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All the biggest questions stand naked before us:

‍How do we reform capitalism and minimize inequality?

Can we build a positive nationalism?

Can we renovate our democracies?

Are fair global trade policies attainable?

How will the physical world interact with our virtual reality?

How will humans co-evolve with their digital and enhanced creations?

Will we find ways to cooperate and coexist during this changing landscape?

A Planetary Perspective

In the time of coronavirus it is clear how much you are a part of the world - conversely you need to feel that the world is part of you.

The coronavirus is a call to change and reinvent our thinking and lives. Especially redistributing local versus global relationships. We are more networked - some solutions can only be planetary and some are better at the community level, the architectures of which need reimagining.

Before the coronavirus the world seemed like it was already sick, a mental ailment, and now the manifestation is also physical. We need a planetary doctor.

In the best of times you want to have an effective and engaged environment, not only within your community, but also in your country. And now, seeing that COVID-19 is a global challenge, wouldn’t you want the world to cooperate too?

Time

How do we want to live post covid? Mindful of how precious life, time and relationships are, we have the opportunity to live more purposefully, both with intent and freedom, giving space and attention to those we care about, including ourselves, projects and places which mean something to us, as opposed to being carried and subject to a life that was just happening to us.

With the privilege of time you have choices and priorities to make. The chance to invest, waste and explore. A rare moment to reflect and reset. Make the most of it.

For those with privilege of time, we have choices and priorities to make. Time with which we can invest, waste and explore. A rare moment to reflect and reset.

Existing in the digital world takes you away from living with you. When are you just with yourself, reflecting ?

During the COVID quarantine distancing, physical and mental, lets us identify what is meaningful for our souls, our hearts and our bodies. It’s the human connection, our sense of who we are, love or lack thereof. Experiences. Life. We realize that we only care about a few things and mostly for certain people. The encounters we cherish. For some we long, and others we can forget.

Politicizing Health

The environments that are effective at dealing with the virus: decisive leadership, mobilized, organized and practical  government, and a cooperative and disciplined population.  

The ineffective environments to deal with the virus: indecisive leadership, uncoordinated and slow government and an unengaged population.  

America seems lost and in denial - left and right

Unfortunately, as always, in a crisis the least equipped suffer most, economically and physically. On the other hand, the virus attacks everyone just the same. The great equalizer.

After Covid

The coronavirus is the ultimate digital virus - we are living more virtually

The coronavirus has strengthened internet and software businesses and further diminished physical distribution models. More machines, less people.

The pre coronavirus world will slowly return, but it will be one that is more divided within and between countries. Competition as opposed to cooperation. Citizens will be even more suspicious of their governments. Larger national deficits will limit investments. Inequality in income, wealth and opportunity will only increase. Climate issues will take a back seat. Most of us will revert to who we were... We need better.

The coronavirus will have accelerated existing trends: strengthening winners and further challenging weaker countries and businesses, undermining many governments, increasing inequalities and reducing global cooperation. The world working together, social fairness and universal values will be memories.

As the coronavirus crisis is human as opposed to political, the response across the board has been a moral and unifying one: Germans will send money to Italians and a republican administration will distribute funds all across the US - will this lead to economic solidarity in Europe? And will America expand its social programs ?

World progress has paused , aggravated by the coronavirus. At some point in the future, for the health of our planet and its inhabitants, including humans, we will want to cooperate. It’s a matter of homeostasis and survival. (Or will a few actors, Masters of the Universe dominate?

Covid accelerated the inevitable visualization of our lives, yet we are coming back to earth, as physical and culturally tribal beings, navigating the reality of living and of the world.

Covid has shown that:

- nature and the physical are the masters

- governance and nationhood matter

- humans fight one another when faced with a crisis

- all gets politicized beyond scientific objectives

- Ultimately, our survival instincts might save our species.

The real economic cost of COVID is starting to be felt. The massive stimulus created consumption, but also inflation, additional debt and, unfortunately, no long-term investments. As the world economy goes into a recession, central banks and governments are out of ammunition to help. 

Notwithstanding the scientific wins and related cooperation, COVID has accelerated trends such as digitization, political fractures, and mostly the retrenchment of major cultures to their roots. They all reflect human nature: cooperation around practical means and competition at the political and civilizational level.

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Covid showed that science and markets functioned, but politics did not (both between and within countries).

The Great Recession of 2008 was an economic crisis. The COVID period and the present moment are a geopolitical reset - vastly more profound and changing history.

Humans adapt. In the digital world it seems easy to replicate human interactions, but we will miss the physical encounters and value them more. On the other hand, our time in isolation gives us mental space, something lost in the frantic contemporary world.

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Precious time and space have been given to us to think about who we would like to be and the life we might want to live. Let’s make good use of this chance, a surreal moment of freedom.

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