My Jandek Plague Journal: 5/2/20 "In the Cave"

"We paid/We surely did pay/I’m gonna get out of it/By going into it more/I’m gonna get out of it." One week after reopening, Georgia had 1,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. Photos circulated of people gathering in large groups to watch the Blue Angels fly overhead. The easy response to this is sneering contempt, but something else underlies both details: faith in authority. People gathering again and the 1,000 new cases come from believing the message that it's safe to start going outside again. The other details don't matter: doctors saying it's not safe, the governor saying he's reopening even though more people will die, all people hear is "we're reopening" and assume it's safe because surely leaders wouldn't put people's lives at risk that way. What's on display is a betrayal of these people's faith in their fellow citizen and their painfully present need to be a community again. -5/2/20. "In the Cave" from Worthless Recluse (lyrics) (one week earlier) (one week later)