02-09 Surprises

All over the world people’s lives are being changed by the pandemic. I can understand this reality because I discussed the Spanish Flu so often with my parents and grandparents. Loved those high school history teachers.
But what about the big things then and today. From the Spanish Flu, most nations developed Departments of Health. Anticipate public health spending coming home everywhere. So much of our basic medical equipment and medicines are made in China and India.
The big surprise today is that wherever women have been in positions of leadership there have been fewer Covid-19 mortalities. Like Denmark, Iceland, Germany, New Zealand (photo of PM Jacinda Ardern), Taiwan, Finland and Norway. It is about resilience, pragmatism, common sense and trust. Expect more women taking positions of power everywhere.
And as someone old enough to have lived before and after World War II, it is a surprise that the US should fail not only to protect its own citizens from the pandemic, but fail to provide leadership for the world.
Anyone thinking about global issues and what they call geopolitics knows that China is in ascendency. But the big surprise during the trade dispute between China and the US is how China during the pandemic is winning the global public relations war.
President Trump refused to wear a mask and states his opposition publicly and yet Chairman Xi Jinping of China cleverly shows billions around the world his concern about the virus by being seen in all his public photo-ops wearing a mask. Politics is perception.
The sad news is that the pandemic is not only killing Americans in record numbers, it is weakening its economy. We have not yet been hit with the second wave, which is the virus mutating and changing. This is all having an unravelling impact on America’s ability to project strength and confidence to the world.
So much changed when the US president contracted Covid-19. It obviously is no longer a hoax to the President’s political base. Nor is part of some kind of globalism conspiracy that will take away people’s freedoms.
Prominent actor Robert Redford make headlines saying that the one key benefit of the pandemic is that it will convince Americans that science is more important than politics, and this will have a positive impact on the battle over climate change.
We all know that the virus has stimulated an at home movement. And no surprise that video conferencing apps are selling like hotcakes. Just heard the door bell ring. Supper time. But did we know that with the closing of all the coffee shops that there would be such a crash in sales of milk. Half of all milk sales are made through coffee shops. Holy Moly.