‘The future ahead: Imagining our post-coronavirus world’

What happens next, after coronavirus? I muse here, imagining the world beyond a pandemic. Browsing, I read of antidotes to Covid-19 being tested on live human subjects. We need an antidote with the fewest side effects, to be produced in bulk, and then we shall have mass vaccinations. We shall probably have to carry everywhere a certificate to prove we are vaccinated.

This will have to be checked by viral police, at the forefront of germs. There shall have to be check-points at shopping centres, supermarkets, pubs and clubs, at churches and social groups, at railway stations and airports. The anti-vaxxers are already stating their opinion, about being brainwashed by political leaders no one is sure if they trust.

On the other hand, there may be no effective antidote. A global pandemic will run its course. Just like Spanish influenza did more than 100 years ago. Spanish influenza is believed to have slain more than 50-100 million people. One day, what was left of the world’s population woke up immune to that form of flu. The next day, the world was still immune. And so on.

So far in 2020, we have had bushfires, a global virus, racial riots and protests, and a totally wrecked economy. It is like a horror story, scripted by Stephen King.

After Corona, how can the global economy recover, with employment opportunities? This may realistically not occur until 2021 or even 2022. We may have ongoing restrictions and lockdowns for quite some time. There have been precedents set in making older people, in particular, anxious about leaving their home, and about the future of their health.

On the flip side, after Spanish influenza, the economies quickly recovered, especially in the United States, where there was ‘the roaring ’20s’. People soon had restored their churches, pubs, schools, clubs, libraries, and sporting matches. New inventions were designed and factories were mass producing for the eager marketplaces, to sell their products.

That is what history teaches us. The human race are basically resilient, creative survivors. Nothing lasts forever. One way to recover any economy is to start an overseas conflict, recruit the unemployed into the defence forces. They shall all require uniforms, food, weapons, training and transport.

Jobs for all, and a thriving economy. Be careful, grandparents of today, Uncle Sam may be needing your adult sons soon, and women are being recruited too. It may be war like no other, with drone aircraft, already waiting in the US, chemical and biological weapons, to destroy civilians somewhere on our planet.

What happens next? We wonder about our world, after this viral pandemic. Over to the leaders of our lands.

Keen to share your thoughts with other 60-pluses? You can sign up as a contributor and submit your stories to Starts at 60. While you’re at it, why not join the Starts at 60 Bloggers Club to talk to other writers in the Starts at 60 community and learn more about how to write for Starts at 60. Community blogs published on the website go into the draw for some great weekly prizes.