Beyond the mass death and economic shocks, pandemics are a big deal because they make everything that’s already teetering on the edge of breakdown much worse. The US is full of angry people, some for good reasons and others less so, and all it takes is a spark.

We’ve got a pretty combustible mixture: lots of people out of work, a looming depression, serious social fault lines, political breakdowns, and oh yeah, a virus. It’s probably safe to expect more protests, vigilantism, and violence.

These are the conditions that make serious social and political upheaval more likely - not inevitable, but more likely.