Smarter people than I have observed that delivery and direct-to-consumer companies are going to thrive in the aftermath of this pandemic. It’s the platforms and at-scale logistics companies that are going to really own it: Walmart, Amazon, etc, as well as Instacart, Doordash, and Uber Eats.
Category: The Life Apprenticeship
Crises Need Prepared Capitalists
For all of my knowledge of the crisis at hand (I have amazing access to information), for all of my will to face it, and for all of the small preparations I made for my own safety, I’ve lived in such a way that has made me – for now – largely unhelpful in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Love the Very New and the Very Old
Futurists seem to miss the fact that old things contain worthwhile wisdom and usefulness. Traditionalism seems to miss the fact that static institutions become corrupt without change. Meanwhile, the modernists are so tied up in the recent past as to be blind to both tradition and innovation.
Don’t Netflix Your Way Through Crises
The Netflix prescription is a passive, helpless, hopeless way to experience a trying time which may last for months. It’s a meaning-starved narcotic for people who have the time and luxury to watch it. And it’s not much of a palliative for people who are losing their jobs or friends and loved ones.
Ransacked American Grocery Stores Are Still Pretty Amazing
The other night I made my first post-lockdown grocery store run. And I’ll admit it was a bit unsettling. It was strange seeing a security guard. It was strange wearing a mask. It was strange feeling a sort of fear of my fellow shoppers. And it was really strange and disturbing to see shelves stripped of goods. The whole experience of going grocery shopping became a bit nerve-wracking.
Is This Coronavirus the End of the End of History?
One of the more interesting things about the COVID-2019 coronavirus pandemic is how it might change the stable, comfortable routines that have existed in the US and the West largely untouched since the end of World War 2.
Pandemics Are the Health of the State
Yes, the virus grows exponentially. Yes, social distancing is one of the ways we know to flatten the curve. But the development of the virus is still quite early, not all of the data is in, and yet still many people seem to be willing to surrender liberties which took centuries to gain and centuries to preserve.
Yo Don’t Have To be Selfless In a Crisis- Just Be Useful
Want to help your neighbors during the COVID-2019 coronavirus pandemic? You don’t necessarily have to do it for free. Some of the most useful people will be people who are doing remunerative work.
Do Intellectuals Make Life Any Better?
There’s a path my life could have taken – could still take – toward the life of an intellectual. I’ve just about always been interested in one or more of the favorite intellectual subjects of philosophy, history, politics, theology, economics, psychology, and sociology (whatever that is). I’ve always liked to have big opinions on things. And I’ve always preferred toying with ideas to toying with numbers or machines. But I’m beginning to think this is an aptitude worth resisting. It’s not obvious to me that intellectuals as such bring a whole lot of benefit to the world.
What You and the Pandemic Virus Have in Common
With any virus – but particularly with an especially infectious one – we get a perfect working metaphor for the relationship between individual actions and society. Namely: the only thing that spreads as far and as fast as a pandemic are the consequences of your moral actions.