Whats Next after Corona... A Personal Perspective

My Birthday – Born 04.04.1969

Two events had defined my life, this COVID 19 Lock down is the third one and has wandered my thoughts in various directions. This is my perspective of what is there to come.

I was daydreaming in a horrifically boring meeting on September 11th, 2001 in Munich when I received a message from my boss that a plane has just crashed into one of the ‘World Trade Centre Towers”. Sensing an opportunity to escape the trauma of the claustrophobia, I duly announced the big news making everyone scramble and run to the next room with a large screen TV. It had been heartening to know that I was not alone feeling the strain of the monotony but had comrades from across the world with shared feelings. Little did I know that this event was about to change the course of history for the next couple of decades. While “Oh, ha hawing” the sad event, a second plane rammed into the next building and I could feel a lump churning in my gut, a revolting cramp whispered that this wasn’t going to end well. Two of my sons were born after this tragic event, branded as suspects in the eyes of the world just on the basis of their faith; faith, an intangible set of beliefs that is usually indoctrinated by one’s family or environment without a personal conviction. Yet their names got them right into the identification lines together with global terror suspects. The world that they had come into, without their own intention or plan had changed altogether. This had been the second instance in my lifetime when the world had decided to go topsy-turvy.

This had been the second instance in my lifetime when the world had decided to go topsy-turvy.

The first episode had dawned when I was ten-year-old and the Russian forces had entered Afghanistan in their quest for warm waters; Afghanistan being a land locked country was a transit point and the real destination had been its easterly neighbour, Pakistan. Nine years later the mighty bear had stumbled to its knees and the world had been profoundly convinced of the “Failed Communist experiment”, socialism had been defeated by the might of “Free Market Capitalism”. Democracy, with its members of the “International Community of Civilized Nations” had slayed the first beast in its way to global domination. USSR bad, West good; Rambo good and Yuri bad; Rocky wasn’t provided any training facilities for his match with Drago while the Russian boxer practiced in the World Class facilities in Moscow in the fourth series of the movie. Off course we cheered when Rocky Balboa thumped the living daylights of the bad boy and felt one and same with the victor. We had hurriedly bought the story and welcomed the crumbling of the Iron Curtain, knowing little that it was a flood gate holding on to the waves of misery heading our way. In neighbouring Iran, the Shia revolution had created a clear chasm among the Muslims nations forcing them to inevitably take sides. During the same period the “Civilized West” first used Iraqis to reign in the Mullahs and then punished it for being too un-neighbourly.

The first episode destroyed communism and created new Nations; markets for the west to export its culture, influence and fast food. The second event demonized a whole people, 1.5 billion of them and created a cult of security states with an open license to convict, condemn and punish. From 2001 until 2020, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and many other countries have seized to exist as nations. East Timor and South Sudan were carved out easier than skinning a dead goat being prepared for a feast. It also provided a blanket approval to fascist regimes to rise bringing forth the likes of Modi, Putin, Trump and their ilk. Even minions like Myanmar had a field day to decimate a peaceful and harmless Rohingya people. Charlie Hebdo, Quran burnings and “All Muslims aren’t terrorist, but all terrorists are Muslims” became the general mantra. Other easy to remember dates like 7/7 were added to the list of 9/11 and Al Qaeda was replaced by ISIS while we yelped helplessly with the earth moving under our feet.

The first episode destroyed communism and created new Nations; markets for the west to export its culture, influence and fast food. The second event demonized a whole people, 1.5 billion of them and created a cult of security states with an open license to convict, condemn and punish

Gentlemen, this is now the third wave in my lifetime, I turned 51 today and I don’t think that I would be alive or get effected by the ferocity of the fourth whenever it comes in case, I am still alive. I had been too young to think of anything that would have created an impression during the first wave, was totally taken by surprise during the second one but now shall I sit and wait for the events to unfold or discuss it with like minded people and prepare for the possible eventualities. I guess I have wizened up during this half century to understand that this is not some cosmic and cataclysmic event unleashed by the unseen to punish the earthlings of their excesses. This, my friends, is a continuation of the movie in which we have been mere spectators and the ones pulling the strings have prepared some interesting adventures for the years to come. These aren’t conspiracy theories, pick up any opinion maker like CNN, BBC, RT, China News etc and they are all speaking the same language, the world won’t be the same anymore when this dust of “COVID 19” eventually settles.

Here’s another angle:

From 1979 to 1989, the first wave, personal computers came into the foray and Moor’s law (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mooreslaw.asp) played a vital role creating new technologies in the fields of education, security, research, space travel and entertainment to mention a few. We graduated from VCR to CD players and from Walkman to the Discman. Consumer electronics became accessible to all opening new markets and possibilities. The period from 1989 to 2001 also ushered in the mass availability and spread of GSM technology. Mass media and dispersion of propaganda was required for all after 2001. SMS, BBM, WhatsApp and other interesting messaging vehicles started to become common place together with a boom of multiple “Apps” for the “Convenience” of users while siphoning off their data in the background. Social media and search engines created walking targets for marketing, advertising and even for darker firms like Cambridge Analytica (https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/cambridge-analytica-files) to change the course of nations like the United States by actively meddling in opinion making during elections. Today there are 3.5 billion users of mobile phones, a whopping 43% of world population relentlessly sharing their locations, activities and privacy with unknown eavesdroppers, all this with their own consent.

So, what now? The third wave, is it just an incident? Where did we leave off from the second episode? By the way, a point to note, the emergence of a new event by no means acquits the condemned of the previous ones. Russia and Communism are still a threat to the civilized world and all Muslims contrary to their status continue to be terrorist and evil doers to be monitored and kept in close surveillance.

In the course of these two episodes, most hardware production shifted to China while the profitable and ingenious software and app developments found its origins in Silicon Valley. No novel idea emerged from anywhere else in the world and the global consumer ended up becoming a receiver of innovations from the United States and the world copied these in the hope that the big US firms would take them over, Uber and Careem as a case in point. Europe stagnated beyond recognition with an infighting in EU and UK playing the usual pimp of the US finally exited the union.

Coming back to the third wave, a political and commercial vison:

China’s Road and Belt initiative had been too much for the civilized world to swallow. Russia, or ex USSR had gone beyond its allowance and had started to knock at the neighbourhood of the United States and that had been too much for them to swallow. Now China had blasphemously gone beyond its status and had eyes to stare shamelessly in the face of the civilized world. China with its many tributaries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Africa would now be royally screwed. Books the likes of “Death by China” had been warning about the dangers of the rising dragon and its about time for them to get slayed. The civilized world had shed crocodile tears for the “Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang Province” and cried the heart wrenching scream of “Human Rights Violations” while continuing their slaughter in Syria and Yemen. China is screwed, period, how would it unravel is anyone’s guess but it will be raped and pillaged, just like it had been in the past as their text books still mention as “The Century of Humiliation” (https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/century-humiliation-how-opium-wars-made-china-what-it-today-124086), led by the English and other Europeans to be followed up by the Americans. In the meantime, Putin’s demise would mark the end of Russian Federation and the Muslim world would continue to suffer indefinitely as it’s a rudderless ship without any ideology or direction. There’s been no focus or vision and the continuous infighting among Muslims without any respite on the orders of their supreme master goes on unabetted. Its GCC vs Qatar, GCC vs Turkey and GCC vs Iran on one hand and then there are regular skirmishes between Pakistan and Iran and Pakistan with Afghanistan on a regular basis. The story goes on across and Muslims as a people have become insignificant, not even important enough to be asked for an opinion on an international stage.

(The coming war on China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDl9ecICIYg)

Technology wise, rapid deployment of 5g, iOT and Big data based on Quantum Computing would be rolled out to ensure “Safety against terrorism & crime control” plus “Active control of future Pandemics”. The speed of a total monitoring of individuals from “Big Brother – Totalitarian Governments” would keep rising. See how China controlled the COVID 19 Pandemic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WuvyuTDivg&feature=youtu.be).

What else is happening across the world in the meantime:

The recent support by the United States to safeguard the interests of “Big Business” at the expense of human lives is not the first. People are dying on the streets of the most advanced nations, this very group comprising “International Community” and all the leaders are concerned about is the restart the economies, empathy has lost all meaning in the biggest and most powerful states of the world. United States would be quick to deploy bombers to decimate a hundred thousand people but finds it hard to produce emergency equipment in a hurry, they must debate and so do their allies. Its quite easy to see through the obfuscation of the dramas being played out. A monolithic approach like a cookie cutter solution is being sought for a plague like situation without a scrupulous disposition, what does this tell us? From across the world, we have been watching the “International Community” dictating their ideals to us for about two centuries. Everything coming from the mouthpiece of these world leaders as well as their well-funded Universities became artefacts chiselled in stone; a verdict for us to follow suit if we were to be included in the “Modern”. Our educational institutions also parroted western ideals even teaching their strategies in business schools. It all lays bare in front of us, gluttony, selfishness, cold heart competition running down one’s competitors etc have replaced the notions of brotherhood that once reigned supreme in our lands.

What is on the horizon and what can be done?

1.     All Management Philosophies, Marketing Strategies etc from top western business schools have failed to address the need of the “human problem”. This is now an opportunity to create new programs that are more collaborative and “humane” rather than competitive. The world needs heroes not villains to be dignified just because they have made billions and have entered the list of the 1% who own greater wealth than 50% of the global population.

2.     There is and will be an explosion of iOT based hardware and software across industries, what’s available is beyond our imagination (https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-iot-5-predictions-for-the-future-of-iot.html). We can aggressively move into this realm and create business verticals to address global challenges, become an exporter of tech.

3.     Distributed ledgers, blockchain and more. A new global currency is being discussed with the “So called dangers of paper notes”, contactless payments and a new push for “Digital Payments” opens up new avenues. Amazon, Apple and Google would take lead in this arena; what can be done to address this at our levels. Bitcoin is anonymous, is there a room for more?

4.     Global mandatory immunization is coming, it would be an experiment on a scale unseen or experienced. Imagine billions of people getting vaccinated and then being monitored for side effects. Now here I would bring in the first conspiracy theory, a metallic strand would be added to the DNA being injected of the virus making us more conductive to the 5g radiation. This would go on to the verticals of mind control etc. So where will we stand when this game would start, what can we do to stop this madness? Can we work on creating an alternate to save people?

5.     An enhanced market for security and philanthropy would emerge as millions of people are already losing their jobs. Civil unrest and crime are on the horizon in markets across the world as people would go hungry and rampant disease would emerge. What can we do to address this challenge?

My question is where we would stand in this whole fiasco once it unravels. The first episode had lasted for 9 years (1979-1988), The duration between the first and second episode was 22 years (1979 -2001). The second episode had a duration of 19 years (2001-2020), let’s suppose that the average cycle lasts 20 years so the next one would be planned for 2040 plus or minus a few years. By then we would either be dead or nearing our end; is it possible for us to create something worthwhile for the next generations rather than waiting for the events to unfold. We should also not wait for an aura of enlightened wisdom suffuse our countries that are just sitting and waiting for aid dollars.

These have been my thoughts; I am inviting you to join this conversation to create something worthwhile with me. This is a working document and can be altered and fact checked and even disposed of. Please let me know if you would like to be a part of this effort or would like to recommend someone who would be serious and like to contribute.

How the World Will Look After the Coronavirus Pandemic. The pandemic will change the world forever. We asked 12 leading global thinkers for their predictions. (https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/20/world-order-after-coroanvirus-pandemic/)

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Looking forward to your comments.