From a year ‘that wasn’t’ to a year of hope!

As we draw the curtains on 2020 and usher in 2021, its time to take a pause and reflect upon ‘the year that wasn’t’ or ‘The lost year’ in which life literally ground to a screeching halt and a year in which so much was lost. The list of losses stretches from a disproportionate and heart wrenching loss of lives at unprecedented scale to a loss of millions of jobs & livelihoods, loss of economic progress which will set us back by more than a couple of years and most prominently a loss of living a normal life itself owing to the prolonged lockdowns. The irony above all has been that a virus which got christened as Covid-19 wreaked unmitigated havoc in the year 2020.

As we end the year, our hubris of being the masters of our destiny on Planet Earth with the ability to shape our environment as we wish stands shattered and that too to by none other than an invisible predator almost 1/10000th the size of the period that ends this sentence. While our obsession with other exotic existential risks (e.g. nuclear warfare, cyber-terrorism, AI driven apocalypse, Autonomous weapons etc.) continues unabated, Covid-19 has brought forth the stark realization that we must never lose sight of the real and present danger, while we deal with these critical existential risks.

In addition, as we continue on our prolific quest of the myriad ‘Playing God’ moonshots like radical life extension, immortality, gene editing at scale, being an inter-planetary species and the likes, Covid-19 has been a rude awakening of the challenges enroute to these intended utopian goals of immortality & life beyond Earth. The very fact that we woefully managed our response to pandemic in large parts of the globe, should bring forth a sense of humility on our fundamentally fragile edifice. In essence, this should also give us a real sense of how far we are from invincibility.

As the year unraveled, it also revealed quite a few ugly truths. The charade of the developed economies with stellar healthcare systems attuned to swiftly address and contain the damages from a fast spreading pandemic was brought down to its knees pretty soon. Democracy for once seemed fragile and inept to reign in and apply the stringent measures needed in a fast-track manner to prevent the exponential spread of the virus. Autocratic governments on the contrary saw this as an opportunity to tighten the noose and gain a further stranglehold on their citizens in the name of pandemic protection.

The fissures in the Global politico-economic order also became quite apparent in the face of the pandemic. Coupled with a parallel ongoing trade dispute between the world’s 2 largest economies, the ‘Each one to it’s own’ became the mantra as nations scrambled to put self-interest on top priority and closed their borders to protect their citizens from the supposed onslaught of the virus. Globalization seemed to be a phenomenon going in reverse this year as extreme protectionist sentiments & polarization gained sway. The world became a far more divided place in a time, which rather needs a far more coordinated global response.

Another stark reality that the Covid-19 pandemic brought forth was the accentuation of the divide between the haves and the have-nots. While the have-nots struggled to make ends meet, the haves saw their wealth sore as the stock markets rallied driven by the enhanced capital sloshing around the world financial markets. Growing Inequality has been a scourge of our times and Covid-19 really shone a spotlight on how unequally the cards are stacked.

Covid-19 was oft referred to as a ‘Black Swan’ event but that may not be its best representation. Epidemics have been a constant part of our evolution as we increasingly encroach on the natural habitat and meddle with it. The writing had been on the wall and there were early prognostications from experts warning us to be better prepared for the eventuality of a pandemic. However in the midst of our relentless drive for acquiring and consuming more, these warning were ill-heeded and largely ignored. In my opinion, if we are to take Nassim Nicholas Taleb as our guide, what is more pertinent in the current context is not the ‘Black Swan’ event but rather his philosophy of ‘Anti-Fragile’ expounded in his book with the same name. A lot of pundits have expressed that we need to build resilience but being anti-fragile goes far beyond that and proffers that we gain not only resilience but added strength from these times of chaos and crises. The key question remains on how we make the world ‘Anti-Fragile’ in the face of the ongoing pandemic and future such crises.

However not all was lost and it was not all doom and gloom. There was definitely some good, which came out of this rather testing year. The leading governments may have bungled their initial response to the pandemic but most of them moved swiftly to ensure that the economic impacts were mitigated by signing large relief programs in a fleet-footed manner. While the efficacy of these relief programs is worth debating (including a large part further enriching the already super-rich & large tech firms), one only needs to consider on how dire the situation would have been in the absence of any such measures.

Another silver lining in the Covid-19 cloud was the rapidly accelerating technology adoption which helped provide an unique innovative response to the multiple spheres of work life, education, entertainment, industry and commerce. The adoption of technology in these spheres grew multi-fold and this trend is likely to continue in the coming year and beyond. Another upside has been that we tread lighter on the planet. We traveled far less, consumed (and wasted) much lesser.  

The year gone by did also offer an opportunity for introspection and soul searching on a multitude of significant issues. The year provided a realization that we can really do without much of the materialism and frenetic meaningless activity and commotion that has been going on for years in the name of work. Minimalism may well be on its way as a defining trend for the future. Other aspects worth contemplating have been the importance of family in our lives & restoring our balance with nature. Most importantly, the year clearly shone a spotlight on who the real heroes are (our healthcare workers, unsung as they may be) in these trying times.

Covid-19 may well have permanently altered the fabric of how we conduct ourselves as society. The new normal as it is often touted is however still in the making. The wider ramifications of aspects like resilience by design, embrace of digital technologies, future of work & workplaces, travel etc. will likely play out for the better as we progress further into 2021.

Yes, the hope is that we will soon return to normalcy aided largely by mass vaccinations & ongoing compliance measures and 2021 will be the year when we rebound back. There is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel but the scars from Covid-19 will remain for a long while to come.  

2021 however does bring in a new optimism that as a collective, we will prevail and tide over this crisis. It is our earnest hope that we will demonstrate more empathy & fairness, count our blessings, tread lighter on the planet, be more altruistic and very thoughtful in creating our legacy that we want to leave behind. The Economist commented in its recent article ‘The year when everything changed’, that life is not to be hoarded but lived. Let’s follow that mantra to the tee and get along with living life as it should be, while also ensuring that we come out humbler, healthier and wiser. Here’s to wishing everyone a very Happy and Transformative 2021!