Tyranny

 Dr. Black is nonplussed by the people who are outraged about being required to wear masks. You don't have to think about it for more than a second to realize that we are legally bound by all sorts of rules intended to protect public health. You can't drive above the speed limit -- well, okay, not a whole lot above it -- you can't sell contaminated food, you can't dump sewage in the river, you can't play football without a helmet. 

To be sure, some people still chafe at seat belt laws and emissions tests, but for the most part we've gotten used to those and they were never the occasion for outraged mass movements. Motorcycle helmet laws do impinge on a tribal identity, so they have gotten a lot more pushback. That can be understood, but the tribe that thinks being required to wear a mask is equivalent to Stalinism didn't exist until 2020. Granted most of these people seem to worship the Great Pumpkin and he made it a marker of religious piety, but in fact it's a trivial inconvenience. It does not actually restrict breathing in any way, it is not uncomfortable, you barely even notice you have it on. Health care professionals wear them for hours on end. Armed robbers never seemed to mind. So this is just foolishness.

And of course unlike motorcycle helmets the main reason is to protect others, not yourself. But here we get into the "philosophy" of Randianism, that it's virtuous not to give a shit about anybody but yourself. But that never works, and it trivially doesn't work in this instance. If more of the people around you are infected, you are more likely to become infected. If there ever was a situation in which what goes 'round, comes 'round, this is the perfect example. So stop being a moronic asshole. Thank you.