Could Coronavirus Be the Game-Changer?

As we all know, the world is in disarray, not just due to a worldwide pandemic that is seemingly uncontainable, but also the fear and uncertainty of what is going to happen when this is all over and done with. Will the world still be the same we know it? Or, could the coronavirus be the game-changer?

I think we can all agree that the coronavirus changes everything, but is it all bad?

How could this be the game-changer

Yes, unemployment levels are incomparably high, and a debt crisis is almost unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean an end to it all. It only means a change in the way we all live our lives.

Companies like WhatsApp, Instagram, Slack and Uber were all born during the 2008 mortgage crisis. Microsoft was founded in the 1975 recession. Disney started in 1923 in the midst of the great depression. All these companies have changed the world as we know in amazing ways.

So, what new game-changing companies could be born out of the current coronavirus recession? Yes, unemployment is high, but this could result in a more entrepreneurial spirit in society. Work towards a solution rather than just throwing in the towel. Maybe this could be the break you finally need to start that revolutionary business you have been thinking about, sitting at your 9-5 all day and that is exactly what society needs right now: outright game-changing ideas and beliefs.

In all this madness, maybe all we need is a little more madness.

How Can You Change the World From Quarantine?

But what change can we bring the world if we just sit at home all day during quarantine?

In 1667 Isaac Newton retreated to his family farm of Wools Thorpe Manor. Some 60 miles northwest of Cambridge during the great plague of London to quarantine. During his stay there he helped develop the fundamentals of calculus and the laws of motion and gravity. We all know the story of the falling apple. While Shakespeare actually wrote King Lear while also in quarantine from the bubonic plague that hit London in the 1600s.

Another more recent example is Edvard Munch which didn’t just live through the Spanish flu of the 1920s but actually contracted it himself which resulted in him painting “Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu”. But to add to this they didn’t do this while binge-watching their favourite Netflix show.

Quarantine could be one of the best times to better one’s self and prepare for the storm ahead. Learn something new. Expand on one’s own ideas and world views. You have the time so there isn’t much of an excuse or reason for postponement now.

We don’t live in the 17th century anymore. We don’t have to go into this unknown unprepared.

Stop being fearful and be excited for the world is changing as we know it!

Yes this is scary but all change is and remember this too shall pass. Then we have to face the next challenge as humankind. That of rebuilding and shaping the future and that is in every one of our hands. 

Could Coronavirus Be the Game-Changer?

About the Author:

Nathan Grobler is a Computer Science and Economics student at North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

South Africa is entering its 5th week of severe lockdown with no alcohol or cigarette sales. No jogging and no walking your dog. However, some 73,000 troops have been put on standby amid rising tensions over the past few hours.

Although life is difficult for the many struggling with poverty and hunger, death rates in South Africa have gone down drastically over this period. Covid-19 deaths in South Africa have been recorded as 58; however, the murder rate has gone down by 72% in the last month compared to the same month last year!! With a murder rate averaging 58 murders a day, this is highly significant.

The question then stands. Could the Coronavirus be the game-changer for many?