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Letter from Europe – Wearing a mask in the street in France: from one dogma to another?

The mask stands out as an emblem of what has become of French political life in 2020. Since the beginning of this year, it has haunted people. This object now appears as a symbol of the democratic divide and the crisis of confidence of the French towards their leaders. The about-face of the official discourse which took place in a few weeks on this subject constitutes one of the most unusual political facts of recent years.

At the height of the Covid, in March-April, when theepidemic reaches its quintessential with daily peaks of more than 1000 deaths (1438 on April 15), the official word, scientific and media, holds in only word dorder, hammered on the air, upat lobsession: promised, sworn, the mask in everyday life is absolutely useless. Thus, among countless daily declarations to this effect, on March 4, the government spokesperson declared, in the absence of available stocks: “We must not buy a mask”; then the Minister of Health qualifies the wearing of masks by the general public “unnecessary” and advises against it; the pThe first minister says that it is “not recommended for the general population”.

At the cost of a spectacular turnaround, the highest authorities of theISState now make wearing a mask the main tool in the fight against the epidemic. The decree of July 10 makes it compulsory, primarily in public transport, non-compliance with the rule is punished with a fine of 135 euros. Throughout the summer, while the number of deaths is in sharp decline (around twenty per day), this obligation is extended to all establishments open to the public, shops, administrations and theaters, to certain spaces. urban (Toulouse, districts of Paris), and now to private companies.

Faced with this change of course, citizens have a right to question themselves. And this is just a matter of logic. If the mask offers, as it is claimed today, genuine protection, its absolute banishment, in speech and in fact, for several months, inevitably contributed to amplifying the disaster. What is the share of responsibility for this ban in the grim record of the Covid19 who made more than 30000 dead in France?

Overwhelming advisers, doctors and scientists, is not a solution. “We didn’t know.» In a democratic system, responsibility lies with the political decision-maker alone. No matter what, he is responsible for giving himself bad advisers and listening to their bad advice. Todayhui, the «anti-masks» are singled out and viewed as a public danger. But who formalized, propagated the anti discourse mask, before changing his mind late, once past the deadly peak of theepidemic? Who spread theidea that the mask was useless? Those sames who give lessons today …

Would we not be blindly switching from one dogma to another dogma? This mask, doomed to moaning for weeks, would have suddenly become a miraculous tool, and the cursed object made salutary and compulsory everywhere. But who takes the trouble to explain to the French the reasons for this change in doctrine? The people are good children. One day he was taught learnedly that masks are useless and that he must confine himself: he does not wear them and confines himself. The next day he was arbitrarily told the opposite: the mask is essential and those who are reluctant to wear it will be heavily punished. And the people bend again, without the slightest hint of an explanation.

Wearing a generalized mask in the street, towards which France is inexorably tending, is by no means trivial: “To hide one’s face is to undermine the minimum requirements of life in society.. […] The Republic is seen with its face uncovered ”(circular of 2 March 2011 on the ban on wearing the burqa). Thus, imposed and generalized in the street, it profoundly modifies the nature of social relations, promotes anonymity, incommunicability, depersonalization, and consequently violence. How would its usefulness in open space, so long denied, now be proven? The French have the right to an explanation.

In appearance, the wheel turns and it passes, like a letter in the mail: even the popularity curves of key national leaders are on the rise. However, in the long term, these contradictions with dizzying consequences, as yet unmeasured, in terms of public health, human lives and the impact on the economy and employment, will weigh on the collective conscience. The era of suspicion, after the crisis of «gilets jaunes» and the social movement is in full swing in the bowels of the country: would the mask imposed on the street be to gag the people? Whatever happens, the nation’s confidence in public speech, already seriously damaged for decades, will emerge even more damaged with perhaps incalculable and unforeseeable political consequences today.

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