I'm Not Rooting For The Apocalypse, I'm Just Plague-Curious

Professor Kate Soper writes in The Guardian about how COVID-19 might teach us (the hard way) about better possible futures once (if) the pandemic dies down:

"Covid-19 may have caused us to re-examine this status quo. According to the ONS [Office for National Statistics], household spending decreased by a fifth during lockdown. For decades, economic liberalism has affirmed the idea of the self-interested consumer as an almost natural human state. But during the pandemic, a more public-oriented spirit seemed to emerge. People signed up to volunteer for the NHS in droves and mutual aid groups flourished. As commuting dropped off, people had more time to spend at home and in their communities.

Lockdown momentarily benefited our physical environments, too. Cities became less air-polluted and congested, and seasoned walkers and cyclists enjoyed the utopian experience of moving unmolested on roads usually dense with cars, while others took up cycling for the first time. For a brief period, wildlife reclaimed some of its former territory and roadkill fell dramatically. Many reported hearing more birdsong. Those living under flightpaths savoured the experience of plane-free silent skies. As people flocked to parks, it became clearer than ever why we need to defend our green public spaces."

I'm all for it, but we also can't take our eyes off of the folks who have no industry, or hollowed out ones at best, to return to -- restaurants, hotels, airlines, etc.

But by all means, let's stop pretending that anyone but the most fevered of capitalists enjoys living a life of stress and greed and mindless consumption of bullshit things and services.