Watching and listening to people, I’m hearing this anticipation folks seem to have regarding their Overlords “flicking on” that economy switch. Everyday folks who are not cultivated in economics, finance, or business really do have this misguided sense of optimism. They believe their lives will be right back where it was prior to this government takeover of general, everyday life. They don’t understand that the most visible impacts to the economy will be in the months/years post-Covid closedown as businesses struggle to get back to a position of business volume and/or financial solvency that may never be restored.
And the financial markets, bubbles, and monetary policy aside for a moment, I believe that one of the most pernicious items to consider here is this propagandized, crazed notion of “social distancing (SD).” The socio-psychological ramifications of mask wearing, “mask-shaming,” and the arbitrary “6-foot rule” are going to have a devastating effect on retail, entertainment, hospitality, tourism, and restaurant & beverage … let alone schools, colleges, and the workplace. There is a reason that this idea of SD is shoved in your face everywhere you go and with everything you do. I can’t open my weather app or a newspaper without Covid/SD propaganda screaming at me. I walk 5 miles back into the woods on a trail, and there is the same old SD spin, nailed to a trailside pole. There’s a much larger pattern of destruction going on here.
And then there’s the high likelihood that statewide (or national) shutdowns will be a permanent tool of government policy in order to maintain the control that has been established with the CoronaCrisis.
7:39 am on April 24, 2020