Endemic Observations
Now that covid has proceeded from epidemic to pandemic to endemic, here are some observations of our current conditions:
• People are traveling for vacations and when business demands it (it’s impossible to truly “network” remotely), but not so much for self-development and training, which has become lower priority.
• The responsibility for dealing with covid is now largely individual: the choices to social distance, wear masks, attend public events, dine out, etc.
• The medical establishment has lost a great deal of respect for its politically-influneced responses to covid.
• Politicians are scrambling to “rewrite the history of their responses” to covid. And some were “one-note wonders focusing solely, it seems on covid response. (The “superstar” prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, seems far more popular abroad than she is at home, for example, where gang warfare and the economy are major concerns.)
• The media continue to report mainly bad news about responses to the illness, while the fact is that the worst infections and death rates are among those who refuse vaccinations. One day a “new strain” has deadly implications, but the next day, in more minor reporting, it is not doing major harm.
• Smart companies have adapted well. American Express went from “Don’t Leave Home Without It” (oops, no one was leaving home) to “Don’t Live Life Without It” (everyone is ordering online).
• Fundamental weaknesses were exacerbated to become critical disasters: the airline industry, Disney’s vertigo on social justice issues, poor supply chain backups, dealing with “hybrid” work environments, finding and sustaining needed talent.
• Seemingly crazy adaptations sprung up. Airlines actually announcing pre-flight that people without masks should show “tolerance” for people with masks, and people with masks should do the same for those without. We really need to formally announce that, and believe that if someone is an intolerant ass that the announcement will make a difference?
Having said all of that, in the coming US elections in November, covid, Ukraine, supply chain, great resignation, defunding anything, and even social justice are not going to be the deciding factors—inflation will be. It is affecting almost everyone no matter what background, ethnicity, geography, politics, education, gender, and so forth. We need to recognize that this isn’t Noah’s Ark, but nevertheless we are all in the same boat: humanity.
