How will the novel coronavirus change The US?

[DrNewGod]

I don't know how long it will take, but I do believe we will eventually come through this horrible pandemic. I don't think we're coming through it unchanged.

I have to wonder if we are looking at the end of the cinema industry as we have known it. With so many adding streaming accounts as a reaction to being shut-ins, I wonder if cinematic theater chains will ever again see enough traffic to stay afloat? That has more implications than just your local movie house shutting down.

Some kinds of film don't work quite as well on the small screen as the large. I have to wonder what kind of entertainment will make more financial sense in the future.

What do you wonder about?

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Honestly once we get a vaccine it will be another strand of flu. From a healthcare perspective, 5 years from now it might be business as normal, hopefully we have a better system and are more prepared.

From an economic system, I think if companies function WFH then we will see that model adopted more

[GOLGO 13]

Not be surprised to see Universal Health Care get pushed to the forefront of the national debate topics. Only the Christo-fascists, Death cult members will be against it. Cant wait to hear the arguments they'll try to use.

[babyblob]

I wonder what the long term effects pn the planet will be. With not near as many cars driving and factories not working and other places closed up. Will the Earth do a short term healing itself?

[Javasaurus]

I wonder what the long term effects pn the planet will be. With not near as many cars driving and factories not working and other places closed up. Will the Earth do a short term healing itself?

A while back, I heard an NPR radio story that discussed how pollution levels in the urban areas of China had dropped noticeably; due to the reduced level of factory activity. I can't remember the specifics. But that is an interesting question.

[DrNewGod]

Another I see goes beyond the US' borders: this could be the effective end of NATO. Cracks were already showing, and I don't claim it's going to disband. That said, the competition for vaccine ownership (mainly driven by the US) and other pandemic response resources, the efforts of the Russians and Chinese to make in-roads with members like Italy, and the short-sighted nationalism of the US and UK may mean that getting consensus on any meaningful action will be far harder in the future.

[babyblob]

So I wondered what the effects on the planet might be. There was a report out this week that talked about how LA and New York are seeing their best air quality in in two decades. And China is also seeing much better air quality.

[Jim Kelly]

I think most countries in the world are going to be changed, but I truly fear for the United States--and because Canada so much depends on the United States this could directly affect me.

I just don't see you guys getting out of this in one piece. To have the man in charge being so weak and ineffectual leaves the U.S. in the worst possible position at the worst possible time. Like the 9/11 attackers who never could have believed they'd be so successful, Vladimir Putin must be pinching himself--even he could not have expected such an overwhelming coup in so short a time. The one comfort, if you can call it that, is that COVID-19 has probably done more damage to Russia than what Vlad the Impaler will allow to be known.

Poor beleaguered Ukraine, birthplace of my grandfather--its misfortunes have been totally forgotten by the world as we all go to hell in a handcart.

[DrNewGod]

An ongoing conservative talking point as been the damage done by "The Elites," vaguely defined in a way that encompasses, liberals, urbanites, and the highly educated (particularly if wealthy in addition to one or more of these other traits). The pandemic has thrown a little light on another category of elite: the wealthy - regardless of political alignment - who treat health care as a purchased privilege, including the use of concierge private physicians, whose interest lies in restoring the stock market over the impacts of this plague. Such disparities can frustrate The Masses out of apathy.

Historically, there are two responses to The Masses losing faith in the wealthy classes. One response was typified by The Great Depression and labor push back following The Black Death, pressures that empower labor and reduce wealth distribution and social mobility. The other is totalitarian repression that utterly crushes the The Masses under The Powerful's boot (whether the oppressor is the extant ruling class, like the Russian Tsars, or a revolutionary insurgent, like The Bolsheviks or the Fascists).

At present, I don't see enough rural frustration with conservatives to lend itself to a New Deal transformation. I do see signs of white supremacist mobilization and consolidation of conservative power to lend itself to a totalitarian regime.

The next twelve months will be crucial to the US. (I say twelve because I don't see Trump, or the Neo-fascists thriving under his administration, going quietly into the night, no matter how well the Democrats fare in November.)