“New Normal” Why Not Better?

More than seventy-thousand Americans have left of Covid-19 related causes. More than one million are actually confirmed as previously being infected by Covid-19. Millions are cowering into their homes in fear. Much of the continent has turn off - tanking our economy. More than twenty-percent from the U.S. work force, that’s thirty million people, are unemployed and scrambling for making ends meet. The government is printing money furiously; even sending funds to dead individuals to get money flowing.

Are we in the crisis?

It sure appears like one; a health crisis which triggered a financial crisis.

We can second guess everything we’ve done this far about the contagion. While arm-chair quarterbacking allows the luxurious of feeling self-righteous rarely would it do any good.

As distressing because shutdown may be we can appreciate some silver linings in those covid clouds. People are pulling together around america implementing social distancing to stem viral spread. Many members of the family sheltering in homes are rekindling relationships. Neighbors are helping neighbors. We’ve discovered a home based job and homeschool can work. And air and noise pollution have declined markedly.

We succeeded keeping our medical systems from being overwhelmed - the key reason why we turn off in the first place.

We are where we’re - here now - just what exactly next?

We all keep hearing: a “new normal.” What does a whole new normal appear like?

Is a whole new normal the best we can easily do?

Instead of settling for a different normal could we actually improve things? Why not leave this crisis with better health, a greater supply chain, better work life and also a stronger economy?

Instead of a brand new normal, have you thought to better?

Every crisis has baked into it the seeds of opportunity. As Shakespeare mused, ‘Tis it nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, as well as to take arms against an ocean of troubles, by opposing end them?’

You and I can certainly produce a list of negative consequences stemming from or exacerbated by Covid-19; I listed some to spread out this article. While we certainly must grieve our losses, for the majority of the reality is that situations are different - everything has changed.

A fraction of a lot less than one percent on the U.S. human population is confirmed to happen to be infected by Covid-19. The reality is likely that tens of millions more are actually infected. While seventy-thousand dead is really a tragic loss we do not know how much Covid-19 has impacted mortality rates. We routinely shed more than 462,000 Americans of all causes over any two month period.

Optimistic economists predict a “V-shaped” recovery once restrictions are lifted therefore we get back in work. The “V” shape represents a swift and dramatic drop, and then an invigorated come back to normal economic activity during months. Other economists are suggesting a “U-shaped” recovery taking potentially quite a while for our economy to come back to pre-covid degrees of productivity. Some economists however, are predicting an “L-shaped” new normal. These economist claim Covid-19 acted as being a trigger to topple a previously wobbly house of cards: a fundamentally unsound economy.

Sure, life is different.

But remember: Life is change.

The challenge always before us: Do we embrace change making the most from it or will we resist?

We’re headed for a fresh normal. Will we, will we, stop the infighting and finger pointing and muster the wisdom and discipline to consider advantage in the opportunity before us? Are we about to resist or are we planning to embrace change and choose the very best possible option?

Despite hopeful to grave predictions the fact we find yourself experiencing boils down to how we decide to respond. Whether we view a speedy resurgence returning to productivity or we wallow in malaise is often a matter of choice. What we decide determines our fate. So you should move forward as opposed to falling back?

Four things matter in the economy: physical resources; human labor and motivation; ideas, information and knowledge; and ownership or “The Rules on the Game.” An economy is fundamentally the aggregate of folks doing things for some individuals - the merger of physical resources, labor and ideas. Even with the destructive attack of Covid-19 just about everyone has the elements we should instead advance. Politics however, could be the struggle over ownership: the rules from the game. To actually advance we need to settle the electricity struggle. We must arrive at terms with regards to the rules before we can easily effectively participate in the game.

I’m not proposing a political prescription here; rather my purpose should be to plant a seed that you consider that we advance beyond a whole new normal to something better.

Covid-19 is responsible for a crisis; no doubt about it. While we’ve undertaken social distancing to limit the spread on the virus, the total worst outcome from Covid-19 will be to allow it to divide and isolate us derived from one of another further. The shutdown has offered us an extensive range of new perspectives and possibilities when we have the wisdom all of which will to act. We can, when we choose, make progress:

Rebalancing and resetting family and work life.
Redesigning and empowering our education system.
Redefining and reinvigorating our national and global transportation networks.
Improving our national and global supply chains.
Reinventing our hospital treatment and healthcare systems.
Controlling pollution and addressing man-made coffee.

And this really is only the tip with the iceberg. There are opportunities within this crisis.

We can hide from crisis - cower and complain - or we can easily choose to bond, advance to make ourselves and our universe better.

We have everything else but we need at our disposal - the resources, individuals and the ideas. All we should muster would be the will to advance.

A new normal doesn’t sound extraordinary to me; they have the ring of something less. I think we are able to do better.