On the pandemic

The pandemic of 2019 was so significant that one needs to ‘zoom’ out to understand the ripple effects it caused in society. Pandemics like this are not uncommon and occur once every hundred years or so, these can potentially make or break people and their livelihoods. Billionaires’ wealth increased while the situation of the poor plummeted, worsening the wealth gap. But we learned much more than that.

Time for a personal anecdote. On March 14, when we were asked to vacate college for 2 weeks because of something called ‘coronavirus’. We panicked because this had never happened before, and were wondering if this was something to be worried about. Nevertheless, we hoped that we would return after a couple of weeks. Weeks turned into months and it’s been a year away from college now.

Something of this magnitude hadn’t happened since the Spanish flu in the 1900s. We sought refuge in new trends such as playing indoor games and trying out new hobbies. This was a well-deserved hiatus for many because no one knew how to deal with the virus. Life was put on hold and folks actually enjoyed this brief period of doing nothing. Slowly, governments, companies and academic institutions found ways to continue their work and the ball started rolling. The avant-garde methods were alien to some and simply difficult to access for others. Less wealthy nations took creative paths to get the job done. Well-off people acclimatised to the changes easily while the others struggled to get back on track. The difference was primarily linked to access to technology. Tech endured a major burden during life post-pandemic and continues to do so. Good samaritans helped out the less fortunate by providing them with resources required to continue their education unaltered.

New truths were realised during this time. People and companies learned that employees could work from anywhere. Your address was one of the determinants of your salary. But now that people are moving away from the cities into the suburbs or the countryside, organisations are toying with the idea of adjusting the salaries of those who opt to work remotely. This comes with disgruntlement from the employees who still may want to live in more expensive cities. This is a newfound problem that requires time because pay and location are very complicated. There is also a question of colleges, especially the more expensive ones, charging the same tuition as live classes for remote learning. Students are dejected because they don’t have access to campus resources and facilities but still have to pay the same tuition. This hits the less affluent students the most. This pandemic forced offices to restructure their entire work culture — the right ratio of the number of office and remote workers; some companies are experimenting with non-mandatory office days where employees could work remotely.

Here’s a hypothesis to think about. Natural disasters and pandemics occur every often in order to tip the balance when humans have gone too far; the only way to keep humanity in check. And it’s not just this pandemic alone that is evidence for it.

The Black Plague (1347–1350) devastated Europe, wiping out one-third of its population and marked the end of the Middle Ages. There were widespread famines and food shortages, people were not prepared to handle a disease of that scale. It spread from Italy all the way to Russia. Business units collapsed, people were unemployed and society broke down. Those that were ready to adapt to change survived the pandemic. It caused a shift in the production environment in the region. Since labour was expensive, alternatives had to be considered. This was a contemporary example of ‘survival of the fittest’. There was a revival of medical science; doctors had to shift their focus from textbook medicine to empirical evidence. Structured institutions of health were created, wards were designed to separate patients. The Black Plague also struck in waves (there were three waves and eerily, we are in the midst of the third wave of the current pandemic).

Post the Black Plague, labour was scarce, this meant that wages had to go up. This caused the middle class and the working population to stand up. This accompanied by the low food prices, caused a reversal in the social standing of the gentry and the working class. This could be a subtle sign of the scales tipping. A decimated population left with the same amount of resources meant a larger portion for each. And since the Plague affected people irrespective of their wealth or social standing, this led to a blurring of societal borders. The mindset of the people had changed. They were forced to rethink their lifestyle and their priorities. Slowly, the Renaissance period began in Europe marking one of the most prolific eras in European history. This marked the rise of artists, sculptors and scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Galileo. In a way, the Black Plague could have inadvertently led to the discovery that the Earth and other planets in the solar system revolve around the Sun in fixed orbits.

Many historians attribute the Renaissance to the Black Plague. Then, trends suggest a similar revival soon. This could be in any shape or form, not necessarily a tangible one. People’s priorities have already shifted. Those that were willing to clock in 80 hours a week have now given that up to spend their time where it actually mattered. Realisations about how we were neglecting our health is evident — earlier, even if someone was sick, they still went to work because “they were sick, but not too sick to work”. Now, we find it appalling that we blew out birthday candles and ended up sharing the cake with our closest friends. We went to hospitals without wearing a mask. What were we thinking?

All of this optimism about the possibility of another renaissance period might seem too good to be true. What might a change in the human perception of culture and rituals translate into the material world. Will there be a shift in focus from productivity to human satisfaction? Will this cause a complete shift in the goal of human society where we put happiness and kindness on top? We’ll just have to wait and see.

~ Vignesh Srinivasan