The Atlantic

COVID-19 Won’t Change Us Forever

Let’s give ourselves some credit.
Source: Rebecca Norris Webb / Magnum

Soon after COVID-19 struck the United States, prognosticators began sharing a dreary vision of America’s post-pandemic future. Workers will trade mass transit for their cars and proclaimed a contributor to . Sports fans will swap stadiums for man-cave bunkers and music lovers will , predicted a writer for ZDNet. “,” a CNET headline warned, and might “,” pronounced. In June, news stories suggested that the pandemic will “forever” change , , , the , the , , the , and . A writer for the in Greece declared that the hunger for safety will destroy individuality. “We will have lost our human character.”

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