The Germs of March - 70 Days in 1520 That Changed the World, and Might Change the World in 2020

In the next 70 days, we are going to learn how to shop on line, work on line, be educated on line, and engage with our doctors and healthcare via telemedicine. Once we learn how to do this, we will not go back to the old way of doing things that are less efficient. COVID-19 may change our world like Cortés landing in Mexico exactly 500 years ago.

The "Guns of August" 1914 changed our world, will the Germs of March 2020 also change our world?

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

The short term focus is minimizing the spread of the disease and saving lives – this is what is needed.  But, if we do not have a plan to get the global economy back to work, more lives could be lost because of economic collapse than the virus.  Some sectors of the economy, countries and people working in these industry will suffer greatly: travel, restaurant, entertainment, higher education, small businesses. Other sectors may grow significantly: supply chain management, industry 4.0, telecommunication (5G, broadband, video conferencing, remote working, distance learning and AR/VR), robotics, medicine, healthcare, government (smart cities).  

“Five hundred years ago, in February of 1519, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés set sail from Cuba to explore and colonize Aztec civilization in the Mexican interior. Within just two years, Aztec ruler Montezuma was dead, the capital city of Tenochtitlan was captured and Cortés had claimed the Aztec empire for Spain. Spanish weaponry and tactics played a role, but most of the destruction was wrought by epidemics of European diseases. … decimated the densely populated city of Tenochtitlan in 1520, reducing its population by 40% in a single year. … Recalling the epidemic, one victim reported: “The plague lasted for 70 days, striking everywhere in the city and killing a vast number of our people. Sores erupted on our faces, our breasts, our bellies; we were covered with agonizing sores from head to foot.” https://theconversation.com/how-smallpox-devastated-the-aztecs-and-helped-spain-conquer-an-american-civilization-500-years-ago-111579

Interesting comment 70 days. See this history of the 1918 H1N1 Flu in the US. 12 weeks is the same time frame (84 days)

“Pamphlets were released by the administration with information about flu symptoms and actions to take if such symptoms were discovered. All in all, there was 12 weeks of banned activity in Stevens County as the flu spread its way around the area. Three WCSA students passed away as a result of the influenza and, in all, 116 students were infected with the virus. 

https://morris.centuryamerica.org/west-central-school-of-agriculture/wcsa-and-the-spanish-influenza/

This chart shows a 70 day cycle for China, we shall see what other countries show.

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

We are having a great experiment of what happens when humanity shelters in place and what are the positives: Less traffic, road deaths, DUI, Flu, GHG, …

In spite of all the negatives: deaths from COVID-19, #FlattenTheCurveNotTheEconomy, having to spend 30 days with your kids in the house, finding toilet paper, …

Lots of opportunity for research in the next 90 days to go through all the data.

Peter H. Diamandis wrote the blog: Augment Your Immunity: Fighting COVID-19

“Never before has the whole of humanity faced a single common enemy that affects each of us as personally as this. Never. So what happens when 150,000,000 - 200,000,000 scientists, physicians and technologists turn their attention to solving a crisis?”

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/augment-your-immunity-fighting-covid-19-peter-h-diamandis/

When I was learning to scuba dive, my instructor told me that if you run out of air, you have about 2 minutes before you lose consciousness. You can panic for those 2 minutes or do something productive and try to fix the problem.

So as we shelter in place, we can either watch TV, stream TV, play video games, eat too much, yell at the kids, hoard toilet paper, not practice social distancing and "Party like its 1999" #YOLO/#YODO, … or we can turn our attention to solving this crisis.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I only want you to have some fun" - Prince Rogers Nelson died at age of 57 of an accidental fentanyl overdose

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, [spreading the COVID-19 at a dinner party or by playing volleyball], an act of violence by which one class [or generation] overthrows another.” ― Mao Tse-tung - items in [] are added by me as I saw a group of young people playing volleyball at a park not practicing social distancing. A 66 year old friend of mine calls millennials not practicing social distancing at this time: #BoomerRemovers

“Now we are engaged in a great … war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” - Abraham Lincoln

Right now governments are making significant policy changes to try to save lives. This will be Testing whether each Nation, People, Economy Can Long Endure #FlattenTheCurveNotTheEconomy

“Americans feel that if it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.” - a common Russian phrase during the Cold War - The Geopolitics of American Fear by Peter Zeihan on March 17, 2020

https://us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=de2bc41f8324e6955ef65e0c9&id=88c7285e65

I am concern that 37 million jobs (in the US) could be lost in the coronavirus crisis and these workers will be the hardest hit, chart shows

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/37-million-jobs-could-be-lost-in-the-coronavirus-crisis-and-these-workers-will-be-the-hardest-hit-chart-shows-2020-03-22?siteid=bulletrss

Can this be Our Finest Hour - Humanity Coming Together as We Isolate Ourselves

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/our-finest-hour-humanity-coming-together-we-isolate-doug-hohulin/

"The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. [COVID-19] knows that [it] will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to it, all [humanity] may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

But if we fail, then the whole world, ... including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if humanity last for a thousand years, humanity will still say: 'This was one of our finest hours." - Winston Churchill paraphrased

I paraphrased the quote to “ONE of our finest hours” If you look at history, there have been other finest hours like in 1940. I would rather be here today with the tools we have to fight COVID-19 and potential economic collapse than Great Britain on 18 June 1940. That was “A” “finest hour" time fighting Hitler.

During this time, I would encourage all of us to think of ways we can help bring humanity together. Think of what you can do specifically to make a positive impact on your family, neighborhood, community, city, country, business and world. If each of us can do that, this could be our finest hour.

I liked this blog: Could the Coronavirus make China Stronger than Ever? 10 Trends that Indicate it Will - February 9, 2020 Fionn Wright

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/could-coronavirus-make-china-stronger-than-ever-10-trends-%25E4%25BB%2581%25E9%25A3%259E%25E6%2589%25AC/?trackingId=x90Iz%2FGoMt51VbDVoJp61w%3D%3D

Here are 7 of the trends to highlight where technology plays a role

1 - Offline Shopping is Over

2 - Online education will start to replace offline education

3 - Working From Home Becomes Common

4 - A More Health Conscious Society Based on Biotech

5 - Accelerated Integration of Smart Cities

6 - Next-level China Speed

7 - China has Contingency Plans for its Contingency Plan

Will we look back at the year 2020 as the time humanity coming together to share in solving a major world problem. If so, our world could change for the better. Gives us practice to solve other threats to humanity like other diseases, climate change or planet killing asteroids.