The Great Reset or the Great Return to Normal?
Now that the world is emerging from the other side of the pandemic, it’s time to ask: what needs to change?
This is the introduction to a 10-part series published by the Global Institute For Tomorrow. The next article can be found here: Transforming the Corporate World
Countless headlines since the coronavirus pandemic took hold have used some variation of the phrase “everything must change” or even “this has changed the world”. One can understand why: from large scale government interventions to mass lockdowns and halted travels, to food shortages, debilitating unemployment and the sudden need to wear masks, COVID-19 and is perhaps the first event where everyone, regardless of social standing, wealth, or physical location, has been affected in some way. Even as vaccines are rolled out, citizens of nations across the world have not forgotten the events that transpired across 2020, including how the powerful were seen humbled and helpless, or even how racist tendencies came to the fore and big tech was proven not to be a panacea.
In fact, the rollout of the vaccine is a prime example of this. According to the UN, just 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccines worldwide — Canada even ordered six times the number of vaccines it needed. Yet, at the time of writing, most of the rich world, despite wielding economic clout to gain access to vaccines, is still reeling due to lax attitudes about social distancing, wearing masks and obeying quarantine laws. Meanwhile, for much of the developing world, vaccination programmes are still a distant reality, and the OECD estimates that some poor countries won’t be able to begin the process till 2024.
Winnie Byanyima, currently of UNAids and formerly of Oxfam, has even suggested that “we are witness to a vaccine apartheid”, given that poorer countries are unable to purchase vaccines at the same scale and price as rich countries.
There has also been a substantial politicisation of vaccines: China and Russia have produced their own vaccines, comparable to the very best of Western equivalents (Sputnik, for example, has a 90% efficacy rate). Yet there has been Cold War-esque suspicion of these vaccines at every stage, and now these countries are being critiqued by Western media and political figures for deploying ‘vaccine diplomacy’ when shipping vaccines to poorer nations.
To those who need vaccines for their livelihoods and lives, ‘diplomacy’ is better than ‘apartheid’.
Clearly, something must change. But what, exactly?
The global pandemic has shone a light on significant domestic and international weaknesses as well as the fallacy of many conventions. It has exposed some of the myths and fallacies that status quo used to explain the world. It is accelerating changes that were already happening, fulfilling in five months what might have otherwise taken decades.
Yet not every change needs to be a cause for concern. In fact, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The pandemic has paused some trends that, in the long-term, would have harmed society and the planet.
This is the moment for the next generation to make their mark and grab the opportunity to fix these mistakes. No less a global figure than former President Barack Obama — himself seen as a great hope for change when he arrived at the White House — called himself “one of the old guys”, and telling recent American high school graduates that:
Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up.
In another speech, he admitted that:
Even before the pandemic turned the world upside down, it was already clear that we needed real structural change.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, President Xi Jinping noted that “great historical progress always happens after major disasters” on a visit to Xi’an Jiaotong University.
What follows are ten broad areas where the pandemic has revealed the need to challenge our assumptions and understanding so that we change what is clearly no longer suited to our times. They are ten areas which, if acted upon, will give meaning to all the proclamations about the need for new thinking and our ability to seize the moment for global cooperation and meaningful change. This is not an exclusive list nor is each issue comprehensively treated: COVID-19 has disrupted and revealed much. They are:
1. Transforming the Corporate World
2. Rethinking Monetary Policy
3. Reimagining Growth
4. Abandoning the “Free Hand of the Market”
5. Revoking the Free Ride of the Gig Economy
6. Valuing Work that is Essential
7. Reframing Development Priorities
8. Rebuilding the Collapsed Food System
9. Start a Managed Retreat from Nature
10. Geo-politics beyond Western supremacy
The Global Institute For Tomorrow will be publishing a regular article on Medium to cover each point, starting with Transforming the Corporate World. Keep reading to find out what needs to change across so many aspects of our economic, social and political system, both global and locally, if we are to demonstrate we have learnt from the pandemic and achieve social change for the better.
About the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT): GIFT is an independent and internationally-recognised think tank and executive education provider operating across Asia. We are committed to purposeful leadership learning and partnering with our clients to help them unlearn conventional wisdom and unleash organisational potential to redesign society
