Masks don't work!!! Actually, let me CLARIFY - Mask MANDATES do NOT work.

Let me explain. My #1 complaint with Politicians & Voters is that they vote for policies & candidates based on DESIRED outcomes, and NOT REAL outcomes.

I get it... just like everyone else, I want to feel noble, I want feel virtuous, I want things to work the way I want them to work based on the positive outcomes that I can IMAGINE. I want to BELIEVE that policy A can really create outcome B because it will feel good and make me feel righteous.

I have the same intrinsic desire, in my heart, to vote for feel good policies surrounding the topics of minimum wage, homelessness, rent control, education, immigrations, the military, the environment, and a slew of other issues.

UNFORTUNATELY, human nature, economic realities, and ACTUAL outcomes matter infinitely more than my feelings.

I FEEL like rent control should work to make housing more affordable. The economic REALITY is that rent control has been an abject failure in every single location it's been tried.

I FEEL like price controls of the food stock should make food more affordable in times of great societal need. Sadly, that hasn't been the actual outcome when it has been tried in Russia, India, China, South Korea, and the United States. Governments around the world have found out the hard the way, that trying to "control" food prices, has frequently ended in the starvation of those very people they were trying to "help."

I FEEL like local governments spending billions of dollars on social welfare program, housing bonds, and homelessness programs should help those who are most in need. Yet, the cities spending the most on the problem of homelessness are currently experiencing an explosion in their homeless population. Los Angelinos - look no further than the total failure of proposition H as a case-study in good intentions and desired outcomes, turning into total mismatches with the realities on the ground once the bill was passed.

And thus, we get to masks... or more accurately... mask mandates.

Look at the graphs below. This meme (currently floating around the internet) shows the 16 states currently ending their mask mandates. This presumably corresponds with the same 16 states where mask mandates, mask wearing, & social distancing has been significantly more lax over the last year.

I've been to 4 of the states on this list over the last year. And, while people where respectful, the attention to mask wearing & compliance of social distancing was significantly more lax than in my home state of California.

What do we see when we evaluate the total deaths per 1,000,000 residents?

We see ABSOLUTELY NO CORRELATION between the states with less mandates, fewer lockdowns, and less strict social distancing policy, versus the states that locked down harder & more aggressively.

This makes sense to me. EVEN if we accept the science (which I do) that mask help slow the spread of transmission. Even if we understand that masks help to ensure that sick people spread fewer infected particulates into the air. Even if we look to states like New York, California & Michigan and praise them for their aggressive lockdown. In the end, NONE OF IT MATTERED.

The human desire to commune & socialize, the economic need to work in order to provide for oneself & family, the personal freedoms & decisions to evaluate personal risk and live life accordingly - this was ALWAYS going to be present.

The disease was ALWAYS going to spread. Anyone being honest with themselves knows this.

Does anyone REALLY still believe that, in New York for example, quarantining thousands of people into cramped apartment/condo living was MORE healthy than letting people party on the beaches of Florida? Did you really believe that a bunch of drunk beach-goers, in the hot sun, were going to die at higher rate than people cramped into re-circulated air, in an environment where they couldn't workout or get sunlight?

Flatten the curve, for 14 days, was a noble goal to ensure we didn't run out of PPE & Ventilators. However, after that particular problem was solved, the lockdowns were just a mixture of voters & politicians focusing on DESIRED OUTCOMES versus their ACTUAL REALITY.

We could argue that it was fear, political manipulation, power run amuck, and/or social engineering of the worst kind that has lead to the turmoil & tragedy of the last year.

However, if we are being honest with ourselves, and not assigning the absolute worst possible intentions to our politicians... then I have to admit that this feels like ANOTHER example of Americans (and politicians) wanting to do what "feels" right, versus dealing with the reality of what actually is.

Evaluating the severity of lockdowns, versus the loss of life (per capita), leaves any genuine citizen with NO choice but to realize that we need to allow schools, businesses, and America to reopen.

ELIMINATE the mask mandate, require teachers to get back to work or loose their jobs, and let all businesses open.

If you're someone who wants to wear x2 face-masks, an M-95 shield, and a full body condom - go for it. If you're a teacher who doesn't feel safe doing your job - QUIT and go find another profession (or take the advice above and wear whatever protective gear you want). If you don't feel comfortable re-opening your business, DON'T.

It's OK to be scared. It's OK to continue to wear protective gear.

But it's not OK to allow your desire to appear noble & virtuous to stop other people from making a living and attending school.

Those states & politicians who have been setting aggressive lock-down policy based on DESIRED OUTCOMES - you've had a year - you failed to show that your actions did anything to bring down the death rate versus those states that didn't as aggressively lockdown.

Let's end the charade and allow everyone, who wants to, to get back to their life.