Thursday, March 26, 2020

Little Questions and Big Ones



The coronavirus has sent the human race abruptly into what seems like uncharted territory to most. There are still a lot more questions than answers. Here are a few questions that have occurred to me, in no particular order or rank.

*Is the coronavirus bringing out the best in people, or the worst? Over time, which of those will win?

*Is God, or the Universe, or Mother Nature, or the planet (take your pick) sending us a message? For example, will the forced world slowdown caused by the disease buy us some time on climate change?

*Will the fly-over states now become fly-into states, perceived as safer, less crowded, and cheaper places to live? What will happen to property values?

*What will be the effects on the birth rate? Will social distancing mean fewer humans will be conceived, or, if couples are forced to stay home with each other, will it result in more babies? When the coronavirus is over, will there be a population explosion, a whole new set of Boomers?

*How will the coronavirus affect elections? Will states and counties make absentee voting more available? Will coronavirus dominate the debate going forward, to the exclusion of all other issues, or will it affect all those issues? Since these are not normal times by any stretch, should the national election be delayed? (Calm down there, that’s just a question).

*How soon will things bounce back after the coronavirus? Bounce back to what, exactly?

*What is work as we know it going to look like on the other side? Will the big companies allow more employees to work from home permanently? Will those companies decide they don’t need floors full of people in cubicles anymore? What will they do with the extra space? What effects will there be on lifestyles?

*As individuals, what is now important to us, and what is now trivial? What don’t we worry about now, that we used to? What constitutes feeling what we think of as “normal”?

*And finally – again, as individuals, are we ready for death, not only legally, but emotionally and spiritually? Not that it has to happen now, but…so when WILL we be ready?

Some of these questions demand a more or less immediate answer, and others don’t. It’s OK to express hope, but is it also OK to say, we just don’t know, for now?

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