Commentary Indeed, most issues are symbolic, and people want to be on the right side of symbols. If you are wearing a type N-95 protective mask right now, there’s a good chance it’s counterfeit and ineffective against COVID-19 and its derivatives. In other words, the mask you have is likely just a symbol. Furthermore, if you’re wearing anything other than an authentic type N-95, it’s likely doing virtually nothing to guard you against COVID and other pathogens. But masks are big business nowadays. A quick internet search indicates the counterfeit mask business is somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion annually. Fortune Business Insights projects the mask business to be worth $3.5 billion by 2027. Put another way, wearing masks other than authentic type N-95 is simply virtue signaling, ignorance, or begrudged adherence to rules and regulations imposed by local, state, and federal bureaucrats posing as authorities on COVID transmission. …