Our commentary “Take the pledge?” about Eric Peters’ suggestion of a no-mask pledge for politicians received a number of on-the-record and off-site comments. One in particular from “Dave” has a great suggestion: let local business know that attempts to enforce a mask mandate will result in their losing our business.

In the light of the Bud Light debacle (for Anheuser Busch) and the growing pushback against Liberty Safe (for giving out the code for a customer’s safe to the FBI), all businesses should be sensitive to the power of their customers.

Someone has suggested going a bit further. Consider these (preprinted decals available for purchase on-line):

Does it make sense to also praise, encourage, and buy from businesses that are willing to post such decals or signs on their front doors? Now, from a professional point of view, you want to limit the number of signs and notices that you put on your front door. “Info Overload” is a serious safety problems for mines, construction sites, and even retail businesses. But to make a political and social point?

Dear reader, what do you think?

Or should businesses go even further? “Masks prohibited?”

Daily we are hearing of yet another place where masks are again being required. Such as the kindergarten classes in Montgomery County Maryland. (Admittedly, this is exactly what we would expect from a deep blue place inside the Beltway.) The time for pushing back is now. As Tom Woods (and many others) have pointed out, the data demonstrates that masking made virtually no difference to rates of infection by COVID-19, or in severity of the beer flu. Certainly not in general public settings.

But we have people who scream and whine and cry about how we are killing elders and children by not wearing the silly face diapers. And we still see people who wear the masks driving down the street in their own cars and walking through parking lots and in stores. Do they qualify as “bitter clingers” to masks and fake science?

And we have people – incredibly to us at TPOL – who trust government and seemingly fervently believe anything that government says and tells them to do.

For readers who are willing, consider a further question: Would you do business with a place that has this sign in their front window or door?

Now, is this more suitable in a medical office or clinic? Or hospital? What about a commercial kitchen? There are obviously many nuances.

To us, as lovers of liberty, there is a clear difference between asking someone to do something, and mandating that they do something. At the same time, as Mama Liberty frequently pointed out, landowner and business owner rights do matter, and anyone can choose, for example, to declare their private business or home a gun-free zone. Is this a similar case? Again, dear readers, what do you think?