It’s probably a healthy sign that people are beginning to\ntalk about what will change once the coronavirus has run its course. There’s a\nlot of speculation about how things will work now that people are concerned\nabout social distancing and have acquired the habit of washing their hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One characteristic of this virus is that it is most deadly\nto people who have co-morbidities such as immune deficiencies, diabetes,\nobesity and respiratory ailments. The same effect applies to institutions:\nbusinesses and organizations that were ailing before the virus hit will face a\nreckoning and may not survive. The pandemic’s wake-up call is an opportunity to\nreform dying institutions and re-think some common assumptions. Here are some\npossibilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retailers — <\/strong>It’s not surprising to see chain stores like Macy’s and Nieman-Marcus closing. Brick-and-mortar stores have been teetering for years. The pandemic is giving them a final nudge while stimulating even more hiring by Amazon and Walmart. Supermarkets and big-box stores have adapted to social distancing. Smaller businesses easily can do so if they survive until the politicians allow them to reopen. The pandemic is forcing consumers to use low-contact services such as online ordering, delivery and drive-up grocery pickup and some of this behavior will be permanent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Higher education — <\/strong>Colleges\nand universities are rife with co-morbidities. With the pool of 18-year-old\nfreshpersons declining, their shaky economic model has been artificially\npropped up by Chinese oligarchs and easy-money student loans. Soaring costs,\npolitical conflict, admission scandals and worthless degrees have diminished\nthe value proposition of a college education. Colleges were beginning to close\nbefore the virus hit. States now are cutting funding to public colleges and we\nare going to see a shakeout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s an opportunity to re-think higher education.\nInstitutions that embrace and integrate online learning, as Purdue University\nis doing, will thrive. Many others will close and some ought to. Can colleges\nre-purpose themselves from merely indoctrinating the young to lifelong learning\nand career development? And will college sports accelerate its transition to a\nfully professional enterprise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n K-12 education —<\/strong>\nElementary schools have stepped up during the pandemic to continue feeding\nchildren who depend on subsidized meals. Educating them, not so much. Some\npublic schools have put lessons online and obtained laptops for needy kids,\nothers have not. The pandemic has forced millions of kids and parents to sample\nonline learning and home schooling. Some of them may like it, and we are likely\nto see greater demand for online charter schools and home schooling. Public\nschools will have an opportunity to integrate more online learning into their\nclassrooms and offer distance-learning options, but teachers’ unions are likely\nto checkmate such reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Urban planning —<\/strong> For decades, city planners and the politicians who hire them have tried to shame us into abandoning our wasteful suburban homes and SUVs for virtuous high-rise apartments and public transportation. We now know that the high-density lifestyle these experts were pushing was a petri dish of contagion in cities like New York and Wuhan. Big cities were losing population<\/a> before the pandemic hit and this trend is likely to accelerate. Will anybody listen to urban planners in the future, or will they be forced to seek honest work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Postal Service —<\/strong> The post office is an employee-benefit organization that delivers mail as a sideline. It’s been a financial sinkhole for decades and now is asking for a federal bailout because — wait for it — the pandemic has cut its revenues. I’m getting hysterical emails from a Senatorial candidate claiming that MY local post office will close NEXT MONTH unless we somehow remove Sen. Mitch McConnell from office<\/em>. The Postal Service is a mess because Congress has thwarted attempts to streamline its operation and control costs. The pandemic has made the mess worse and probably merits at least a short-term bailout. This gives Congress an opportunity to combine an aid package with long-needed reforms. Don’t hold your breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n News Media —<\/strong> While local news coverage of the pandemic has been generally responsible, the national news media have stepped-up their political activism. Most of the rumors and panicky predictions that dominated the headlines — firing of public health officials and the big ventilator shortage — have proven false. The White House press corps is putting on a good show at the daily coronavirus briefings, especially when President Trump plays into their hands, but the media’s already low credibility is taking another hit<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n State and local\ngovernment —<\/strong> Decades of unsustainable employee pensions and out-of-control\nspending have made many states and cities financially precarious. Unprecedented\ndemand for state unemployment assistance has exposed the frailty of bureaucracy\nand outdated computer systems. States certainly need federal help to cope with\nthe pandemic, but some states also want federal taxpayers to bail out their\npension plans and have shown no willingness to curb spending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time citizens are pushing back against governors\nand mayors who have been shutting down the economy and society, sometimes with\nfascist zeal. Taxpayers whose elected officials have put them out of work may\nbe less willing than in the past to fuel the government spending machine,\nespecially if they must subsidize states that are more irresponsible than their\nown. Calls for accountability are being met with the usual political outrage,\nbut maybe things will be different this time. Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots of things will be different when the pandemic has run its course and so will we. Americans who are cheering first responders and volunteering to make masks may emerge from the pandemic with a renewed sense of values, a little more healthy skepticism and a willingness to reform or replace the institutions that have failed them. We can hope, anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s probably a healthy sign that people are beginning to talk about what will change once the coronavirus has run its course. There’s a lot of speculation about how things will work now that people are concerned about social distancing … Continue reading