(Newswire.net — November 10, 2020) — While America sorts through the fallout of the most contentious presidential election in recent memory, the rest of the world has its own issues to work out. It is all too easy for US citizens to forget that they, too, are citizens of the world. There is more going on than the events playing out on local news channels.
The pandemic is a global issue. And it is teaching us all valuable lessons if we will only listen. Some are narrowly focused on making America great again when the real challenge is making the world a better place for all humans.
Covid is a patient teacher that is willing to give its lessons multiple times until those lessons are taken to heart. Covid does not discriminate. It is an equal-opportunity teacher. And Covid is relentless. It will never get tired of eating the same lessons. Our job is to stop what we are doing long enough to pay attention and implement what we learn. On the other side of Covid is the world we leave for our children. The better world begins with these lessons:
Fossil Fuel Is Not the Answer
One of the greatest barriers to more people owning electric vehicles is the fear of not having a charging station nearby when one is needed. The good news is that there are more EV charging stations than ever. And contrary to popular myth, you can charge in minutes, not hours.
Some of the brightest luminaries of our time have been pondering the transition from fossil fuels. There are no easy answers. Much of the world’s economic machinery is tied up in the production and sale of fossil fuel. America cannot elect a president who doesn’t at least give lip-service to being committed to fossil fuel. The problem seems intractable.
The way forward starts with honest conversations about alternatives. That means we cannot allow ourselves to be misled about the pros and cons of those alternatives. Electric vehicles will not be the whole answer. But they will most certainly be some part of it. We each owe it to our children’s future to learn as much about it as we can.
Masks Are Here to Stay
When it comes to the coronavirus, the US didn’t get everything wrong. But there are plenty of things about our response to the crisis that should keep government officials up at night.
One of the worst mistakes by America’s highest officials was the open war against masks. Not wearing a mask became a political statement and an act of solidarity to the president. Some also equated mask requirements with a restriction on personal liberty. It will be a while before America completely recovers from that.
What we know is that in the East, people were wearing masks long before the pandemic. It is an effective way to reduce the spread of viruses. And the inconvenience of mask wearing has been greatly exaggerated. In the better world we leave to our children, there will always be a place for mask-wearing. It will not be all the time in all situations. But it will become a normal part of the way we protect ourselves and our families from casual virus transmission.
Work from Home
Not everyone will do well working from home. But employers all over the world are learning that they simply don’t have to spend so much money on office buildings. Many of their employees can work well from home, and very much want to. There is not a loss of productivity. The fears of employers have proven false.
This will allow more people to spend more time with their family, less time commuting, and less office stress. The benefits far outweigh the feared downsides. Even now, major companies are rewriting their rules to make work from home a permanent option. This is a true win-win for everyone.
We can’t pretend that the coronavirus is a good thing. It isn’t. But we can learn valuable lessons as a result of it that will lead to a better tomorrow. We cannot afford to bet our children’s future on a limited energy resource. Masks are useful for slowing the casual spread of viruses. And working from home carries more benefits than we thought.