followed home.
The thing about peaceful protests is that they are almost impossible, because a peaceful protest is inherently the peaceful protesters dying for their cause by not retaliating. No, I don't think we should allow Nazi's to assault people in walking aides and attempt to stop on them. No, I don't think peaceful protesters who are being attacked by police should just let the cops beat them to death. And even if we did, they would still label us as anything but peaceful protests.
FFS, there's so much evidence of planted and instigated protests, like bricks being thrown by people not part of the protest but claiming that they were. Basically, there's no such thing as a peaceful protest and so wearing a mask should be prioritize for the protesters safety.
Note: any right-wing or conservative protesters disregard this. Show the world who you really are! It's the right thing to do!
As I have repeatedly stated, the US is not a free country in this regard.
So mask away!
Haha I did happen to see one of those comments, it just ended up being after I posted all this lol. But, I would have probably posted it anyway because it's been on my mind a lot lately.
Thank you for hearing me :)
I understand, I believe heavily in trying to see the other guy's logic even if I disagree with them.
Sadly the world in general has seen a rise of the far right, which I realize will make masked protests needed, even here in Sweden, I don't like it, but I understand that it peobably is comming. But that is not today.
That's because the US is not a free country.
Which a I have noted in several comments here