Page 189 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

pandemics the world has experience over the last 2000 years. In
all likelihood, unless the pandemic evolves in an unforeseen way,

the consequences of COVID-19 in terms of health and mortality
will be mild compared to previous pandemics. At the end of June
2020 (at a time when the outbreak is still raging in Latin America,
South Asia and much of the US), COVID-19 has killed less than

0.006% of the world population. To put this low figure into context
in terms of lethality, the Spanish flu killed 2.7% of the world’s
population and HIV/AIDS 0.6% (from 1981 to today). The Plague
of Justinian from its onset in 541 until it finally disappeared in 750

killed almost one-third of the population of Byzantium according to
various estimates, and the Black Death (1347-1351) is considered
to have killed between 30% and 40% of the world population at
the time. The corona pandemic is different. It does not constitute

an existential threat, or a shock that will leave its imprint on the
world’s population for decades. However, it does entail worrisome
perspectives for all the reasons already mentioned; in today’s
interdependent world, risks conflate with each other, amplifying

their reciprocal effects and magnifying their consequences. Much
of what’s coming is unknown, but we can be sure of the following:
in the post-pandemic world, questions of fairness will come to the
fore, ranging from stagnating real incomes for a vast majority to

the redefinition of our social contracts. Similarly, deep concerns
about the environment or questions about how technology can be
deployed and governed for the benefit of society will force their
way onto the political agenda. All these issues predated the

pandemic, but COVID-19 has both laid them bare for all to see
and amplified them. The direction of the trends hasn’t changed
but, in the wake of COVID-19, it got a lot faster.

The absolute prerequisite for a proper reset is greater
collaboration and cooperation within and between countries.

Cooperation – a “supremely human cognitive ability” that put our
species on its unique and extraordinary trajectory – can be
summed up as “shared intentionality” to act together towards a

common goal. [166] We simply cannot progress without it. Will the
post-pandemic era be characterized by more or less cooperation?
A very real risk exists that tomorrow the world will be even more

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