The Brave New World

With ordinary life shutting down fast, it may seem like the End of Days. But take heart: at least we have modern infrastructure and modern communications. And whatever its faults and problems, the NHS. There's TV and other electronic entertainment to watch; radio; books; games to play; and - provided you observe 'social distancing' and are under 70 - you can get out and walk about. No need to be idle at home, either - although that must be small consolation to the over 70s, who have to be indoors, unless they have imagination and can invent projects for themselves, or take up new hobbies and interests. 

Whatever the scare stories about queues and shortages at the shops, and various clampdowns to come, I think we are going to get through this well enough. I think most people see that we must pull together, and do the right things, and not be shamefully selfish.

As yet not very much is being asked of the ordinary citizen, except to observe the government's health advice, and resist the temptation to get into an unnecessary panic. There's a lot of inconvenience of course, especially if you have children at home who can't now go to school. And some people who are immobile or immuno-compromised are worrying with real cause. So too are key workers. I listened on the radio to a heartrending and tearful plea from a nurse who couldn't find enough food in her local foodstores when she had the chance to shop. I hope that kind of thing strikes home: panic-buying is needless but very understandable; deliberate over-buying and hoarding is however a social crime. If I hear of any villagers with a secret garage-full of food tins, cooking oil and kitchen rolls, I will think of that nurse and won't be impressed.

I hope the measures now being taken to massively increase deliveries to food shops, and set a small army of extra staff to work on filling the shelves afresh each day, will give sensible shoppers a break.

Still on this topic of panic-buying, I really do wonder why strict in-shop food and household goods rationing wasn't instituted two weeks ago. It'll have to come now, for the benefit of everyone. Wartime conditions indeed.

For how long? Personally, I think the PM's recent comment - well-intentioned, I'm sure - that the coronavirus could be beaten within 'twelve weeks' if we all do the right thing, is going to prove optimistic. We are not likely to be back to normal - or almost so - by July. September maybe.

And it could be a rather different world by then. Six months of doing things differently is bound to have its effect. What was normal at the start of this year will seem like the other side of a watershed. I'm curious to know what the Brave New World will look like.

I must sound as if I'm on top of things, and enjoying the experience rather a lot. Well, I'm not worrying, and even if I get infected I am assured that the discomfort is likely to be mild, certainly something I should recover from. But I'm highly conscious of living through a event that could reshape everything in the future. I have a strong sense of history, and this does seem a lot like World War Three - but against an unseen virus. Some of the emergency measures being put into place will get consolidated and made permanent. Values will change. Expectations and assumptions too. People will wake up. Life generally will be different. And it won't be a Mad Max scenario. Personally speaking, I don't mind change one bit, and I'm ready to adapt to it. In fact adaptation will be the name of the game.

There will also be some dreadful statistics to come. We may be saying in 2021 or 2022 that 'worldwide, five hundred thousand people died directly from the virus, and twenty million more from the devastation, starvation and social breakdown it caused.' It could be. And in the affluent West, the awful real meaning of such a statement will escape many.

The planet itself will - figuratively speaking - breathe a sigh of relief. A pause in industrialisation, and a big drop in carbon emissions, may well give Mother Earth a chance to recover somewhat. I'd like to see a global effort made to keep that recovery going.