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I really need y'all to understand that we're not going back to normal anytime soon.
Get the idea out of your head and prepare to embrace a lot of long-term change.
Get the idea out of your head and prepare to embrace a lot of long-term change.
Those of us who were conscious humans for at least a decade before 9/11 understand what it looks like when there are drastic and permanent changes to society.
This is going to be one of those times.
This is not a passing phase.
The faster we grasp that, the better.
This is going to be one of those times.
This is not a passing phase.
The faster we grasp that, the better.
I can't tell you exactly what this change is going to look like but I can tell you why I'm 100% certain it's coming.
To begin with. In the case of a normal disaster scenario, the effects are localized.
This means that when resources are low, more can be imported.
Not so here
To begin with. In the case of a normal disaster scenario, the effects are localized.
This means that when resources are low, more can be imported.
Not so here
The whole world is grappling with the same disaster scenario at the same time which means that every nation needs its own resources and the concept of "surplus" is meaningless.
There is no emergency stockpile of social and medical resources big enough to serve everyone at once.
There is no emergency stockpile of social and medical resources big enough to serve everyone at once.
Likewise it is not only the economics of one nation under strain.
Commerce is disrupted globally and the nature of the pandemic means that there cannot be a global "game on" where everything just kicks back into gear.
The pandemic is affecting different areas at different rates
Commerce is disrupted globally and the nature of the pandemic means that there cannot be a global "game on" where everything just kicks back into gear.
The pandemic is affecting different areas at different rates
Because of the staggered pace of the pandemic and the non-uniformity of response, different parts of the world are going to grapple with the disease at different rates.
This means that international travel cannot just resume as usual and we will need to compensate for this.
This means that international travel cannot just resume as usual and we will need to compensate for this.
Just as the surveillance state blossomed at an exponential rate after the War on Terror™ entire industries will grow around pandemic needs.
Society will adopt new cultural memes and new ways of interacting, working and engaging.
Society will adopt new cultural memes and new ways of interacting, working and engaging.
This is one of those times where a normally inert society becomes uncharacteristically malleable and it's going to be critically important that we shape it in the right ways before it hardens again.
We had a chance to do this after 9/11 and we squandered it.
We had a chance to do this after 9/11 and we squandered it.
The shock of 9/11, the level of international goodwill offered us, the recognition that we are not invulnerable... These could have led us to being more introspective and to reassess our position relative to the rest of the world.
But instead we embraced violence and hatred.
But instead we embraced violence and hatred.
We calcified that hatred in our laws and policies and absorbed even greater heights of authoritarianism into the core of our society such that constant surveillance, torture, indefinite imprisonment and the erasure of due process became mundane and commonplace.
Again we are at a crossroads where we are able to determine what kind of nation we are going to be.
Let's not squander it this time.
Let's not squander it this time.
