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At its core, face mask bans pose a question about power: who gets to wield it, and who gets to place limits on it. The masked person can look but not be seen—an
by sebastianconcpt 7y ago
At its core, face mask bans pose a question about power: who gets to wield it, and who gets to place limits on it. The masked person can look but not be seen—an enormous and liberating power particularly in today’s age of surveillance. For the state and those in authority, the mask represents a threat because their power is in part drawn from knowing exactly who you are.
For many in Hong Kong, the face mask ban is a reminder of the asymmetrical balance of power that they are protesting so hard against. While citizens are now prohibited from wearing masks in public assemblies, police officers will continue to be able to conceal their identities
- 5trokerac3 7y ago> The masked person can look but not be seen—an enormous and liberating power particularly in today’s age of surveillance. It's only liberating if the masked person acts ethically. As we've seen in Portland, when masked "protesters" commit violence against civilians, it's the antithesis of "liberating". Remember that the anti-mask laws in the US south were enacted to limit the nefarious actions of the Klan. IMO, HK has gone so far that the masks are a fake sense of security. The police will drag you off, mask and all, and know exactly who you are. Either the HK people have to accept using guerrilla tactics or they will eventually be swallowed by the CCP.
- baud147258 7y agoHere in France, at most protests you'd find groups of masked 'protestors' who usually have nothing to do with the protest and are just here for acts of violence against the police and random acts of degradation and looting
- 5trokerac3 7y agoDon't forget masked "protesters" who are actually police infiltrators attempting to turn a protest violent.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dobleboble 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur
- hajile 7y agoThose people are NEVER the problem. If 50-100 violent masked people show up and the police want to arrest them, nobody in the peaceful protest are going to get in the way. The politicians CHOOSE to allow the violent group to discredit the entire protest.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]