Anarchy the hard way.

Hi. So, every day it gets weirder. As much as I try not to think about all the conversations we used to have, back in those heady days in Arcata, when everything seemed important and vital and talking for hours was our thing. Sure, we fucked like rabbits, but in between, we planned all the ways the empire would fall. We watched all the news, listened to all the radio shows, read all the zines, listened to the music, imagined how things would fall to shit. It always revolved around the war machine, funded by corporate flacks, sure, but ultimately it was going to be the military-industrial complex. To be fair to us, it could still be that. Neither of us anticipated (did anyone?) the power of social media though. Of the rednecks dabbling in punditry. Of politicians seemingly actually being cold-blooded reptiles who do not give a fuck about people. We knew the power the rich had, but that sort of "rich" seems so innocuous now. This super-wealthy layer of people, who have used the internet to join everyone in a race to look cool. The indoctrination of marketing is chilling. Even in this year that you've been gone, it's seemingly worse than ever. I wish I'd asked you if what you thought of "influencers" - but I'm going way into left field (ooh, a pun) here - my point was to tell you about the conversation I had with my building's maintenance guy, and the annoying ghost of Bob White (and you too, I suppose) haunting my thoughts as shit starts shutting down here in the city we have always held dear. Everything is precariously slipping into a willful Marshall Law, Mike. They aren't going to have to declare it, they are just going to scare the shit out of people, to finally just stay in their pods (homes) and consume. The drones who write the code will survive, and the rest of us, the creators, the doers, the workers, the people who enjoy the sun and talking to others, who enjoy arguing and observing, we are gonna be killed. But not by the firing squads you and I joked about, and not using some shitty oven like they had to use in Europe. The elderly who are too poor to be able to hide out in their own palatial estates, they are going first. The covid19 "flu" is taking them first. It's starting in the assisted living spots. Then it will go to the sick on the streets, the people like me who don't have much healthcare and didn't take great care of themselves over their lives (but you know what, I'm glad I know what it sounds like when you slam that spike in your arm, poop in a cave, appear on Serbian TV, sit in the sand on the beach in Montego Bay (and bring back treats), to know the love of a great bartender, to fall downstairs moving amps, roll a van in the middle of a freeway in the midwest, be the cool girl in culinary school, drive my car directly into a tree because I loved someone who couldn't love me back, know the joy of doing what i loved for a living, if only for a few glorious years, to be an aunt, know the love of two amazing dogs, take photos that i still adore, have a darkroom of my own, perform on stage and know the sound of applause, make people moan with food and in bed. I don't regret any of it, and if I die or end up on the street, a shrieking hulk of a person, at least I will have lived a life of variety and invention. Again, I digress. I haven't explained it well yet. But the fear of the virus has seen the MLB and the NBA to cancel their seasons. All gatherings of more than 250 are canceled (forbidden?) it's so dystopian as to almost be surreal. A Netflix movie about a Pandemic appears, followed closely by the real thing. As if Veep wasn't accurate enough, the world is well and truly fucked Mike, and you were wise to just cash in your chips (hopefully, you chose, that crazy bitch you left with your stuff makes me wonder sometimes, but we'll get to that another time). I'm still not getting to it man, sorry. So much when I start thinking about it. Today as my building's maintenance dude told me that they were bringing the coast guard in and "closing down the city/state" I thought: those motherfuckers. We were right. Our shitty little punk rock cabal, doing our shitty little DIY thing for almost 40 years (some obviously better than others; Ian's fine, but Kev is working at an Amazon warehouse, but still selling his art online and making music with Al locally, so yay him) WE WERE RIGHT. Except on the "how". It's interesting how the Mango Mussolini has managed to destroy the government, but this is what happens when the capitalists do it instead of the anarchists. Fucking crazy group-think - you should see (can you? if you can, you HAVE TO BE LAUGHING YOUR ASS OFF) the hoarding. The toilet paper. The hand mfing sanitizer for god's sake. Cowards one and all. The media is really at the heart of it all, and since we know full well that they are owned by advertisers and corporations, who are owned by the fossil fuel industry (ooh, yes, Russia) and well, all they had to do was threaten these fat idiot consumers that they will die and not be able to get the new I-phone if they hang out at a bar or go to a conference, or school or...get this: church. They are telling people not to go to church IN AN ELECTION YEAR. This is some batshit stuff. Goddamn I wish you were still around to talk to. I mean if you would talk about this stuff. Damn this is still super hard. I'm editing as I write, so I'm gonna stop for a bit, I'm sure there will be plenty to get into tomorrow. But this: we may end up with universal healthcare and national income if this pandemic bullshit goes on. It's hard to say, because what happens when all the stupid little businesses catering to the rich are eliminated, but the rich aren't eliminated? Do we rise up like we used to talk about (I'm awful old and rickity, but I think I could still use a pitchfork. Definitely could use a gun right about now) and fucking off with their heads? Do we do it Eat The Rich style? What happens? Do we burn down their glass and metal boxes? Can we? Hrmmm. More soon. :m