After The Pandemic

 I see the world as moving in a definite direction due to the pandemic. The world will certainly be different but just how will it be different?

First comes globalization. The world will have to move closer together than it already is. With international travel being so widespread, nations have to work together on this, in case it should happen again. Having each nation decide for itself how to handle the virus means that international borders have to be essentially closed. The post-virus world order will have to have closer global cooperation than is the case today.

This virus is a great boost for the internet. As important in daily life the internet is already, this will make it even more important. It is just about the greatest thing that ever happened to the internet. What would this have been like if people couldn't work and study from home? Life will be lived increasingly online.

But so many people lack satisfactory internet access. With internet access becoming ever-more important, in case it is necessary to work at home again, it is vital for everyone to have high-speed Internet access. The surest way to accomplish this is to make internet access into a utility, like water and electricity.

If making internet access into a utility, taking control of it from private companies although it may still be managed by those companies, seems socialistic this leftward trend will have to continue in the making of health coverage for all absolutely mandatory. If someone thinks that they might have contracted a virus, it is essential that they go and get tested and treated immediately, before they spread it to other people. They will obviously be less likely to do that if they are worried about being covered or how much it will cost to get tested and treated.

The next subject is a basic guaranteed income for everyone. If someone cannot work, whether because of being sick or because their place of employment had to let them go, their resulting lack of consumer spending hurts the economy, causing other people to lose their jobs and thus perpetuating the cycle. The way around this is to give everyone a certain guaranteed income, and this was underway in many places before the virus. This will keep the economy going while there are people who cannot work. It is not a question of meritocracy because it is not a worker's fault if something like this virus happens.

Another reason for implementing a basic guaranteed income is the possible need to quarantine. If a person is told that they might have been exposed to the virus and to quarantine for two weeks, how are they supposed to support themselves? Doesn't it make sense that the only realistic way to get people to cooperate with quarantining and contact tracing is to give them a guaranteed income?

The next topic is authoritarianism, or even dictatorship. The truth is that authoritarian societies have handled this virus a lot better than freer societies. Societies with a strong emphasis on individual personal freedom, such as the U.S. and Britain, have been among those that have suffered the worst. History often operates in cycles and if 1989 represented the ascent of democracy then 2020 represents it's decline.

Remember that, just before this pandemic started, we saw in the compound posting, "Economics" November 2019, two particular sections, 8) THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY, about where democracy is headed, and 9) THE MARKETPLACE ECONOMY AND CATACLYSM, about how the marketplace economic model that we use that I wrote after this virus began.

Remember, with the U.S. election approaching, that it is impossible to really understand U.S. politics without understanding how it goes back to the French Revolution. France helped America gain independence, and was the first nation to give it diplomatic recognition, but the French king and queen were overthrown and guillotined not long after, and America's Republican Party is actually the continuation of the Bourbon Dynasty.

I wrote the compound posting, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris" December 2015, before Donald Trump was elected and explained why a Republican president is actually a king, and can be expected to act like one. It is not possible to understand U.S. politics without understanding that.