do you think there will be a 'new normal'?

[rae121452]

if and when the virus is somewhat under control and people begin to circulate again, do you think life will return to pre-virus normalcy? or, do you think that the whole experience is a societal game changer that will have lasting effects on our everyday lives?

 

[nerfvibrator]

I know I have no intention of doing any mass gatherings until there is a PROVEN vaccine. Doing things differently for eighteen months is better that being six feet below.

 

[patient1]

Yes. I think that in the long term the new normal will be a temp screening with every security screening.

Some employers will be doing the same and insisting that sick employees take sick days.

Kids will need a full set of vaccinations to attend public school or college.

 

[KeithD]

There shouldn't be a new normal--not any normal we've had since WWII. The virus threat has emphasized how screwed up the American economic and social system is compared to other "advanced" countries. What should happen when this has burbled down to more manageable levels is that we need to get a government--executive, legislative, and judicial--engaged in revamping and moving the country toward taking better care of its people. That someone obviously isn't Donald Trump. I don't think it's "all talk" Bernie Sanders either, but I have hope for a bunch of Democratic leaders from Elizabeth Warren over to the likes of Kamala Harris coming together to move us to more individual citizen-supportive programs.

That obviously doesn't include most currently elected Republicans either.

As far as sequestering and for how long: I was a wealthy writer hermit with comfortable living conditions, no debt, and great financials before the virus hit--which means locking down isn't much of a change for me. We'll probably have to give up the traveling we do--and have already canceled our May trip--but we've been pretty much everywhere already (when you've been to southern India and Mandalay, Burma, you've pretty much been everywhere), so we can endure staying right here. We've been in lockdown in embassies overseas for prolonged periods with shooting outside in the streets, so this version is a piece of cake and could go on forever for us. "Forever" isn't that long for me anyway. (My wife's mother lived to 102, so it's likely to be a much longer haul for her than for me.)

 

[nowisthetime]

I think many employers will realistically examine the work at home option for their companies.

I also believe people will be more aware of the importance of practicing good hygiene such as constantly washing their hands.

 

[Wrong Element]

Yes. I think that in the long term the new normal will be a temp screening with every security screening.

Some employers will be doing the same and insisting that sick employees take sick days.

Kids will need a full set of vaccinations to attend public school or college.

This part is important. There's a lot of peer pressure in the U.S. to not use sick days, even when really needed (and of course, millions of workers have no sick leave or protection against getting fired if they're sick for a long time). At least for now, companies will have to cut their people a lot of slack in this regard.

Years ago, I watched an episode of The American Experience about the 1918 flu pandemic, and there was some discussion of the fact that it seemed to leave little mark on society as a whole — the 1920s that followed were, if anything, an era famous for escapism and general frivolity. One of the experts suggested that this was in part because the pandemic occurred as World War I was ending, an even bigger deal historically; but he added that the extent of the death was almost too big for people to process (even considering it was a time when infectious disease was much more common and people tended to die younger), so everyone just tacitly agreed not to talk about it.

That may happen this time too. Aside from people who work in hospitals, who will almost certainly remember this as the defining event of their careers, I suspect millions will just want to pretend it didn't happen, and thus will seek out the "old normal."

Look for music to get even dumber.

 

[Saint_Ann]

(3) rory alts in one thread. Seems pretty 'normal' to me.

 

[AlotLikePsyche]

Businesses will reopen and everything will be on sale. They’ll try to convince us we can buy “normal” back again and we’ll believe them because shopping.

 

[teeAhee]

I think gaze should be Quarantined for spreading AIDS

but

NOooooooooooooooooo

in fact, they are even allowed to donate blood and infect NORMAL people

BAN GAZE NOW!

 

[Ziggins]

This is a very mild pandemic. There is much worse coming, especially bacterial. This could be viewed as a practice run, but the cost of this panic may reduce the options for next time.

 

[Tryharder62]

I was already living a "new" normal. What do I do now!

 

[silver gurl]

There will definitely be a new normal. I doubt things will go back to the way they were.
Like a pre 9-11 and post 9-11. Life was never the same.

 

[Ziggins]

The frequent use of antibacterial soap and sanitizer, prescription of antibiotics for illnesses without bacterial infection, and the use of antibiotics as growth hormones in livestock breed stronger bacteria. Our normal is still killing us.

 

[hogjack]

Yes. Genitalia will never make a comeback. Expect everyone to be raised as a genderless, apathetic human void of all emotions and sense of purpose.

 

[rae121452]

Yes. Genitalia will never make a comeback. Expect everyone to be raised as a genderless, apathetic human void of all emotions and sense of purpose.

hot damn, i'm ahead of the curve!!!

 

[rae121452]

This part is important. There's a lot of peer pressure in the U.S. to not use sick days, even when really needed (and of course, millions of workers have no sick leave or protection against getting fired if they're sick for a long time). At least for now, companies will have to cut their people a lot of slack in this regard.

Years ago, I watched an episode of The American Experience about the 1918 flu pandemic, and there was some discussion of the fact that it seemed to leave little mark on society as a whole — the 1920s that followed were, if anything, an era famous for escapism and general frivolity. One of the experts suggested that this was in part because the pandemic occurred as World War I was ending, an even bigger deal historically; but he added that the extent of the death was almost too big for people to process (even considering it was a time when infectious disease was much more common and people tended to die younger), so everyone just tacitly agreed not to talk about it.

That may happen this time too. Aside from people who work in hospitals, who will almost certainly remember this as the defining event of their careers, I suspect millions will just want to pretend it didn't happen, and thus will seek out the "old normal."

Look for music to get even dumber.

i don't know. i keep thinking about how the roaring twenties were a reaction to ww1 and prohibition, the beatniks were a reaction to ww2 and the bomb, the peace movement and hippies were a reaction to vietnam,,,,,and not to mention the civil rights movement, gay rights and women's lib that all resulted from societal disasters. i cherish the thought that this might be the impetus for a new 'revolution'. am i too optimistic?

 

[Jada59]

Yep. More people will be working from home. There will be less brick and mortar stores. Less real life Dr. visits. Fewer small businesses and restaurants. More people hoarding things in fear this will happen again. More online schools. We'll see much higher prices on everything and many more needy people. I also think trust level will be down in general.

I never was a huggy feely type until I met my gardener. He gives the best hugs! But I think I'll wind up going back to being a touch me not now.

 

[Saint_Ann]

i don't know. i keep thinking about how the roaring twenties were a reaction to ww1 and prohibition, the beatniks were a reaction to ww2 and the bomb, the peace movement and hippies were a reaction to vietnam,,,,,and not to mention the civil rights movement, gay rights and women's lib that all resulted from societal disasters. i cherish the thought that this might be the impetus for a new 'revolution'. am i too optimistic?

Hope and change, baby, hope and change. That liberal pipe dream that 2 or more people can shed their own personal wants, needs and desires for the good of the whole.

What good really came from any of that? Blacks still live in poverty. Gays are still shunned (esp. right here on the good ol' GB). Sure. There was a lot of great music created that PBS uses to suck money from aging progressives. Will it sell as long as Mozart did tho?

8 billion people all suffering from ptsd. Sounds like a recipe for a disaster to me.

 

[SpeareChucker]

if and when the virus is somewhat under control and people begin to circulate again, do you think life will return to pre-virus normalcy? or, do you think that the whole experience is a societal game changer that will have lasting effects on our everyday lives?

Depends on how long they keep stringing us along.
Americans, at least, have the attention span of a gnat
and will tend to lumbering normalcy in short order when
given every opportunity. If this is, as I have openly feared,
a governmental power reach to control our day-to-day lives
going forward into perpetuity, then they are not going to let up
the scare campaign, because you know, this round turned out too
well, so now the "party-"line is that there is going to be a second, even
more potentially devastating wave of the SARS-CoV-2 virus just around the
corner, so we, under the direction of government cannot possibly be prey to the
idea of relaxing, returning to normal and ending our "voluntary" self-isolation (for
those of y'all considered unessential). Government does not let crisis go gently or easily.

 

[SpeareChucker]

Then again, after reading some of the replies,
many here are willing to conform to a more
police-like state; security, in this case,
superseding Liberty...

 

[Lancecastor19]

The Pandemic is being sold as a “pause” on the economy.

Governments are sending cash direct to peoples bank accounts.

Lenders are deferring payments on nearly everything.

Leaders talk about switching the economy back on, using phrases like “roaring back to life”.

I don’t see these unusual responses as signs everything’s going to be just fine.

I see them as evidence things are so bad that governments and financial leaders are down to simply trying to preserve social order.

In a few months things could start getting really ugly.

I live in a high income white enclave, one that requires no gates, a place with no crime, no poor people.... yesterday at the drug store, the magazine racks near the cash registers had Prepper magazine top row middle between Hello and People.

I had never seen Prepper on display here in a mainstream store before.

“The future is uncertain.”
Joe Strummer

 

[SpeareChucker]

Those previously vested in the myth of fiscally responsible defect hawks,
are now telling us to spend, spend, spend, we'll fix it afterwards but,
they've shown no proclivity/ability in the past to fix accrued deficits.

 

[SpeareChucker]

The future's uncertain
and the end is always near...

Jim Morrison

 

[teeAhee]

There will definitely be a new normal. I doubt things will go back to the way they were.
Like a pre 9-11 and post 9-11. Life was never the same.

^^^^Practiced social distancing from THE BUSYBODY before social distancing became a FAD

 

[teeAhee]

IMO, people will not go back to buying $1200 IPhones and $300 Nike sneakers, who needs that shit when cheaper SAME STUFF is available