What now? The ‘new normal’ post COVID-19

May 15, 2020

What now? The ‘new normal’ post COVID-19

Humans have historically proven to be rather resilient as a species. Despite not being armed with size, great strength nor natural defences, we have been able to climb to the top of the food pyramid, becoming an apex predator. From the time of the hunter gatherer, our lifestyles (for example, the evolution of agricultural age of settlement from earlier nomadic lifestyle) and behaviors have adapted to meet the need of the hour.

When faced with overwhelming odds in the fight for survival, we have shown bravery, drive and innovation in adapting to any new situation. Eventually even achieving supremacy.

The phrase ‘new normal’ came into usage in economics and business post the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the global recession that followed. Its since come to be used in other contexts to imply that something which was previously not normal has become commonplace. For example, its usage with respect to the fallout from the current novel corona virus pandemic. Due to the speed and method in which this virus spreads, the current lack of cure and the high mortality rate it’s leaving in its wake; many countries took the previously unprecedented step of a deliberate ‘lockdown’ by asking people to remain at home and isolate themselves to avoid the spread of the disease. As governments struggle to manage the threat and with any kind of eradication a long way off yet, there is a lot of discussion about the way the pandemic is going to change the status quo or the ‘new normal’ post Covid-19.

We cannot know what the ‘new normal’ will be as yet. It is to be seen and will be defined by our actions and how we choose to react to this situation that we’re faced with.

1)      We may go back to business as usual with renewed vigor. The practice of ‘social distancing’ and the impact of ‘lockdown’ on businesses and an already shaky economy encouraging us to take isolationist approach and protect ourselves by trusting and resorting to long established practices.

OR

2)      We may decide to take advantage of this forced period of slowdown to introspect and come up with solutions focused on long term benefit. We could decide to take a macrolevel view in our solutions to problems, adopting a global adaptive resilience alliance for a more sustainable and inclusive future.

Despite the dire predictions and the general doom and gloom about the seemingly inevitable ‘new normal’, the silver-lining is that the post COVID-19 era can work as a long-required reality check for the business as usual approach which has clearly done its damage.  The push for sustainable practices (long since demanded by climate activists) needs to become the norm. As the spread of the virus has shown us the reality of our interconnected world, perhaps it’s time to pause, take stock and reset our habits towards a more sustainable future for us all. That should be the ‘new normal’ we aspire to create for ourselves.

• The improvement in the environment, with visibly clearer skies and the increase in animal activity within the 5 week ‘lockdown’ period is a clear indicator that the existing patterns of growth and consumption has been damaging to the environment.
• The severity of the impact of the ‘lockdown’ measures on the more vulnerable sections of society (daily wage earners) also clearly demonstrates the lack of inclusivity in our current growth patterns.
• Additionally, the impact of this unprecedented measure on global businesses and their supply chains has shaken the global economy to its core. This should cause us to take stock of the current purely commercial profit-centric approach to build more robust and resilient business models which focus on a long term and wholesome view of profit.

The governments and businesses of tomorrow in the post corona era should be considering this as an opportunity to change their previously narrow approach to development and progress and think of long term sustainable practices at the unit level, community level, national level and global level which can be done because of the adaptive resilience ingrained in our DNA.

The Author, Ishani Mukherjee, is a Research Associate with TERI

Tags: Health & Covid

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