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A place for discussion as to what life after the current pandemic is likely to be. What institutions will survive and which ones may go under never to return, at least not in their previous form. Will so many continue to be afraid to attend social gatherings, eating inside restaurants, etc., or might see a making up for lost time attitude with many stampeding to social events once restrictions are lifted? We could also marry this with thoughts as to whether the pandemic may end up being the defining episode of this 4T. Or might it be up to a full decade before we know for sure? And how influential might the Black Lives Matter and the issue of police brutality be going forth? Unfinished business from the last 2T it appears. Your thoughts here.
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Coronavirus has promoted the virtual. I have seen references to working at home (tele-commuting), video conferencing, and remote medical monitoring in response to the pandemic.
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What was dying before COVID-19 because it is overpriced or outmoded may itself die. The retail apocalypse already happening will continue.
Fading out:
enclosed shopping malls (expensive to maintain and obsolete in purpose)
low-end casual dining, especially hamburger joints
bookstores unless they also deal in used books
the 24/7 economy as a whole
Boy Scouts of America (gigantic legal settlement)
People will do again what they used to do and love doing. They will be attending sporting events, they will travel, they will go to gyms, and they will get their hair and nails done. There will be family reunions and weddings.
Shields that protect retail cashiers will probably remain in place. Even if COVID-19 should disappear they will be good for protecting clerks from the spread of other communicable diseases. Mortuary practices may change.
Many businesses will find that they can get people to work remote. For some people that will be a solution; for some it will be terror. This said, even the most isolated hick towns at least have churches, civic organizations, and fraternal organizations.
Much will be decided about two months from now on American political life... It may be too early to decide how such things such as tax policy will go.
Americans (at least survivors) will likely see COVID-19 as a crisis due to the body count, already approaching 200 thousand, which is approaching half America's death toll from World War II in a third of the time. This is war, and... the electorate will judge Donald Trump and many elected Republicans on how they led. We may see some cultural changes as Americans lose much of their complacency about things as they used to be.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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Casual dining out, but drive-thru fast food will do fine.
Steve Barrera
[A]lthough one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. - Hagakure
Saecular Pages
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(09-04-2020, 06:53 PM)sbarrera Wrote: Casual dining out, but drive-thru fast food will do fine.
Or ordering delivery.
A drive through is actually horrible for burning gasoline while people are in line for food. Ten minutes of waiting in line in a car mostly in idle is much like driving a similar number of miles in that minute for gasoline consumption. There are aps on a cell phone for ordering at fast-food chains.
I'm buying lots of pre-packaged meals that I can zap in a microwave.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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09-05-2020, 10:03 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-05-2020, 10:06 AM by David Horn.)
Never ones to let a crisis go to waste, big business will restructure to maintain their depleted workforce in remote locations. This has a dual purpose: to lower costs in general (real estate, on-site maintenance, etc.) and keep any potential worker backlash from organizing.
I'll add more later.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
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Nothing has actually changed in Russia. The government delayed the quarantine until it was necessary, told everyone they were having a week holiday and then announced it would continue for a month. Then it ended and everyone went back to work with masks and gloves until this was eased very quickly.
Reason they reopened so quickly here was down to the government hates debt. They prefer precious metal reserves and since they didn't support the economy and people out of work, they reopene very quickly.
Plus there was no true way to quarantine Russia as everyone lives in an apartment block and most people live and interact very closely with each other due to the nature of how society has developed here so social distancing was out.
Want to know what life in Russia is like? It is as if there was never any virus in the first place. Life resembles what it was before the virus. That is normal.
So when it comes to post covid changes, there will be no major changes in Russia in terms of how people live. Plus Russians are tougher then Americans.
I'm sorry but it is true. I see Americans wailing about how they have been at war and how much of a disaster it is. For Russians? They just shrug their shoulders, think "ah well, at least it isn't Stalingrad" and get on with life.
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(09-05-2020, 02:27 PM)Isoko Wrote: Nothing has actually changed in Russia...
The above is at least partially true. Another perspective is that Russians will tolerate bad government without doing something about it. Putin might launch an invasion and and get sanctions that cripple his economy, but double down on his mistake. Sanctions indefinitely. Still president for life? Trump might blow the response to COVID, and be out after four years. Autocratic rule does have its advantages. You can, for example, enforce stricter precautions against COVID. Still, some democratic governments have done well against COVID.
I’ll still go with democracy, human rights, equality and justice. In abstract I can be a fan of such things. In practice, I can’t see the path for places like Russia and China to move on. Fortunately, I am more an interested observer than a practitioner. I can type "We'll see." and act patient.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
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Neo-Missionary son: Dad, you suck, you're scrolling your smartphone all the time!
Millennial dad: Covid made me do it!
(Ignoring the fact he was an Internet addict already in 2019)
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(09-05-2020, 10:03 AM)David Horn Wrote: Never ones to let a crisis go to waste, big business will restructure to maintain their depleted workforce in remote locations. This has a dual purpose: to lower costs in general (real estate, on-site maintenance, etc.) and keep any potential worker backlash from organizing.
I'll add more later.
This is now being noticed by the mainstream press and most politicians (even some Republicans). Don't equate that with impending action, but recognition is a necessary precursor to any that may occur.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
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(03-14-2021, 11:02 AM)David Horn Wrote: (09-05-2020, 10:03 AM)David Horn Wrote: Never ones to let a crisis go to waste, big business will restructure to maintain their depleted workforce in remote locations. This has a dual purpose: to lower costs in general (real estate, on-site maintenance, etc.) and keep any potential worker backlash from organizing.
I'll add more later.
This is now being noticed by the mainstream press and most politicians (even some Republicans). Don't equate that with impending action, but recognition is a necessary precursor to any that may occur.
I would be delighted to work remotely to keep my costs down. Office space is far cheaper in some places than in others (and if I am to be a solid worker, I must have a dedicated office and equipment... which might be comparatively inexpensive and primitive). I am on the autistic spectrum, and people can tire of me fast after they get to know me. It is best that my office politics be limited to dedicating my coffee break to a dog-walking break.
This may be one way to revitalize cities that used to have vibrant economies (Rochester, New York circa 1980) that do not have them now. High technology allows deconcentration of the overall economy. Sure, part of this deconcentration may require that I visit some high-cost community on occasion to keep in touch. But do I really need to live in New York City? No. Maybe Traverse City in the summer and San Antonio in the winter.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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