“What next? This is a question I’m being asked a lot these days. What they mean is, What will life be like once we make it through this COVID-haunted, socially isolated, anxious period? Will it be the same as before? Answer: No.
Different, then. But different how? Better or worse? And better or worse for whom? Will it be the best of times or the worst of times, or both? Will it be the French Revolution? Will the United States crash and burn or rise from the flames renewed, like the mythical Phoenix? Speaking of flames, will the baking still be a thing?”