Month: September 2021

Ten Lessons For a Post Pandemic World -2

Author – Fareed Zakaria

In my last blog , we did an overview of the five lessons for a post pandemic world .I am happy to be back again , on time , to continue our conversation about rest of the lessons

Lesson – 6

Aristotle was Right – We are social Animals

1. Pandemics can isolate us temporarily but cannot change our basic nature . as human beings ;Social seclusion is not human

2. As humans ,we have deep urge towards social interaction , participation and

collaboration

3 .Cities fulfill those needs in the best possible manner ;Real life interpersonnel relations are source of happiness and meaning

4. Cities play a major role in modelling human beings and hence its citizens

5. Cities and human interactions are here to stay .

6. To succeed in this world , we will have to manage diversity and gain strength from it .

LESSON – 7

Inequality will get worse

  1. Our World is economically efficient but every commodity and service is on sale
  2. The top 10% of America which owns 70%of total wealth of the country will get richer and the other America poorer
  3. Covid -19 has emphasized the divide even more
  4. In the most fundamental sense , we fail as human beings ,if we do not strive to uphold the basic needs and human dignity ,of the mankind as whole

Lesson -8

Globalization is not Dead

  1. Covid does not have the power to kill Globalization
  2. Many structural Forces are pushing globalization further and full scale reversal is not possible
  3. The world is interdependant and would not redo the economic , scientific and technical progress of the past

LESSON -9

World is Becoming Bipolar

  1. We have to accept that though United state continues to perform well on the most basic measure of Global power -” Economically” , but China has arrived
  2. China for all its repressive politics is still a part of Global order . very different from the Cold War Era – with Soviet Union playing a very dissimilar part
  3. China and United States is deeply intertwined economically as trade partners , with billions at stake on every day trade
  4. “The Soft power ” of United States has dimmed but every nation is sensible enough to not to go into a large scale conflict and ruin its economic prospects for the future

Lesson – 10

Sometimes the Greatest Realists are the Idealists

1. We should accept that our present world has multiple power centers and to prosper and sustain , we are interdependent .

2 . America’s significant contribution to international life – Forgive , rebuild and rehabilitate the vanquished . It can be a guiding light for the world

3. History has taught us time and again that give “Peace ” a chance first

4.Idealism underlying realism is simple -When nations cooperate ,people live a longer , richer and more secure life

We would conclude this conversation in our next post

I really enjoyed putting out these lessons in a very simple format for your easy read .hope you enjoyed it too .

Have a great weekend

Shruti Aggarwal

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Ten Lessons For a Post pandemic World

                        Ten Lessons For a  Post Pandemic World

                                 Author – Fareed  Zakaria

,         I have been away from this platform for a while yet every day of this last year, this is where I wanted to be .Life situations do not always let you prioritise .    Family engagements   took me to India in the early part of 2020. When I returned in August of 2020 to the US , I had stepped into an entirely different world of masking , universal precautions , social distancing ,lockdowns , travel restrictions , an alien place

Vaccines came and we heaved a sigh!

But  even after a year ,we still are not in a position to write an obituary of the Pandmic and I feel this conversation is still very relevant

Author Fareed Zakaria , my all-time favorite ,is a journalist ,political commentator and author .He is the brilliant host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS .Besides other honors bestowed on him ,  he has been named one of the top global thinkers of the world .

His best seller , Ten Lessons for a Post Pandemic world ,help us introspect our social , political and economic milieu globally to tackle any pandemic like threats , under the heads of ” Ten Lessons “

It is an extensively researched book with an impressive bibliography and many interesting historical anecdotes . I have simplified the lessons , sometimes over simplified but it would help us to gather the salient points as a quick read

EXCERPT

LESSON -1

                                        BUCKLE UP

Center for disease control estimated that three quarters of new human disease originate in animals .That was the case in AIDS, Ebola ,SARS ,MERS, Bird Flu , Swine flu

Our open fast , on steroid world is encroaching their habitat at a reckless pace

Animals like bats can endure viruses which can debilitate human beings

Wet markets need to be regulated with healthy eating habits with less meat

Our society needs more “Air bags “, “Dousing of the vehicle” and “Buckling up

LESSON -2

What matters is Quality of Government and not Quantity

We should try to have

1.Optimal belief in science

2. Enable Technocratic leaders

3. Trimming down layers of Bureaucracy and Red tapism would definitely bring better results .

LESSON -3

MARKETS ARE NOT ENOUGH

1. Societies should not be “pay to play “

2. Government will have to accept a more active role in Economy

3 .Essential workers are not liabilities

4.Taking Denmark as an example ,Government should try to redistribute tax money amongst its citizens for a more economically equal and an abundant society .

Lesson -4

People should listen to the Experts and Experts to people

1.Science is really about process of learning and discovering with many failures and disappointments

2.Scientists should” lift the Hood ” and show how it works

3.Elites should not have a dominating attitude and should not deaden their empathy and sensitivity towards others as the others” are the people they would be wielding their power on

LESSON -5

LIFE IS DIGITAL

  1. Digital world is proving to be a necessity
  2. Every time a task moves to a” digital realm , it becomes easier to use with softwares automating it and optimise it
  3. Artificial intelligence will be a big part of medicine , at par with human intelligence
  4. AI can do “complicated analytic tasks better than humans but it needs a lot of data to process the resullts “
  5. So we would learn to cherish the” human touch ,creativity ,unpredictability warmth and intimacy “

I hope you enjoyed reading this

I will be back soon with the review of remaining five lessons

wishing you all a very happy Labor Day

Shruti Aggarwal

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