Who is “we”?

Cloth and surgical masks are not ideal at all for one-way masking, but definitely help when everyone in a space is masked.

N95s are extremely effective at both one-way and of course, two-way masking. They offer an entirely different category of filtration.

The problem with masking is that people don’t / don’t want to understand COVID and other respiratory viruses are airborne. They can hang in the air for hours after an infected individual leaves a room.

People don’t understand that masks filter air, they don’t scare away disease. You have to cover your nose and mouth and keep them that way the whole time you’re in a space where a hazard exists.

Which led to lots of made up rationalizations like wearing a mask to a restaurant table, then taking it off once seated = “being safe”, or masking for an event, but taking off masks for a group photo is “doing everything right”.

“Masks don’t really work” was invented by people when their lack of understanding, willful or not, led to them getting infected despite masking in ways that defeat the purpose.