5 Good Things That Will Follow From This Pandemic
by Danny Forest
1. Cashless payments everywhere
1.1. Who wants to carry around clunky, dirty coins and bills, which you constantly have to re-stock from an ATM in an inconvenient location?
1.2. Even those who do don’t want to pay in cash right now.
1.3. Humans are creatures of habit.
1.4. Even the most die-hard cash fan might be swayed by the ease of swiping a card if they have to do it for several months.
1.5. It’ll be good for our hygiene, tracking our spending, and saving time.
2. Remote work for everyone
2.1. Everyone is forced to make it work
2.2. We’ll likely see much higher acceptance rates for working from home after the virus passes.
2.3. Given most of us only need laptops and internet access, more autonomy is a good thing.
2.4. It’ll make us happier, and save everyone time and money.
3. (Even) better on-demand services and delivery.
3.1. Now, buying groceries might be a matter of life and death.
3.2. Coronavirus might accelerate widespread availability of on-demand services and delivery around the globe.
3.3. Your doctor, optician, hairdresser — soon, they might all come to you.
3.4. After this crisis, at least your groceries most definitely will.
4. Less spending on needless consumer goods
4.1. Suffering, be it our own or that of others, prompts us to think.
4.2. Who feels like buying fancy clothes now? Who cares about VIP tickets?
4.3. When you’re forced to reduce your expectations and stop living large, you gain space to reflect.
4.3.1. A common conclusion is, “Oh, I never needed this to begin with.”
4.4. If you can’t fill your spare time with distractions, the only alternative is to spend it on what’s meaningful.
4.5. All this reduced spending might not be prolonged, and it might look bad on paper for the world economy
4.6. But it’ll turn us into better humans.
4.6.1. We might even use more our resources to the benefit of others once we resume business-as-usual.