IS IT ME, OR...?
EVERYONE about me right now seems tightly focused on COVID-19 and it’s highly public and most obvious effects on human health and mortality. And well we should be, given the current, astronomically high incidence and mortality rates in the USA. A month ago, no one in my circle of friends had seroconverted. Now we are collectively mourning the deaths of entire families we know. But there are other, more subtile effects that are becoming increasingly noticeable.
The first was the interrupted redistribution of goods and services, demonstrated by Amazon’s priorities. As a citizen, I want to profusely thank Amazon for being there and doing the right thing for its customers when few others would or could. As an author, however, book sales have dropped to near nothing, and the few books selling are mostly eBooks. Notwithstanding, it’s not all Amazon’s doing. Or it might be. It’s hard to tell being “in” the pandemic rather than having the privilege of looking at it historically from “outside.” Pre-COVID, there was a push by large-scale publishers to move solely to eBooks: less cost, faster fulfillment, more profit, more money. By reprioritizing printed books and relegating them to 3 weeks to 3 months shipping, Amazon, I hope unwittingly proved another “nail in the coffin” of printed books, at least for a year or more. As an avid reader and author, it’s hurt a lot as my eyes and heart aren’t at all fond of the “reading electric.”
Next it seemed was services. Most services traditionally involve large groups and/or face-to-face situations. Besides the actual loss of individual humans providing the actual services, the prevailing “Americans Only” mentality and and lack of infrastructure alternatives seemed to take their toll, first on quality then on diversity and finally quantity of services. Restaurants, for example and in particular, seem to me to be succumbing to COVID on these multiple fronts. Personally, I’d consider ordering out if any restaurants were open between 9 and 10 a.m. to take orders. In my neighborhood, only one.
Next seemed to be provisioning. Some forms of meat became scarce or, at the least inferior in quality and more expensive, sometimes at twice or thrice the price. For a while, powered milk, yeast, flour, toilet paper, rice and other commodities irritatingly disappeared from consumer shelves, reminding me grimly of my visits to grocery stores in the former USSR in the 80s. Then, diversity and quality of vegetables and now fruit as well. The same grocery bag that used to carry out $25 in foodstuffs now carries $125. And, while I’m largely vegetarian (meaning the increased costs are not solely related to meat) I eat quite a lot of fruit. Call me a fruit bat, but that’s where I’m currently seeing a lot of the impact. Especially given all of the above AND winter approaching AND — dare I say it — the, I’m assured over and over, non-existent climate change impacts.
Next seems to be digital services, whether internet or radio frequency based. I regularly check my “internet speed” as, despite the claims by internet service providers of unbelievable speed, actual service at my house often fluctuates a lot. Lately, it seem that internet sites are changing faster and faster in one way or another, basically monitizing every possible, often already existing free service, or failing to provide support when systems increasingly error or a customer-provider mismatch occurs. Yesterday, I finally received in the mail the “non-binding dress crew-length socks” I ordered online, though out of the package, they proved too large with over an inch and a half of unfilled sock past the toes (I didn’t know socks came in different sizes) and as knee-high compression socks. I’m still trying to contact the seller, but last time we connected (for only a few moments before being abruptly disconnected), I was still trying to understand what sounded the service provider was trying to say in a heavy India dialect over the background sounds of screaming children and blaring Indian radio music. Hmmm. If this is America First, then I’d gladly accept America Second, whatever that might be.
I think the biggest impact, however, is yet to come and it’s going to be initially in the transportation industries. Whether by air, ship, train, bus, car, bicycle or walking, the transportation industries haven’t yet been able to restructure their infrastructures to ones based on the health and safety of individuals rather than moving mass groups at the lowest tolerable safety, comfort and price. Sad, because I believe those industries that can make the change will survive, even thrive, in a future world where pandemics are no longer singular events.
Then there’s education, once again struggling, this time with trying to shift emphasis from teaching large groups to supporting individual learning by various means that can address the health and safety concerns of partents. I’ve long held that “classroom” teaching with its distinct power imbalance between “teacher” and “student” plays directly into the role of societal violation and trauma with all its attendant negative side effects. Changing to more individualized, self-directive learning has yet to begin in earnest. As far as safe, individual, interactive, holographic instruction with mentors who can demonstrate rather than teach how to approach a problem, the mentor and students residing safely within their own domiciles which learning is going on…read UNLOCK THE GENIUS WITHIN (Rowman & Littlefied Education) by Daniel S. Janik or my latest work, mentioned below.
Then there’s our already failing health care system, again constructed around mass or group infrastructure from clinics to hospitals to laboratories, already stressed to the max and failing. The change in this sector will, I predict, be a particularly difficult one given the potential for constantly increasing “profit” available to businesses and the unconstrained greed that many display today. Most await a vaccine and a “return to the way it was.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not inclined to want to go back to the past. I’m tired of being a sardine in a can, being able to still recall the days when a primary health provider focused all attention on the safety and health of his or her patient. I think I’d rather go back to the future.
I could go on, but time and space simply don’t permit. It’s all about reversing the general business trend to do everything en masse to maximize increasing profit, when, in fact, the real index of success isn’t money or increasing profit, but the quality of service provided to individuals. That’s what humans remember in the long run. Go figure. So, having frothed and pontificated enough for today, I can only suggest reading my newest work, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. Neither dystopian nor utopian, it incorporates a new approach to better infrastructures and their effects on daily life. Call it science-based futuring — SciFu — addressing, yes, all of the above in a not necessarily braver nor surprisingly more authoritarian world.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
The first was the interrupted redistribution of goods and services, demonstrated by Amazon’s priorities. As a citizen, I want to profusely thank Amazon for being there and doing the right thing for its customers when few others would or could. As an author, however, book sales have dropped to near nothing, and the few books selling are mostly eBooks. Notwithstanding, it’s not all Amazon’s doing. Or it might be. It’s hard to tell being “in” the pandemic rather than having the privilege of looking at it historically from “outside.” Pre-COVID, there was a push by large-scale publishers to move solely to eBooks: less cost, faster fulfillment, more profit, more money. By reprioritizing printed books and relegating them to 3 weeks to 3 months shipping, Amazon, I hope unwittingly proved another “nail in the coffin” of printed books, at least for a year or more. As an avid reader and author, it’s hurt a lot as my eyes and heart aren’t at all fond of the “reading electric.”
Next it seemed was services. Most services traditionally involve large groups and/or face-to-face situations. Besides the actual loss of individual humans providing the actual services, the prevailing “Americans Only” mentality and and lack of infrastructure alternatives seemed to take their toll, first on quality then on diversity and finally quantity of services. Restaurants, for example and in particular, seem to me to be succumbing to COVID on these multiple fronts. Personally, I’d consider ordering out if any restaurants were open between 9 and 10 a.m. to take orders. In my neighborhood, only one.
Next seemed to be provisioning. Some forms of meat became scarce or, at the least inferior in quality and more expensive, sometimes at twice or thrice the price. For a while, powered milk, yeast, flour, toilet paper, rice and other commodities irritatingly disappeared from consumer shelves, reminding me grimly of my visits to grocery stores in the former USSR in the 80s. Then, diversity and quality of vegetables and now fruit as well. The same grocery bag that used to carry out $25 in foodstuffs now carries $125. And, while I’m largely vegetarian (meaning the increased costs are not solely related to meat) I eat quite a lot of fruit. Call me a fruit bat, but that’s where I’m currently seeing a lot of the impact. Especially given all of the above AND winter approaching AND — dare I say it — the, I’m assured over and over, non-existent climate change impacts.
Next seems to be digital services, whether internet or radio frequency based. I regularly check my “internet speed” as, despite the claims by internet service providers of unbelievable speed, actual service at my house often fluctuates a lot. Lately, it seem that internet sites are changing faster and faster in one way or another, basically monitizing every possible, often already existing free service, or failing to provide support when systems increasingly error or a customer-provider mismatch occurs. Yesterday, I finally received in the mail the “non-binding dress crew-length socks” I ordered online, though out of the package, they proved too large with over an inch and a half of unfilled sock past the toes (I didn’t know socks came in different sizes) and as knee-high compression socks. I’m still trying to contact the seller, but last time we connected (for only a few moments before being abruptly disconnected), I was still trying to understand what sounded the service provider was trying to say in a heavy India dialect over the background sounds of screaming children and blaring Indian radio music. Hmmm. If this is America First, then I’d gladly accept America Second, whatever that might be.
I think the biggest impact, however, is yet to come and it’s going to be initially in the transportation industries. Whether by air, ship, train, bus, car, bicycle or walking, the transportation industries haven’t yet been able to restructure their infrastructures to ones based on the health and safety of individuals rather than moving mass groups at the lowest tolerable safety, comfort and price. Sad, because I believe those industries that can make the change will survive, even thrive, in a future world where pandemics are no longer singular events.
Then there’s education, once again struggling, this time with trying to shift emphasis from teaching large groups to supporting individual learning by various means that can address the health and safety concerns of partents. I’ve long held that “classroom” teaching with its distinct power imbalance between “teacher” and “student” plays directly into the role of societal violation and trauma with all its attendant negative side effects. Changing to more individualized, self-directive learning has yet to begin in earnest. As far as safe, individual, interactive, holographic instruction with mentors who can demonstrate rather than teach how to approach a problem, the mentor and students residing safely within their own domiciles which learning is going on…read UNLOCK THE GENIUS WITHIN (Rowman & Littlefied Education) by Daniel S. Janik or my latest work, mentioned below.
Then there’s our already failing health care system, again constructed around mass or group infrastructure from clinics to hospitals to laboratories, already stressed to the max and failing. The change in this sector will, I predict, be a particularly difficult one given the potential for constantly increasing “profit” available to businesses and the unconstrained greed that many display today. Most await a vaccine and a “return to the way it was.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not inclined to want to go back to the past. I’m tired of being a sardine in a can, being able to still recall the days when a primary health provider focused all attention on the safety and health of his or her patient. I think I’d rather go back to the future.
I could go on, but time and space simply don’t permit. It’s all about reversing the general business trend to do everything en masse to maximize increasing profit, when, in fact, the real index of success isn’t money or increasing profit, but the quality of service provided to individuals. That’s what humans remember in the long run. Go figure. So, having frothed and pontificated enough for today, I can only suggest reading my newest work, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. Neither dystopian nor utopian, it incorporates a new approach to better infrastructures and their effects on daily life. Call it science-based futuring — SciFu — addressing, yes, all of the above in a not necessarily braver nor surprisingly more authoritarian world.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
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