I Don’t Give A Fuck If Raul Labrador Wears A Fucking Mask
Anecdotal fury obscures our complicity in a broader evil.
An illustration of the Egyptian, Grecian and Roman costumes by Thomas Baxter (1782–1821).
The mask conversation is yet another example of everything that is wrong with political discourse in this nation. It’s a simmering signaling battle that undermines the adoption of scientifically proven pro-mask behaviors, with the Right calling pieces of cloth “tyranny” and the Left zeroing in on any noncompliance as if suddenly the Right would respond to shame for the first time in history. Meanwhile, landlords plot evictions, politicians dole out $600 checks as a lil treat, and throughout society we seem so occupied by petty divisions that we can’t hold any politician or capital owner accountable for hoarding money made off our backs.
Raul Labrador, the woefully-under-therapied man who chairs the Idaho GOP, was recently photographed in a mall without a mask on. This act spawned newspaper articles and a response from the far-right former Representative himself, further platforming a back and forth between science and delusion that hasn't worked since we were shaming spring breakers back in March.
The mall itself is the travesty.
Rather, take a gander at the context of the Labrador photo. The mall itself is the travesty. The fact that workers are forced into an indoor city during a pandemic to endanger their health so that the worst people in America can scream at them for not having enough Playstation 5’s to go around - that’s the travesty. The workers at the malls and businesses are forced into dangerous and exploitative labor schemes to fend off eviction and poverty, while impotent political hand wringers beg weakly for a papery mask to make the exploitation ok.
The fairer outrage right now is the condemnation of all the politicians, business owners, landlords, and capital owners who have coerced workers throughout the country to engage with the maskless Labradors of the world. Masks save some lives, but few things would save more lives than if politicians decided to actually support American workers, rather than act like narcissistic platitudes about “duty” or “responsibility” will get us anywhere.
That means semi-universal income assistance, rent forgiveness for businesses and individuals, tax hikes on the corporations profiting off of the pandemic, and an enforced business shutdown with accommodations for each business affected, to start. If our tax dollars weren’t meant for emergencies like this, what were they for?
The temptation to participate in masturbatory callouts of obviously bad behavior is no vice. It obscures our own complicity in the broader, systemic evil we perpetuate against ourselves. Wear a fucking mask, but don’t act like not wearing one is anything but a symptom of America’s broader mortal sin. ■
Louis Herber lives in Meridian, Idaho and works too closely with elected officials to publish his real name in a random zine. He’s pissed off and rarin’ for a fight.
