The Pandemic’s Silver Lining

The HumanistsMN online book club discussed Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity by Scott Galloway in March. The author is a well-known marketing professor at the New York University Stern School of Business as well as a public speaker and entrepreneur.

The year 2020 was a tough one for everyone, but in crisis, there is opportunity, his book demonstrates. The rate of e-commerce adoption in the first 8 weeks after the pandemic hit was about the same as the rate that took a decade earlier to achieve.

“It took Apple 42 years to reach $1 trillion in value, and 20 weeks to accelerate from $1 trillion to $2 trillion (March to August 2020). In those same weeks, Tesla became not only the most valuable car company in the world, but more valuable than Toyota, Volkswagen, Daimler, and Honda… combined.”

As Galloway points out, the pandemic was an accelerant, ramping up the use of technology as well as inequality. Indeed, decades can happen in a matter of weeks.Galloway also mentioned the disruption created by the pandemic, forcing classes to be held online, making professors, teachers, and students alike learning how to get used to the new format of teaching and learning together. Some workers had to work from home and connect with their colleagues via Zoom, WebEx, or Teams, and this created a new reality of work. Some are not as lucky and were let go from work, but not all jobs could be converted to work-from-home jobs.

As Galloway wrote, “Sixty percent of jobs that pay over $100,000 can be done from home, compared to only 10% of those that pay under $40,000.” The income gap has widened before the pandemic, and even more so after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now job stability is also at stake. We need to protect disenfranchised essential workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic and get them back on their feet.

The book ends with a hopeful but also realistic note, “America’s history is not short on crises or missed opportunities. Its sins and failures are as historic as its virtues and successes. At its best, America exemplifies generosity, grit, innovation, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another and for future generations. When we lose sight of these, we wander into exploitation and crisis.”

My fellow book club participants pointed out that they have modified their routines to support the local economy to ensure that their favorite local businesses stay open. During the pandemic, HumanistsMN found new members throughout the United States as well as from other countries such as Egypt.

A crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, while burdensome, has also been an opportunity to bring people and nations together.