Many have written about how dangerous corona is. Many have also written about a dystopian future. Of course we are seeing lot of deaths in China, Italy, Iran and Spain. But, this is post is how the world is going to look at post this objectively.
Public spaces are cleaned and disinfected like never before. People may find it not right to dirty a clean space. This means we can have cleaner cities as a consequence of this. Spitting in public would be looked down upon heavily. A behavioural change is on the cards.
There is reduction in pollution levels and it is good wake up call for all of us. Maybe every year we would declare 1 day for being inside the house like we are doing today. A good tactic to fight pollution and global warming?
People have started to realise how to be productive working from home. Remote working is going to become the norm in many industries wherever it is possible. People would be working from hometowns rather than moving to big cities permanently. We could see cities getting decongested and real estate prices falling in many areas because of this.
There will be more contract workers since it is easier to hire and fire. This would mean workforce as we see is going to see a massive shift. People will start alternate careers to feed the family during lean periods.
Agriculture and farming might take off in a big way since people have started to understand that if we can cultivate our own food, money becomes secondary. Since agriculture would be a secondary career and more educated people will join, the quality of output and the infrastructure would become better. Farmer incomes will increase and thereby their suicides would also reduce.
Education is going to go more digital. More people will join the teaching workforce since location is no longer a constraint. To increase their credentials, more research will be done. More research implies more breakthrough in general. We as a society will be better off.
The lack of hospitals and doctors has been the eye opener. While it is no secret about the massive shortage, the real impact is felt now. More number of affordable hospitals and equipment would be bought and set up. More medical colleges will come up and the curriculum of the medical course would also change. More doctors, more nurses, better supporting infra will come up.
More people will opt for insurance. Life insurance and health insurance are going to take off in a big way. The fragility of the human life has been shown.
The fall of stock markets has been like a bolt if lightning. People have lost their lives savings in these. This will trigger people to spend more and live a better life than saving and dying anyway.
Long term loans will reduce and people are going to take few years of their life at a time.
In these times of lock-downs the role of the police cannot be dismissed. There would be an increase in the law enforcement workforce.
Home delivery is going to be the new norm even for the elderly people who generally prefer to go out and buy.
Physical branches for banks are going reduce drastically and there would be a reduction of workforce there. Digital banking will increase manifold. Digital payments trump physical payments.
Buying behaviour of people is going to change. People are going to buy in bulk rather than buying in small quantities. This means less number of visits to the shops. With home delivery being done having a shop in a prime spot becomes unnecessary. This would mean a reduction in a lot of small shops which would increase the space available for other infrastructure or houses. This is will really reduce the congestion of cities.
Working from and schooling from home means that there is going to be a demand for more rooms in a house. Bigger houses are going to be made. Also, there is going to be more family time.
While these are my thoughts and expectations, only time can tell what is going to happen. Let us wait and watch how this unfolds. Maybe, everything is happening for the overall good of the society.
