It's incredible to me how little interest there is in reflecting on the degree to which so many of our current social and economic problems may have been created or exacerbated by shutting down the world for two years in a futile attempt to eradicate SARS-CoV-2.

— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) July 25, 2025

I also think that effect is hugely underestimated. The Covidians are hopeless; they are convinced there was no disruption and no lockdown anywhere because government thugs didn’t come around welding your door shut. Unless, that is, you were in China.

But even among thoughtful people I believe the effects of the unforced Covid disruptions are not understood nor accounted for. And the more I examine the aftermath the more my evaluation seems to me to be leaning correct. Supermarkets never recovered; I have not seen a fully-stocked one since 2019. Staff in retail establishments are more listless and service is worse everywhere. Attendance to everything from concerts to sporting events is down and public transit in most places never returned to its previous level of ridership. And we all retreated into digital fortresses, with no signs of any emergence.

Something shifted when we broke society. And it will never I guess shift back.