you're somehow making a dissonant "people are too stupid for their own good" argument couched in a "don't talk down to the people" argument. but this dichotomy

you're somehow making a dissonant "people are too stupid for their own good" argument couched in a "don't talk down to the people" argument. but this dichotomy is wholly unnecessary. the simpler reframing is to tell people the truth, and do it so it's not overwhelming to folks ("having empathy") who have many competing attention-grabbing issues in their lives (i.e., they're busy, not stupid). and regarding masks, the simple truth is, they don't help in most common situations (i.e., out in public, where distancing does all the work), and it's extremely hard to get folks to use them in the one common situation where they can be effective: social/family gatherings. masks were never going to be an effective mitigation for this one reason alone, but because of their visible, performative value, became immediately politicized.