Has COVID changed Russia?
In 2020, I remember panicking opinions: The world will never be the same after the COVID-19 pandemic. I was sceptical then on this. I was proven right today.
To me, the COVID hysteria was total mismanagement from beginning to end. This form of flu rocked the world like an extraterrestrial biological weapon.
Yes, as the flu, it wasn’t good. It was stronger than the Hong Kong flu in 1968 but far from the influenza after World War One.
What was done wrong? I believe that world leaders have done too much to escape from responsibility, as they thought back then, and overreacted, putting bans and barriers worldwide.
Sweden’s reaction was one of the rarest smart cases to handle COVID. No lockdowns, no panic, no silly restrictions, just an adult society’s reaction to a serious challenge.
I don’t see any signs of COVID in Russia that would still be visible today, leaving scratches forever. Yes, some people still wear masks. Moreover, wearing a mask now in Russia doesn’t make you a white crow in public. People don’t stare at you like you are infected with some lethal disease.
This is the only change that COVID-19 has left in Russia. And the only visible difference. Enjoy wearing your mask now!
The rest is business as usual. People now happily forget their panic and fears. This chapter in modern human history is done. New challenges have arrived. Welcome to the bright new world!
Has Covid changed America?
Of course, the short answer is duh.com but I get paid by the word. Besides, if I stopped at the short answer, it would rob me of the chance to gloat and dance about. When Covid started I made a prediction that its biggest effect would be to accelerate change. At that moment I was thinking about competition between the US & China but change took place in almost every sphere of life.
Millions work from home now and millions more don’t work at all. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in a shortage of employees and an upsurge in pay. The one percent is mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore. Problem: how can Republicans protect the interest of the one-percent while appealing to populists? Awkward is a bit of an understatement.
Now we have AI taking millions of jobs in advertising and journalism as billionaire tech moguls rage on about the threat while investing in the stuff. Yes, Elon Musk is also guilty of this exact crime.
Regular readers know I’m a glass-half-full guy, so I don’t buy into robots killing us all, but it is fair to say some may try. It’s also not a real prediction to forecast that robots will take the very last job possible. I mean every last job.
Want to know how Covid changed America? It moved all this up ten years. I predict that in twenty years there will be a stipend in every industrial country in the world because most of us will not have jobs. Robots will have to pay income taxes because humans will no longer have any jobs to go to.
I’ll take that prediction one step further. The rich control some countries so completely that these countries will simply refuse to distribute money to those who no longer have jobs. These governments will fall. My country may very well have its government transformed into something unrecognizable now (hopefully through the ballot box). There will be great quantities of blood coating streets in some countries because Covid, years ago, unleashed changes that some Governments refused to acknowledge. Oh, and if you think Covid is gone….
Has Covid changed Britain?
My country has certainly changed over the past three years. During that time, a new acronym has been invented: WTF, no sorry, WFH. Working from home was compulsory during lockdown, but many people who are able still combine a few days in the office with the convenience of not leaving their homes every day. Others, who have forward-looking bosses who actually trust their workers, continue to almost exclusively WFH.
One early symptom of being couped up in a small space for extended periods was the exodus by many city-dwellers into the rural country areas of Britain, to gain bigger rooms and outside areas for relaxing. House prices and rents in these areas went sky-high, although this has since reversed, and there is evidence that many have returned to their city.
The number of Britons making financial plans for after they die have almost tripled. The biggest increase was among under-35s, with a 23% increase in will-writing among Generation Z, those aged 10-25. It seems the pandemic gave people a reason to plan their will and funeral because they were genuinely worried about dying. Maybe this change will not be reversible, and that the stigma of talking about death will forever be dispelled.
Had you heard of Zoom before Covid? I hadn’t, but became an early user of this video conferencing app, and still do regularly today, even though face-to-face meetings have long since been allowed. Both sides of our family now regularly communicate this way, just like we did during lockdown. We actually talk together much more than we did pre-pandemic.
Whilst I admit that us Brits already loved to shop online pre-pandemic, it was nowhere today’s level. After non-essential businesses were closed and we were all told to avoid leaving home, ordering groceries and luxuries online became even more popular, and remains so today, to the detriment of many High Streets.
Most of these changes are ultimately good for my country, but I continue to worry about the effect of the virus on our youngsters. Being unable to be normal children for such a relatively long period of time will surely have far-reaching mental effects both now and in the future. And that is not, of course, confined to my country.