Commentary by Samuel Strait – September 2, 2022 As I have been out and about lately, and witnessed first hand that at least in some parts of California, many people still are of the mindset that masking makes some sort of difference in protecting one's personal health from a virus. No doubt, the government, public health and the media who sold those on their efficacy through mandates are most of the cause for this failed health intervention still hanging around. Its either that, or something about a visit to a local Walmart that brings on this compulsion to mask up. Not that I care particularly. Each person in this Country is entitled to their own decision to protect themselves, whether it works or not. What is troubling, if you asked the wearers of masks, how they have come to the decision to wear something that has clearly for sometime been relegated to the trash can, the response for many is because, " I've been told that it is required or at least strongly suggested in certain settings". Not that it really is required, but the conditioning has had an effect on many in the population at large by being ordered by establishment mandate to "wear a mask in indoor settings". If it were only relegated to the recent experiences that were brought about by the Corona Virus Pandemic, at least in this Country, those that have been mandated into submission might be forgiven as a "New" experience not having ever occurred before. But it is not such an event, as governments, bureaucracies, the media,and advocacy groups have long since begun to indoctrinate the public with mandates, as if we were unthinking robots, not allowed to make personal decisions of our own. For the most part, the words, " its for your safety" or even vital for the "public's safety" that has become an overworked set of words that allow our Federal, State, and local bureaucrats to dictate our behavior to us. Clearly the connection to each individual as a thinking and occasionally rational individual has become lost in the weeds of the mind set in most bureaucratic settings. Hopefully most adults and the youth in this Country are not suicidal and can make decisions for their personal benefit without the freely wielding of mandates, for the want of a better term. Blanket mandates are difficult to impose on large populations as unexpected and negative results can and do occur. The examples are a legion, and I am sure most thinking adults can reel off a whole list of prohibitions that do not require a mandate, yet they exist. The recent experiences with mandates and the negative results that they invoked, should be a constant reminder of the perils of such actions. Something those in charge need to be constantly reminded of it in the future. The rush to "do something" should not include doing things that "do not work". Being rushed into decisions that can have a catastrophic effect on large populations is certainly a lesson that should be first and foremost in all leadership roles at all levels of government. This is particularly so at the local level where bad policy, rushed decisions, and programs have an immediate effect on the local population. This impulse to correct crises in crisis situations, in hindsight, very often has a huge negative impact on those that government is meant to serve. This is the current state of affairs in Del Norte County, where our local leadership decided, at the height of a crisis with the Corona virus, to "correct" long standing personnel issues to the detriment of nearly fifty percent of the local population. No lessons have been learned since. No corrections made and those with the least once again feel the bite of a heavy hand. What is it you say? While it can be many things, laws, ordinances, rules to live by, or simply the taxes you pay to your local government for services. Which mandate do you suppose I am referring to? Vote "YES" on Measures "T" and "U" in November.