As we turn the calendar to May, there is growing hope that a return to “normal" might occur in the foreseeable future. This is a natural human desire after any calamity — to return to the comfort of normal, to get back to the way things were before. Whether it’s financial crashes like in 2000 or 2008, wars or terrorist attacks like 9/11, or natural disasters like hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, we want our lives to be the way they were before they were disrupted.

Returning to normal after Coronavirus may never happen. Like a war, there has been widespread loss of life, but there’s no enemy to blame. Like an economic crash, there have been massive financial losses, but not due to irrational behavior or wanton speculation. Like a natural disaster, the causes of this pandemic seem out of our control, yet in our response we’ve shown how ill-prepared we were for an epidemiological disaster we knew would eventually strike.

It’s safe to say many aspects of our lives will never return to the way they were before Coronavirus. The full decimation of this pandemic is still unknown. Many small businesses will never re-open. Procedures for air travel, restaurants, sporting events, concerts and many other aspects of our day-to-day lives seem certain to be different forever. But beyond these discernible changes, something bigger seems to be happening.

Although pandemics break out on a fairly regular basis, we have to look back 100 years to find one of similar scale -- the influenza of 1918. What followed in the ensuing 25 years was two world wars, the loss of over 150 million lives, and a complete restructuring of the global geopolitical order.

We may be at a similar moment in history.

An event of this scale can shake our assumptions about how we govern our society. Some countries have fared better than others in this pandemic. The U.S. has just over 4% of the world’s population, but 33% of the world’s documented Coronavirus cases and over 27% of the world’s deaths. While I disdain the weaponizing of disease in the name of politics, it’s hard not to look at facts like that and question how our preparation, procedures, communication, decision-making and overall response could fail so spectacularly. Something has gone terribly wrong.

Coronavirus has exposed the cracks in our democracy. The pandering to political loyalties over the greater good, the spread of misinformation, the erosion of civil liberties, the economic inequality in our society, and inadequate access to healthcare, just to name a few. Our system is failing too many of our citizens. And when that happens, they turn to autocrats and snake oil salesmen. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. That seems to be the state of our country.

It all begs the question, is this simply the failure of an administration, or the failure of a system of government? Is preventing disease incompatible with democracy, liberty, free markets and capitalism? Is an autocratic government better equipped to deal with an outbreak like this? Do we lack the cohesion and moral courage to evolve our government?

We cannot accept that as the fate of the American experiment. Our greatest strength is our ability to evolve — to form a more perfect union. To do so, we cannot have a selfish mindset. We cannot ask “what’s in it for me?” We have made our greatest advancements as a society when we’ve improved life for everyone — the Emancipation Proclamation, the Industrial Revolution, the Civil Rights Movement. We can, and we will, figure out a better way — a more just society.

As a recent post by Marc Andreessen declared, it’s time to build. Among those things we need to build is a better form of government. One that is less susceptible to autocrats, less fragile, and envisions a better future for everyone. In short, the question is not if we will return to normal, but do we want to? Or is there something better?

The Journey Back to “Normal”