Graham, Donna
From: gene porter <gporter77@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 9:58 AM
To: Board of Aldermen
Ce: Klee, Patricia; Donchess, James
Subject: Mandatory Masking
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown,
Please support the Mayor's efforts to require that all people in
confined public indoor spaces wear masks.
Some few will make the specious argument that such a mandate
would unduly infringe on their freedom. But so do many rules of
public behavior, including such disparate topics as speed limits,
building codes, traffic signals, seat belts for children and
prohibitions on hunting deer with bazookas.
The mask issue is not like the motorcycle helmet issue. Helmets
almost exclusively protect the riders, who in NH are free to
take the risks. Masks primarily protect others, and
their mandate is a very legitimate and important way for the
government to protect the public health.
The opponents of the Mayor's mask edict seem very confident that the
benefits of avoiding masks in terms of personal liberty and economic well
being outweigh its costs and drawbacks. But since they seem to
downplay or even ignore the drawbacks of mask avoidance it is
hard to avoid feeling that their argument is more an expression
of ideological imperatives than of reasoned and evidence-based
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