My Jandek Plague Journal: 6/14/20 "Waiting to Die"

"Hey, let's go for a beer!/'I don't drink anymore.'/Well, what do you do?/'I sit in a chair.'/What, you meditate?/'No. I don't do anything.'/Well, don't you know how to live?/'No. Not really.'" What is our responsibility to each other? How do we live a moral life? I didn't know before and I don't know now. The cynic in me wants to roll my eyes at the announcements of anti-racist activism by YouTubers and podcasters, but the realist in me knows that the naivety of their language does not demonstrate a naivety of purpose or principle. Cynicism is the easy fallback when we have a system built on teaching despair. Where is the opposition party in all this unrest? Where are their acts of solidarity with the protesters if for no other reason than to make things difficult for the administration? They don't know how to do it--how to act to inspire, how to embolden hope. "Defund the police" is met with "aim for their legs" and they're shocked we won't wait til November. -6/14/20. "Waiting to Die" from Athens Saturday (lyrics) (one week earlier) (one week later)