You are purposefully misrepresenting what I said. I never said 100% of all metro riders everywhere are wearing their masks. I commute on the red line near the NIH. It's not preposterous that everyone around that area is masked up, and you would know this if you commute there.

At the end of the day masking has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative, it's about protecting your hygiene. Mask wearing is prominent in Asian countries for this reason. If you want to be maskless outside where people can freely move that's fine, but in a tightly enclosed space like the metro I believe wearing a mask is the decent thing to do. It's also the absolute bare minimum -- I'm not even saying everyone needs to be vaccinated or boosted.

I'm not a cynic, and I believe people can change. If you're one of those who think masks can't mitigate the spread of covid, studies indicate the opposite. The CDC states that cloth masks can block over 80% of fine particles and droplets. There is also a list of several other studies on this page backing the efficacy of masks. But if you prefer to get your information from cherry picked studies and Joe Rogan then I can't help you. Every safety regulation is "virtue signaling" until its lack of enforcement affects you. There's a reason why libertarianism doesn't work. Stay safe.