deathmtn

Liberal sentiment in China is at a low
ebb. The pro—democracy cause has been weakened drastically since Trump took of—
fice. How do you defend a system that gives power to a celebrity with no knowledge of international relations who filed
for corporate bankruptcy half a dozen times? Trump’s early attempts to wave away the threat of the virus looked dangerously
short-sighted to people here; his bid for an America—only vaccine grotesque. As racist
attacks against Chinese—Americans have
surged in the US, along with the virus, it has become impossible to argue for a Western model of freedom and democracy. Crestfallen liberals have turned to
Japan, which has (so far) avoided a lockdown, relying on its citizens to observe government guidelines. There has been no obvious digital surveillance there and no evidence of mass panic. The only visible sign of anxiety has been annoyance at
people without masks coughing or sneezing on transit systems. Perhaps Otaku culture has given the Japanese a head start in self—isolation.

A seven-year—old boy in my building attempts to ambush me every time I take the rubbish out. It’s hard for someone his age to spend so long away from his peers, and so he leaps out at random adults on the stairway to pass the time