© CC BY 2.0 / Bryan Ledgard / Goth weekends
Andrew Latham, The Conversation: How 3 prior pandemics triggered massive societal shifts
Before March of this year, few probably thought disease could be a significant driver of human history.
Not so anymore. People are beginning to understand that the little changes COVID-19 has already ushered in or accelerated – telemedicine, remote work, social distancing, the death of the handshake, online shopping, the virtual disappearance of cash and so on – have begun to change their way of life. They may not be sure whether these changes will outlive the pandemic. And they may be uncertain whether these changes are for good or ill.
Three previous plagues could yield some clues about the way COVID-19 might bend the arc of history. As I teach in my course “Plagues, Pandemics and Politics,” pandemics tend to shape human affairs in three ways.
First, they can profoundly alter a society’s fundamental worldview. Second, they can upend core economic structures. And, finally, they can sway power struggles among nations.
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WNU Editor: The Covid-19 pandemic will not only be remembered for its health impacts, but also its economic and financial ones. How bad and how deep these economic and financial impacts will be is still unknown. But printing money and assuming massive debts never ends well for governments and countries who pursue it. And we are now in the mother of all printing money and assuming debt crisis.
The virus has exposed "wise" political philosophy for the foolishness it really is.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. The governors of California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, New York and New Jersey closed their states to hurt the economy and thus hurt Trump's and the Republicans chance at re-election.
ReplyDeleteThe governor of Michigan's shut down was judged by the State supreme Curt to be illegal. By the governor is un-perturbed. She calculates that the Democrats have enough staying power that in time the supreme court's decision will be washed away by a flood of new appointees over the next 8 years.
The
Illinois governor closed the economy to hurt it. Sort of like laying waste ahead of another army so they cannot forage. The Illinois governor is required by law to balance the budget. He did not. He is counting on a Federal assistance. That way he can have his cake and eat it too.
Illinois Passes $40 Billion Budget Counting on Federal Help - Bloomberg
Massive bailout and dollar printing will lead to a falling dollar and massive inflation.
I actually had renminbi that I changed into dollars. BIG mistake.
A really big mistake. The Democrats are running a guy with dementia and they have a better than 50% chance of winning. Think about that.