Hmmm...well testing on its own will do absolutely nothing (other than get a clearer indication of exactly how many people have it). The only way that would have a positive effect is if people who test positive are forced to isolate. Perhaps you meant that and didn't include it in which case, fine. But testing alone won't change a thing!
As for the President issuing a "plea"...I honestly respect your optimism...but do you really think for a moment that would work? The liberty-loving right would complain that it was a step too far and breached their rights, and the Trump-hating left would probably not wear masks just because big Don had told them they should!
In any case, it wouldn't have kept everybody safe. It would have helped for sure, but as I have argued elsewhere, without a "control" group it is very hard to prove what has worked and what hasn't. Cases and infection profiles vary from country to country and from state to state, but given different weather conditions, different population densities, different demographics (poor communities seem to be hit harder which makes a lot of sense given reduce quality of services and living conditions), different cultures, and a whole range of other variables, it is almost impossible to say just how much the lockdown and other measures have actually slowed the spread.
Everything helps, I won't deny that. But I agree with the others on here who have pointed out that the advice being given about masks (and other things, but masks in particular) could possibly create a false sense of security. Or perhaps the masks do work but all they are doing is slowing down the spread and lengthening the overall duration. Or perhaps the masks work and have worked all along and the experts who said they didn't help at the beginning were wrong.
What I am convinced of is this: if this had happened even ten years ago, there wouldn't be such a huge divide between people. The internet, for all of its positives, has utterly erased "shades of grey". Social media and the ability to locate others from all over the world who have the same views as you - be those views left or right, be they radical or moderate - has allowed ideologies to ferment and bubble up. Some of which are radical ideas which, before the explosion of social media, would have been confined to a couple of crazies living in mom's basement who maybe met up once a month with the other three in their town that they had found and bitched about the world and what they would do if they were in charge. That has all changed.
Now, given the opportunity to meet the others who share their view all around the world, they are now emboldened, their views bolstered by validation, and they have more confidence to spread their views openly. And of course, owing to nothing more than the law of averages, for every radical right wing group there will be a radical left wing group. When you combine these spreading ideologies with the shareability of social media and the fact that it has democratised "news" giving everybody a voice (which is an idea which I don't know whether I find more "terrible" or "terrifying") and you find yourself in a world where everybody, even the moderate centrists, are being press-ganged into "taking a side". Phrases like "if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem" sow division and the creation of "otherdom". "Pick a side" they say. "Make sure you are on the right side of history" they say. And in doing so, the middle is gone, leaving behind a gaping chasm on either side of which exist the warring factions.
As can be seen by some of the responses to my posts, there is no desire to bridge that gap by many these days. They are deeply entrenched in their viewpoint. They cite the "experts" and "scientists" that agree with them, and shout over the views of others who are equally qualified but who don't agree with them (not talking about myself here, talking about other experts). They accuse them of being science deniers because they don't agree with THEIR science. They throw around terms like "far-right" or "Antifa" instead of the (usually) far more accurate "Somebody who disagrees with me".
And then somebody who isn't entrenched, somebody who perhaps has a slight leaning one way or the other but who is open to have their mind changed, suddenly seems themselves being identified as having "extreme" views. And this can go one of two ways. They may be terrified of being vilified or "cancelled", in which case they will outwardly side with the groups that is shouting the loudest and throwing the worst insults. But even in that case, will they actually agree with that side, or just pretend to in order to not be thrown under the bus?? The other option is that they react completely the other way and move much further in the direction of what they have always leaned towards anyway. Those on the left seem to believe that the former happens most of the time, while those on the right seem to believe that the latter happens. What ends up being true will come out in the end.
But this drawing up of battle lines serves nobody in the end. Because the dialogue and good natured criticism that has, in the past, led to many a great mind looking at something from a different perspective and, as a result, changing course and potentially making a great new discovery, that is a thing of the past. All that is happening now is divergence. There is such pressure to be "right and correct" that the focus has shifted away from "What would happen if we try this?" to "How can I prove my hypothesis?". The starting point used to be a theory, it has become a presumption. And I honestly believe that this will - ultimately - be far more destructive than constructive.
So to all of you out there that don't want to take part in the ideology "tug of war", for those that - somehow - are still managing to float about the chasm where "Middle Ground" used to proudly stand, I salute you and wish you well in your struggle. For you will be beset on all sides by those demanding that you accept their dogma, that you "educate yourself" and "read a book" (but only one the validates their viewpoint), and you may lose friends, you may even lose your job, but be strong, and refuse to lose the one thing that is rightfully and eternally yours, your SELF.
