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There is a part of me that thinks we will see permanent changes from COVID-19... but then there is the part of me that remembers how quickly society can forget

There is a part of me that thinks we will see permanent changes from COVID-19... but then there is the part of me that remembers how quickly society can forget lessons, and how new generations can rise up and carry the world forward in unforeseen ways. I am hopeful that we will not forget this experience, but I know how far away 2008 and 2001 are in people's minds already, and I think in ten years this will be as talked about as the Spanish Flu was before COVID. Can anyone show me an example where 'this time will be different' ever proved to be true? Don't get me wrong, there were some changes coming that will happen and be blamed on the virus, like the death of some major retailers, a commercial real estate crash, the death of nightclubs and bars, etc. But those are evolutionary changes which have taken decades to materialize.

xwdv 6y ago
The things that will be permanently changed will be things that were always destined to changed but were being held back by the status quo. Work from home for instance, many companies never wanted to even try it, even if it could save money, but now they’ve been forced to try it and actually like it, thus it will become a new status quo as people come out of quarantine and realize what a drag it is to actually have to leave their new habits and go back to shitty routines. Same with meetings, we don’t need god damn face to face meeting for everything. A teleconference is good enough. Why bother flying across the country? Fuck it.
dweekly 6y ago
When was it true that "this time it's different?" The dot-com implosion meant that you can't go public without revenue. The bar for IPOs then shifted far upward (even irrationally so) and has remained there since. 9/11 permanently moved the bar on state surveillance, war powers granted the president, and screenings. That mostly hadn't happened after prior hijackings or accidents. The Columbia disaster killed the Space Shuttle Program. There are many events that permanently transform affected systems. Coronavirus is a once in a century curveball and we are in the first chapter of many in the COVID-19 book. Many things will change. We don't know how many yet.
rayhendricks 6y ago
There will be some retailers and airlines who do go bankrupt, and we might see a shift to more teleworking for white-collar workers but apart from that even if there is a second wave this fall it will still be remembered 5 years from now as a non life-changing event. Spanish flu probably had a death rate >=10x covid, and even with that society did not change to much. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-how-spanish-flu-changed-world/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-how-spanish-... This will not stop politicians from both parties from trying to use the crisis for political gain.

xwdv 6y ago

The things that will be permanently changed will be things that were always destined to changed but were being held back by the status quo. Work from home for instance, many companies never wanted to even try it, even if it could save money, but now they’ve been forced to try it and actually like it, thus it will become a new status quo as people come out of quarantine and realize what a drag it is to actually have to leave their new habits and go back to shitty routines. Same with meetings, we don’t need god damn face to face meeting for everything. A teleconference is good enough. Why bother flying across the country? Fuck it.

dweekly 6y ago

When was it true that "this time it's different?" The dot-com implosion meant that you can't go public without revenue. The bar for IPOs then shifted far upward (even irrationally so) and has remained there since. 9/11 permanently moved the bar on state surveillance, war powers granted the president, and screenings. That mostly hadn't happened after prior hijackings or accidents. The Columbia disaster killed the Space Shuttle Program. There are many events that permanently transform affected systems. Coronavirus is a once in a century curveball and we are in the first chapter of many in the COVID-19 book. Many things will change. We don't know how many yet.

rayhendricks 6y ago

There will be some retailers and airlines who do go bankrupt, and we might see a shift to more teleworking for white-collar workers but apart from that even if there is a second wave this fall it will still be remembered 5 years from now as a non life-changing event. Spanish flu probably had a death rate >=10x covid, and even with that society did not change to much. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-how-spanish-flu-changed-world/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-how-spanish-... This will not stop politicians from both parties from trying to use the crisis for political gain.