[SeniorSenior]

It's complicated. The thing to remember is that successful cultures don't throw away elements that work(ed). The same way our genes are 90% to 99% "junk" our cultures are full of assimilated, dormant beliefs, myths, legends, traditions, children's stories. I think masks are with us forever. They will become more fashion-statement, like a bow tie, but they are now a part of us. Get used to it. We are going to see more Luddite, technophobe splinter-groups. This is a backlash against manipulation. In any argument, he who defines the terms wins. In a connected world, those with the best surveillance get to define the terms so they win. Splinter cultures using religious-fueled techno-phobia-as-a-shield-against-reason will create oases of resistance to globalization. Transportation is already in trouble. That means food can't get to where it is needed. Food is like money - beneficial if spread around, but when too much collects in one place it begins to stink. Producers and consumers are symbiots - neither can survive without the other. Victory gardens will come back into vogue. Globalization is now a Chinese emphasis so they are going to win. China doesn't need the rest of the world - they can be their own best market. Western culture is a threat to their oligarchy but western culture is necessary as a technology incubator. The west is going to find itself living in a reservation, a wild-life preserve of an otherwise Chinese world. Climate change (human caused or natural) is going to disrupt trade causing the human population bubble to implode. This will take more than 12 months, but the avalanche has started and we are just along for the ride. China's asset (endless manpower) is also their vulnerability. The question is which will come first - the computer virus that ends domestic control of ideas, or the organic virus that "if it kills one it kills all." The good news is that we are not doomed to death; We are doomed to be different than we were. "It is nice to remember in times like these that there have always been times like these."

[japoneris]

About China, I am not sure about the stability of its power. As it gets money from exportation, covid impacted it a lot, as we reduced our consumption. It is one of the country that is the more subject to globalization habit changes.

For masks, I see people making no effort while wearing them. At the start, we need "1" or "2 meter" distance between people. Now they have the mask, 30cm away is perfectly fine. I wonder which option is the best.