Preparing for the next Pandemic

System lessons possible solutions and why this is a perfect time to do so.

As the current covid 19 ( coronavirus ) pandemic wreaks havoc in our countries, economies and daily lives I think it’s worth taking a moment amidst the crisis to write down what is obvious but might soon be forgotten, important things that might save or help us if it turns out this is going to be a recurring event or worse, a preview of a bigger one…

The big picture

I’ll try covering my bases by noting that being critical of the current status quo needs some justification and explanation. It is not like we can easily affect socio political and economical change just by reflecting on the wrong in the world, it takes real effort and in a certain sense we are continually fighting for a better system, the system at times pushes back, we retreat, charge again, this dynamic goes on until a breaking point and sometimes ( not always ) we get a better system ( sometimes we revert ) or worse end up in a worse system…For most of us at times we are simply born into the result of this dynamic and we try to adapt to the best of our abilities.

A crisis is a good point to measure and test a system, our systems are supposed to helps us survive in a group setting during normal conditions, but what good are they if they fail us when situations are dire and we need help the most ?

The shaded area is the unmet demand which can translate into real deaths, loss of income and other painful disruptions, the day to day demand is flat although in real life its variable and has a slant, same for the system capacity, this is also a generalization, each country has a different curve and some have unmet demand from the start.

We have seen what happens at the mid point, some quickly cancel their social contract and throw everyone else under the bus, a few were prepared for this and will ride it out successfully yet the vast majority has no option but to deal with a crisis as it comes and this is exactly what the dinosaurs did, they just stared at the sky, shrugged it off and died.

Our saving grace as a species is that we can reflect and plan, and this is a good time to do just that, we are not here to criticize because it makes us feel good, but rather to see what we can do better.

I am human and get that pointing fingers is a very cathartic thing, let's have a small taste: