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June 9, 2020

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 56

DAY 56: I hear my neighbor slam
his door, his daughter wife and
dog, that front door slams all
day long -- where are they going
all the time? --
during a total lockdown? --
the regulations -- for our own
good -- say out once a day, 100
meters away, dog shit: check -- once
a week groceries/pharmacy -- we're
all taking this expensive tablet
to boost our immune systems and
making cakes to ease the pain -- and
that's it, that's all, #iorestoacasa -- so 
the slammers are cheating clearly -- they're 
going out to see their friends, 
relatives, cheat when the cops
turn their backs -- that's so Italian -- 
actually it's not, all us other
Italians are hunkered down
admirably, turtles closed in shells, 
obeying better than anyone -- way better 
than Americans with their silly
jogging on the beach -- the Brits,
the Swedes, what a pity! vilken skam.
So anyway my question is,
if I can remember it: Are
people who obey the rules
better people? Think peons
think automatons, fanatics
authoritarians, think sheep
fascists, zealots, think racists,
bigots, sexists -- when the powerful 
love rules -- for others to obey -- 
should we rebel with fists raised?
Question Authority? Stick it to the
Man? Down with Big Brother? 
Fight Imperial Stormtroopers?
or queue quietly, passively
accepting our roles as lookouts
on the castle wall signalling the
approach of the infected enemy
thusly avoiding the Black Plague --
is a virus a political absolute?
does a pandemic require acquiescence?
is cause and effect a measure of
our belief in the scientific method
and our rebuke of God creator?
-- if only we were better
people.