I see where you're getting confused; the same as most people here. You're looking at things backwards.
You see all that spittle? That's where the virus is and that's how it travels.
The mask you wear is not primarily to protect you; it's to protect others FROM you. If everyone is protecting everyone else from themselves, nobody gets the virus.
Without a mask, a cough, sneeze, or even talking with zeal - or, in situations like a subway, simply breathing, can send particles several feet or metres.
With a mask, even if it's just a homemade cloth one is demonstrably effective at reducing that distance to barely a couple of centimetres for the most vigorous sneeze. Even a cursory glance online will find numerous testing and footage to prove this, and its something anyone can basically test themselves.
What we have to realise is this is a cultural issue, not a 'freedom' issue.
Here in Asia; China (yeah, not free), Japan, Korea, and others all over, nobody had to be asked. I remember within 3 days of reports going widespread in Wuhan, 99.9% of every citizen in the streets were wearing masks here in Shanghai, almost 1,000km away; I walked the streets struggling to buy my own which is how I noticed.
Everybody simply understood that as a society, we need to work as a community to protect one another in order to also protect ourselves and loved ones.
Nobody in these countries (or any country except the USA really) questioned their freedoms and efficacy of masks; its common sense over here: Put a wall in front of the source, and the source can't get through.
Now, we can argue we're seeing second/third waves etc, but that's also inevitable; I imagine its going to be like whack-a-mole for years to come even with a vaccine readily available. But even with that, Japan, with a population 1/3rd the size of the USA, crammed into a few small city-pockets of immense density, has 25,000 cases total and less than 1,000 deaths. The USA? millions and still rocketing at immeasurable speeds because 'muh freedoms'.
Really makes you think.
Well, here where we differ. I don't feel confused at all and your post proves the point of why so many others are confused. While surgical masks and even cloths masks do help prevent fluids from exiting the mask, which can ALSO contain virus particles, they do next to nothing to prevent the actual airborne virus particles from exiting the mask. Read the CDC and FDA articles in more depth, and apply some basic physics understanding. The filtering levels provided by these masks simply isn't fine enough to filter the many times smaller virus particles in the air. These masks were designed to prevent the liquid sized blood spurts or snot particles from sneezes etc. but are NOT effective for filtering the virus particles in the air. This is directly stated on the CDC and FDA and OSHA web sites! I've had over 10 years of firefighter, paramedic, and Hazmat training. What quals do you have in interpreting CDC, FDA, and other scientific studies? This whole cloth mask surge is nothing but media and politician propaganda to make people feel more comfortable and prevent a run on the few masks that actually provide a little protection.