This pandemic is an opportunity to….. ( #aperfecttime )

Many people are saying this pandemic is an opportunity, a perfect time to do big new things. Of course it’s a danger, too, but it’s so big that it creates space for new things to be done – perhaps even a new world to be born. What kinds of new things might get created? What kind of new world? Who will do what with this unprecedented opportunity?

In order to highlight all the things that various people are doing – or just thinking could be done – to use this opportunity, for better or worse – let’s share our thoughts, whether as inspirations or warnings. Because both are really important right now.

I offer the following list to get us started. What would you add to it? Feel free to put your ideas in a comment below – or, better yet, send them out as a tweet with the hashtag #aperfecttime.

The more people realize that this pandemic will change things, the more those changes can be noticed, promoted, resisted. Far beyond its obvious challenges, this pandemic is a perfect time….

…. to make lots of money in the global financial casino or in markets for vital supplies…
…. to change the world into something we’d much rather live in….
…. to take time out with loved ones and neighbors…
…. to stop and reflect, by ourselves and with each other, about what’s happening and who we are in it….
…. to replace laid-off workers with robots and artificial intelligence….
…. to establish a basic minimum income for everyone…
…. to get people to agree to being tracked wherever they go….
…. to drastically reduce the world’s population….
…. to do something creative online with others – or just at home by ourselves….
…. to start a war – nuclear, biological, or cyber – especially to cripple our weakened enemies or distract our upset populations….
…. to develop local mutual aid economies with gifting, sharing, generosity and caring…
…. to transform our political and economic systems (to better serve us, or everyone)…
…. for China to replace the US as the world’s dominant superpower….
…. to get to know the people around us….
…. to make progress on those creative projects we never had time for because we were too busy….
…. to become overwhelmed, totally confused, and incapacitated with fear….
…. to try to convince those other people how mistaken they are about what’s going on and why….
…. to develop powerful online tools to help us make sense of what’s happening – together….
…. to realize just how vulnerable our big shiny global economy really is…
…. to deepen into love, compassion, and service….
…. to develop personal and community-level resilience – because more challenges like this are coming…
…. to support groups for civil liberties and civil rights so they can resist authoritarianism…
…. to use chaos and fear to gain more power…
…. to thank people who work hard and risk their lives to serve and save people they’ve never met before….
…. to do our part to ameliorate the impacts of the pandemic….
…. to question authorities who say they know exactly what’s going on and what should be done…
…. to develop infrastructure that will prevent or handle this kind of threat in the future…
…. to confront, address and redress historic and current injustice everywhere…
…. to take advantage of the current disruption to disrupt things even further….
…. to prioritize addressing society’s impacts on nature and future generations, while there’s still time…
…. to realize the similarities between the causes and dynamics of pandemics and climate disruption…
…. to drum up passionate hatreds towards well-targeted scapegoats…..
…. to develop ways to truly listen to diverse voices, so we all learn something and connect…
…. to transform the health profit system into a system for furthering everyone’s wellbeing…
…. to learn how to creatively use life’s inevitable complexity and uncertainty for good….
…. to get rid of the US Postal Service…
…. to hold rent strikes…
…. for hundreds of thousands of people to silently stand six feet apart in central locations, demanding change…
…. to bring the world together to better address crises and opportunities now and in the future…
…. to figure out how to deal with nuclear installations and materials during mass disruptions….
…. what else? ….

Coheartedly,
Tom

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