I've known multiple people who swore potatoes cured their sickness. Yes, potatoes. No, not eaten - worn.
My sample size is greater than yours. Does that mean potatoes cure illness purely by being in proximity to people? Probably not.
People are dumb and unreliable. People are fueled by beliefs. And when those beliefs are challenged, almost every time this is taken as PROOF of the belief. They are untouchable. Agree with them and that's great, disagree and you're being silenced or the government or something thereby giving validity to their belief.
Anecdotes are not meaningful data.
This is beside the point however. Both the government studies and the boots on the ground in fact agree that masking causes significant developmental disabilities, the only disagreement is the extent.
Yes, things can have a political motive. But you ALSO have political motives, you just don't know it. For example the climate change denial has a very real political motive - to protect the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas have been denying climate since the 60s, and our government backed them because of political will.
Masking, during the pandemic, saved lives. This is not up for debate. Whether it's a good idea now is another question all together.
