Masking is, currently, the only thing we can do as individuals to protect ourselves and others, hence the push for masking. We need systemic actions. We need air filtration. We NEED contact tracing, quarantine, and sick leave. But gov't has to do that and they are unwilling to, so we mask.

I live in Taiwan. We had robust contact tracing and quarantine. This let us go to bars, restaurants, movie theatres with little to no risk of contracting Covid. I lived 'normally' for the first 3 years of the pandemic, wearing surgical masks everywhere, but still eating and drinking out, safely.