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Post by cheekymatt71 on Apr 30, 2020 11:51:16 GMT
This is Coronavirus related, but I dont want all the political posts spoiling the thread so Ive made a new one.
I just want peoples opinions and predictions for the future.
I do believe this pandemic is a warning for humanity. Mother Nature has a way of trying to fight back to save the planet. Not a very pleasant way to fight back when it might cost millions of lives.
But carbon emissions are dropping through the floor. Massive government bail-outs and respect for forgotten about care workers.
SURELY we cant just go back to the way things were after this massive scare for humanity?
I expect global travel to not recover fully. Hopefully we see more investment into green technologies as the oil companies crash and burn around us.
What does everyone expect to happen after for humanity in the coming years and decades?
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Post by sheikhmomo on Apr 30, 2020 12:24:05 GMT
The aftermath of this crisis will truly define us a country.
It will be tough but the chance to build a better society with more focus on us and ours over me and mine is a patch we could take.
I wont be holding my breath.
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Post by murphthesurf on Apr 30, 2020 12:53:44 GMT
This is Coronavirus related, but I dont want all the political posts spoiling the thread so Ive made a new one. I just want peoples opinions and predictions for the future. I do believe this pandemic is a warning for humanity. Mother Nature has a way of trying to fight back to save the planet. Not a very pleasant way to fight back when it might cost millions of lives. But carbon emissions are dropping through the floor. Massive government bail-outs and respect for forgotten about care workers. SURELY we cant just go back to the way things were after this massive scare for humanity? I expect global travel to not recover fully. Hopefully we see more investment into green technologies as the oil companies crash and burn around us. What does everyone expect to happen after for humanity in the coming years and decades? I do expect global travel to eventually recover, either fully or to a huge degree, Matt - it might take a few years, but people do like their foreign hols, carbon emissions or not, along with folks visiting family members living abroad, plus those genuinely needing to travel for work, and that's about the measure of it. The one thing I 100% hope will change will be people's awareness of hygiene and especially hand cleanliness --- I would hope that when this current horror show is all over and things return to 'normal' there will be, for instance, a hand sanitising 'station' of some sort right inside the entrance door of every supermarket, shop and business, even workplaces and socialising places like pubs, cafes, restaurants and schools - it will cost them all a packet in maintaining supplies of the stuff on their premises, but I think it's got to happen - in fact I think a law should be introduced to guarantee this. I've also carried a little pack of anti-bacterial hand-wipes in my bag for about 15 years & could never be without them, and I'm sure folks are going to start doing this a lot more. Ideally, when it comes to public bathroom facilities, etc., I think all washbasin taps and loo flushes should be operated with a foot button on the floor, and doors should all open & close by sensors. This current situation has taught mankind a lot of lessons - if mankind will only learn from them. |
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Post by Northy on Apr 30, 2020 13:42:14 GMT
I doubt it, car manufacturers are already starting planning production and on the BBC NW news earlier the car plant person being interviewed stated, as we will want to buy cars when everything gets back to normal
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Post by thisisouryear on Apr 30, 2020 13:45:17 GMT
I don't think people, myself included realised how easy a virus gets passed from person to person.
So much we took for granted will inevitably change the way we buy and consume things. I think ice cream people will have a huge struggle. Simple things like buying a bar of chocolate then eating it almost instantly may become a habit that gets kicked. The thought you can be ingesting a virus every time you eat something off the shelf will make me think twice now.
I even fight to not touch my face now, I will be telling the kids off next for doing it the way I'm going.
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Apr 30, 2020 14:50:10 GMT
So it looks like we are all set to become more OCD about washing ourselves?
To be honest I never used hand sanitiser before but Ive got used to washing my hands 3/4 times a day.
If thats all we learn from it I do despair somewhat.
Global supply chains need to become localised. More self-reliance for countries. But also we need organisations like the WHO and more international co-operation on certain things.
Some ideas from me that I would like to see:
1) Flexible working hours (2 days in the office, 2 days at home) - 4 day working week as an option ( the cut in carbon emissions from this alone would be massive)
2) Less business travel (everyone deserves a holiday in the sun, but I think you could cut 50% of business travel using modern video-conferencing technology. I think we will see major changes from large companies like Google & Microsoft leading the way and other companies will follow)
3) Some increase in taxes (not to pay off government debt, but to increase wages across the public sector)
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Post by boskampsflaps on Apr 30, 2020 15:00:50 GMT
No, those with the real influence will be going after money however they can as per.
Its a perfect time to start banning things or at least limiting but it won't happen, look at how much better things are looking such as polution levels in the seas etc, put things in place now and we may just be able to keep it that way, but unfortunatly it won't.
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Apr 30, 2020 15:53:53 GMT
No, those with the real influence will be going after money however they can as per. Its a perfect time to start banning things or at least limiting but it won't happen, look at how much better things are looking such as polution levels in the seas etc, put things in place now and we may just be able to keep it that way, but unfortunatly it won't. Exactly my thoughts. We can change our behaviour to focus on very near term risks (War or a pandemic) but we seem unable to do the same for some far off threats such as climate change. Now is the time to change things for the future. A carbon tax would be a good start - lowering car usage and flights whilst boosting electric cars and remote working/less business travel. Many people are being made unemployed but could be put to use on new infrastructure requirements to change from a fossil fuel based economy |
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Post by wagsastokie on Apr 30, 2020 16:33:00 GMT
In the future I think there will be a change in industry away from just in time manufacturing and much shorter supply chains
Personally I would like to see far less goods imported from China
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Post by mrcoke on Apr 30, 2020 17:19:37 GMT
It would be good to see a seed change in society as a result of this pandemic.
There is huge change in society in terms of science, technology, etc. Who for example would have thought a few years ago that today we consume hardly any coal in UK power stations, one of the few industries like quarrying that it is impractical to export. As for IT it leaves me totally baffled.
Conversely as I've posted on here before, human nature never changes as evidenced by the accompanying thread on dog shit! The bible tells the story of the Jews over thousands of years, a nation beset by regular catastrophes causing them to repent and turn back to their God. But as soon as life returns to the good life, they immediately abandon their beliefs and start worshipping false gods, like money, power, sex and man made idols. (The Jews didn't have bet365.)
The OP asks if we learn. My own belief is as fast as mankind learns new things, we forget knowledge of the past, usually dismissed as irrelevant. We seem to find out more faster, and forget the past faster. I even heard a young solicitor on a quiz yesterday giving the pat answer, "I don't know, it was before my time." The question related to a couple of decades ago, she lost! Ironic as much her profession is based on case law.
Today we are seeing the rise of the Chinese empire, while America and the EU teeter on the brink of demise, following the Soviet Union and other regimes of history.
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Post by mrteddysalad on Apr 30, 2020 18:59:49 GMT
like he suggests, I doubt there will be a fundamental change
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Post by longdistancekiddie on Apr 30, 2020 19:57:55 GMT
The government bailouts will have to be paid back with interest and the loans will be given /sold to the banks/financial companies for collection.
The oil companies will buy the water and electricity companies.
And we will all pay
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Post by boskampsflaps on Apr 30, 2020 21:27:15 GMT
No, those with the real influence will be going after money however they can as per. Its a perfect time to start banning things or at least limiting but it won't happen, look at how much better things are looking such as polution levels in the seas etc, put things in place now and we may just be able to keep it that way, but unfortunatly it won't. Exactly my thoughts. We can change our behaviour to focus on very near term risks (War or a pandemic) but we seem unable to do the same for some far off threats such as climate change. Now is the time to change things for the future. A carbon tax would be a good start - lowering car usage and flights whilst boosting electric cars and remote working/less business travel. Many people are being made unemployed but could be put to use on new infrastructure requirements to change from a fossil fuel based economy My first thing would be to make it illegal to have more than one car per house hold, I'd be happy if they were all banned tbh, I'm pretty sure that would go down well  |
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Post by Rednwhitenblue on May 1, 2020 6:27:55 GMT
To answer the question in the thread title...no.
Our global economy is fundamentally dependent on oil. It underpins everything.
We are also required to buy stuff or the capitalist consumerist economy tanks as we've seen.
Put the two together and you realise we'll just go back to it as soon as we can. There's far too much money dependent on the 'old ways' of doing things for fundamental change.
At times like these, people always say "the world will never be the same" or "we can't go back to how things were", it was the same after 9/11. But what really changed after that? Nothing really except a few additional security checks at airports!
This'll be the same. We're too comfortable with our oil based, buying stuff, polluting way of life to change. Cars and planes will soon be back because the economic model demands it.
Also, people don't like change especially if it makes life even remotely more inconvenient...they're too selfish and short-sighted to embrace what really needs to happen if we're going to survive as a species...in objective terms for life on earth generally, no bad thing!
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