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Comment by jaywalk | Hacker News Reader

This is exactly correct, and half of the population (at least in America) is sitting here and begging the government to take away more of their freedom so they can feel safer.

I am terrified of what the future holds.

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There is zero doubt in my mind life will never, ever be the same again. We've seen this by example of 9/11. That was one tragic day and daily life changed forever.

So many people are looking forward to getting out of lockdown and resuming their lives. I don't think those lives exist any more, and they will not return to us. Whatever is on the other side of this isn't what we had before.

Interesting perspective. In what ways do you think our lives will be changed forever ?

Not sure, but commercial interests are getting a scent of curfew money as we speak. They'll be very creative.

Well, after the last war, many countries had conscription to bolster their armies and to have resources better prepared if there was one again.

So I would not be supprised and indeed would welcome countries doing Medical conscription and if you raise up whole generations who have done even a few weeks of medical training and with that, raise the basic level of health and first aid knowledge. That alone would make things better, would reduce those needing to go to the doctor and in the UK with a free access public health service, you cut down on people attending A&E and Doctors with silly issues that would be 101 first aid and basic knowledge treatable or preventable.

But that is just one whole area.

Food packaging, will change and maybe not in a good way. Early on we saw coffee outlets refuse to use reusable cups for fears of contamination. We have gone from the verge of lambasting individual fruits wrapped in plastic towards one that demands it almost.

Be so many ways things will change, directly and more so indirectly.

But not all bad, many people got to talk to neibours they never met, via windows a sense of community and shared issues and cohesion will be much better after this.

Though high-streets already suffering from online advantages, may well of seen the killer blow from this.

Also business wise, it will see many rethink business models and how they operate. Some will diversify, some change direction, some fold and new ones will spring out.

Back in the 70's in the UK we had milk delivered daily in glass bottles via electric vehicles. Over time that died out and plastic bottles from supermarkets being the main.

We may well see a return of such services and certainly for daily consumables like milk, fruit veg, bread. We will see an increase in companies offering that now as the demand and mentality for that demand after this all, will still be there.

Biggest one though, will be more companies open to flexible hours and working from home, which is great.

Yeah, it doesn't necessarily have to be all negative ! Thanks for sharing your point of view :)

Well, like I said we will more than likely have some kind of bio passport. Initially it will be to validate immunity but under the threat of more pandemics (general stance is certainly going to be 'this can never happen again') I can see how this will become a normal thing. Certainly won't be able to fly without some kind of added bio security.

New vaccinations may become legally mandated. I can see a big backlash on this, but people will socially shame others into complying with the new norm. I mean, the anti-vax movement has ruined anyone's ability to even attempt to challenge vaccinations. This is worrying because there can be legit dialogs that need to be had around any new medication that is rushed to market. History has shown that vaccines can give cause for concern[1].

Then there is the drive for nationalism. Nations will want to secure their supply chains which could lead to tightening of borders in many different ways.

Cash could disappear. Already it's being argued as being a vector for transmitting viruses. Many stores will not accept cash at the moment.

I don't know, I am sure I could go deep down the rabbit hole on this one. I obviously don't know how this is going to play out and it likely won't be as overtly dystopic as my imagination might lead me to think. However I do think once the dust has settled all the subtle changes will leave us a little shocked about how much we lost.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/concerns-history....

>That was one tragic day and daily life changed forever.

I just disagree with this statement. After 9/11, flying got to be more of a pain in the ass, but for the other 99.9% of life, nothing really changed. More flags outside peoples' houses, maybe.

But what changed, appreciably for you? Because my life didn't really change, nor did anyone around me, from what I can tell.

The threat of terrorism changed politics forever[1]. The bar for military intervention was lowered significantly. The Patriot Act in the US by itself changed global life. Privacy diminished under the guise of keeping everyone safe. Airport security theatre is just a small visible part, but the attitude change toward monitoring the public is the most significant change. In the UK and the US[2] the number of CCTV cameras ballooned since 2001. We take surveillance for granted now, I guess you don't really think about that though.

[1] https://www.aclu.org/other/top-ten-abuses-power-911 [2] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44163852/ns/business-us_business/t...

I predict things will largely look the same as they did before within 1-2 years; at least in America. Hard to predict what'll happen in other countries.

There will probably be small changes (less handshaking, more acceptance of wearing masks when sick with anything, remote work somewhat more popular), but I don't think this is going to change American society in the way people think it will. Maybe healthcare reform and UBI will come sooner than they otherwise would've, but they're still far away.

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