Why Athens Perished…and Will We?
Athens never recovered from the plague, and the glorious city lost its edge. Ages later, we forget that cataclysmic events have always shaped the world, and this sweep of a virus around the globe is no different. It has and will continue to forever alter modern history. We see it as businesses fold and others begin, as some become more wealthy and others lose their homes. Because we live in such a small microcosm, we tend to only see what directly affects our own homes and our own businesses, but broader brush strokes are painting a new landscape, one we all need to absorb.
Lenin once said, “There are decades when nothing happens, and then there are weeks when decades happen.” Not a Marxist, I nevertheless think he might have been onto something. We are part of a momentous time. Living in a hopefully soon post-COVID 19 world, is there a lesson for us? Fareed Zakari believes there is. We have the benefit of history to learn from and the ideals of the future to guide us. In 10 Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World he outlines what we may learn from history, and small businesses like yours and mine can burst forward with new growth.
His is a positive outlook. He notes that we aren’t replaying the past. The Bubonic Plague lasted more than a hundred years, but scientists began sequencing the SARS virus almost immediately. The US government went into a penny-pinching mode after the crash in 1929, but has responded today with investing trillions into the local economy after recent downturns. Whether we agree with the approach or not, it represents a change in perspective based on lessons learned from the past.
So what are some of Zakari’s lessons learned? He suggests that inequality must be overcome. The infrastructure of our society needs an overhaul. Equitable health care is a rising issue…but let’s leave such weighty matters for your own contemplation and study. Instead, let us ponder this: How will you be different, changed forever and new because of having lived through this pandemic? We will not be the same as we were. History attests to this.
In They Came Like Swallows, author William Maxwell’s character describes a sense of wonderment after surviving the Spanish Flu. Indeed, there is much literature, from Homer’s Iliad (when Greek armies are decimated by pestilence) to the affect of the Bubonic plague, in which labor became valuable and land cheap, giving rise to a modern Western Europe. We are shaped by these cataclysmic events, and those who are able to discern what is happening profit from the shifts of culture.
I hope we in Blue Springs are learning lessons in community, in reaching out a hand to fellow small businesses, along with lessons in charity. As we watch the drama unfolding and see big things happening, let’s remain who we are…Blue Springs strong. Let’s focus on being a conclave with a strong work ethic (Garfinkle coaching expert). Let’s focus on developing the value of good will to maintain a strong economic footing. I think we can individually be the basis of important change.