It′s the end of the world as we know it

This song from 1987 was always my favorite piece of music by REM, a band which unfortunately split in 2011 after more than 30 years together, following the release of their fifteenth studio album, Collapse Into Now.

From today's perspective it looks like the band's singer, Michael Stipe, was a kind of prophet who found the right words for the predominant feeling in times of the Corona crisis.

From one moment to the next, many of us find themselves collapsed into a kind of new world whose social, economical and political effects we do not know yet.

In contrast to Michael Stipe, we do not “feel fine“ that this epochal break, caused by the virus, gives us the impression that “it′s the end of the world as we know it“! And even the German Chancelor Angela Merkel, believes that the Coronavirus is the biggest challenge since Second World War.

The Corona gamechanger has created existential fear and a looming unknown future. Therefore it is understandable that anxiety in our societies is constantly rising. A good method to deal with the current feelings of anxiety and nescience is to take a look into the future and to try to imagine how a “world after Corona“ will look like. How will following generations describe these days of emergency, lockdowns, social distancing and economic downturn? Which will be the changes which will stay? What will be the long-term impact on our social, economic and political systems?

Let us start by having a few toughts about the impacts on our daily life:

Will “home office“ become the new state-of-the-art mode of working, now that so many companies were forced to implement and to allow it? And which consequences will this aspect have on the requirements for cyber security? Will regulatory barriers to online tools fall? Will Corona give digitalization a massive kick forward? Will it bring us to a healthier digital lifestyle?

Will Virtual Reality allow us to have the experiences we want even if we have to be isolated, quarantined or alone within the next outbreak? Will artificial intelligence identify, track and forecast outbreaks better?

And what will be the longer-term consequences of social distancing and isolating old people from younger generations? Will the comfort of being in the presence of others be replaced by a greater comfort with absence? Are we on the way to a new period where physical relationship will get lost? Will we ask ourselves before meeting another person if there is any good reason to do this in person or if we can do it online? How can we assure that self-isolation of the elderly will not turn into self-imprisonment taking into account the enormous lack of qualified carers, nurses or even physicians? Will our emotional intelligence collapse or will solidarity and companionship rise up again?

How will Corona affect the Global Supply Chain? Must every major business that is heavily dependent on suppliers or consumers located in “virus-regions“ think about diversifying their supply bases? Shall all production plants of industries of systemic importance receive an insourcing to their original markets? Shall the local governments secure shares in specific Healthcare and Life Sciences companies? Will Government become Big Pharma?

Is this the comeback of Big Government? Will governments worldwide ever let the companies run completely independently again after the incredible amount of money they have cashed out in order to keep businesses, workers and the economy afloat? Was that the deathblow of classical liberal capitalism? Will more and more countries follow the example of China with it state economy?

Is this the end of the Globalization as we have known so far or do we need even more globalization and become a global unit with a global crisis management?

Will nationalism get stronger and undermine the international institutions? Or is this the return to faith in serious experts? Will science finally blow away populists and right-wingers with no clear solutions?

To be honest, I do not know the answers and I am as curious as most people are about how we will get out of the current crisis and what will be the remains of Corona. I also hope that we will be able to learn from this outbreak so that we will be better prepared for the next one.

But I am also convinced that the world after Corona will not be the same as before. Like the world after World War 2 changed completely.

And I would like to discuss with you how this world will or should look like! And what we can do in  order to avoid the next global collapse.

For this reason I have created the LinkedIn group “A world after Corona“ (https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/8922530/) where you can all join and put in your personal point of view. I would like to collect as many opinions as possible to try to understand the impact of the current momentum, caused by the virus, on the future of our social, economical and political aspects of life.

Thank you very much in advance.

Giordano Righi