Disaster Recovery Journal Summer 2023

T he impact of the COVID-19 pan demic continues to be felt around the world. It turns out this is not unusual. In fact, that is what pan demics do to the societies they touch! Going back to 430-426 BCE, the Plague of Athens, global pandemics have

2. Blaming others .

community settings. It also Implies a radi cal transformation in which the old cer tainties of modern society fall away and something quite new emerges. It was described well by Dutch his torian Johan Huizinga in the book “The Autumn of the Middle Ages” in 1919: “European society after the 14th century plague was highly

u Pandemics don’t create prejudices but exacerbate them. Society begins to blame “others” for the outbreak. u Throughout history, Jewish people have also been victims of anti-Semitic discrimination and hatred. 3. Fraying of society and social cohesion . Psychologists note an increase in antisocial behavior which leads to anxiety, irritability, aggression, and diminished impulse control. u Widespread crime. Increases in crime and violent crimes. u Political losses. Election losses attributed to the handling of the outbreak are common. u Movement toward populism and autocratic states and leaders. Democracies tend to struggle in a pandemic compared to autocratic states. It is not that autocrats do a better job in managing it, they just control the message. 4. Conspiracy theories and apocalyptic thinking . u Pandemics are plagued by conspiratorial thinking and theories. u Historically, some Christians have viewed global calamities as proof we are in the end times as foretold by the Bible and that Judgment Day is nigh. 5. Rise of the worker and organizing . u Going back to the Black Death in Europe, workers have taken advantage of a worker shortage to demand Looking at the list of the historical soci etal disruptions above, you would think it was describing our current situation. I found myself feeling both relieved this happens all of the time AND depressed this happens all of the time. The other his torical context to keep in mind is that the impacts go on for years. The average his torical pandemic societal hangover is an average of 50 years. COVID-19 Pandemic Societal Disruptions Many of us had been expecting a global health pandemic for years and yet when it happened, everyone seemed to be caught a improved pay, benefits, and working conditions. That continues to this day.

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created major societal disruptions. While the impacts to the economy and the death toll are easier to quantify, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on society are significant but deceptive. Historian William Rosen sums up the soci etal impacts of a global pandemic well in the following quote from “Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe”:

strung, on edge and quick to violence. So fierce and clamorous was life that it could endure the mingled odor of blood and roses.”

Today, the simultaneous and overlapping crises facing the world include a mounting climate crisis, a war in Europe, an inflation shock, democratic dysfunction, a health crisis, banking instabilities, and much more.

Hopefully, we won’t have the same experience with the COVID-19 pan demic. Historically Observed Societal Disruptions It turns out all pan demics create societal disruptions. There are five reoccurring themes, and many will sound very familiar to you. While the impacts to the econ omy and the death toll are easier to quantify, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on society are

“The effects of epidemics (pandemics) are not measured

only in mortality. Their secondary consequences have been much more far-reaching and disorganizing than anything that could have resulted from the mere reduction of the population.”

significant but deceptive. 1. Distrust of government and public health measures . A lack of trust in our institutions may have its origins in previous epidemics. u Suspicion of government. For any

When disease transmission has long stopped, the effects of the pandemic live on for years. In our case, this long tail of COVID will impact individuals, families, communities, organizations, and nations long after the illness is endemic and part of our “usual” disease profile. Historical Pandemic Societal Disruptions So, what are social disruptions? It refers to the serious disruptions to the regular functioning of a society – in other words, how we live our “regular” and “routine” lives. The concept of societal disruptions is used to describe the alteration, dysfunc tion, or breakdown of social life, often in

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actions related to the outbreak and the fear of creating a “totalitarian state.” u Resistance to any mandates and defiance of measures to slow spread (closures, distancing). u Resistance to mask-wearing dates to the 16th century when masks were often required and usually controversial. u Vaccine resistance. Vaccine resistance goes back more than 200 years to the 1770s and the introduction of a primitive smallpox vaccine.

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