Can we talk about modern Social Anthropology here?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

I think I'm fascinated by the way societal norms may have changed because of Covid. And I also think that there may have been a seismic change after 9/11?

The feeling of lack of control in what happens in the world, so we sublimate? Kind of explains why nothing is a big deal after those two horrific events?

Thoughts?

[Turbineguy]

1. There was a big change

resulting from the Tylenol Murders in 1982. In fact that may have been the beginning event of the collapse of American society.

Of course, society does not have to collapse if we don't want it to.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. Are you talking about the deadly Tylenol on the shelves?

You are pinpointing that as the singular event that led us to mistrusting the government or the systems etc. That's very interesting!!!

[Turbineguy]

8. That's the one.

[sanatanadharma]

2. In Uruguay, Covid caused a seismic social behavior change

In Uruguay, Covid caused a seismic social behavior change in one small social ritual, the cheek kiss greeting.
In Uruguay this one-sided, right cheek to right cheek social greeting was ubiquitous.
I'd watch as everything is interrupted in offices, clinics, schools, bureaucracy, or sidewalk strolsl, by each coming or going neighbor or employee at shift change.

It is sad to see less of this kiss.

Before Covid, the kiss and the shared bombilla (yerba mate drinking straw) quite likely helped the nation with herd-immunity to the locally common dis-eases. The bombilla also gave me the worst gripe (flu) of my North American life, days after my first pass the mate' experience, a few months after arriving in South America.

[multigraincracker]

4. The fist bump became the norm now here.

At least the thought of it is common now.

[multigraincracker]

3. All cultures must adapt to a change in the environment

to survive. Both have changed it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Yes! That's true! But what are your thoughts about our society?nt

[slightlv]

7. IMO, the changes have happened most among different

demographics. I see it most in my own, the "older" generation. We stay home more now than we did before. We don't do large concerts, if do any at all anymore. I chalk this up to not only to covid, but also to all the gun violence. It's just too dangerous to be out in crowds where any idiot may be packing guns.

Also, those of us in my generation have tended to keep ourselves in "bubbles." We all keep up with our vaccinations, we all do the masking and keep distance when out and about around strangers. IOW, we do as much good practices as possible to keep everyone in our families and bubble safe.

I say there must be a demographic difference, because I DO see crowded movie theaters and concert venues. So not everyone is living this way. While we do have some younger members in our bubble, they live the same lifestyle as we elders. So maybe it's a matter of poverty more than age? (LOL) It would be interesting to know if others see this same influence in their demographic range.

Interesting topic... I hope others jump in! Thanks for bringing it up, Laura!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. Agree with what you said. Personally I think it's a matter

if age for sure. Young people don't even think about illness and death. They hear that their friends may have had Covid and it was just like a cold. So they take chances and aren't careful.

But I don't think I've ever witnessed as much selfishness and lack of care toward elders. My husband's aunt died because her grandson gave her Covid

[slightlv]

12. That's where I think we're a little different.

We do have a few young ones I our group... by young I mean in their 20's and 30's. But they aren't part of any crowd, and they don't go out bar hopping, nor are they concert or movie going. They really don't have the money to be doing all that, which is why I brought up the poverty aspect of it. They're more like us... their elders living on social security and barely getting by. We all help each other, so we're all in each other's "bubble." We have gatherings about every 6-8 weeks, when possible, so we don't get TOO lonesome for each other and for company. The exception to to this is my grandson, who is a concert maniac... but he's also a fanatic about being up to date on his shots and he wears his mask everywhere. He loves his grandma, and wants to keep her around for a long, long time (as he's told me).

I'm in a small town in KS, and I swear, I go into Walmart, which is about the only place to shop here, and I'm one of the very few people to have a mask on. In fact, when I pass someone else who's wearing one, we each give a "thumbs up" to the other. I hate masking... it's been damnably hot this summer. But we've not had covid yet, and with all these tests from .gov we've gotten, hubby and I do regular testing on ourselves. So something is working in our favor.

[Warpy]

9. That's the kind of stuff future generations will have to tackle

because we're just too close to it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. Hard to imagine anyone in the future caring but it could happen:)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I have read several novels recently that

are about some sort of apocalyptic change. All written before Covid. I'm currently reading Flood by Stephen Baxter. It was published in 2008, and the story starts in 2016 with unrelenting rainfall and ocean rising happening everywhere on the planet, with obvious consequences. There are casual comments about supply chains being disrupted. Sound familiar?

I started changing after 9/11, not because I was freaked out by what happened, but because as a former airline employee (ticket agent at DCA 1969-1979) I knew what bullshit the enhanced security was, and I'm not willing to put up with it. So I drive, or take the train, or the rare times I fly I always purchase a first class ticket, which gives me a bit more comfort.

I was actually on a cruise to Hawaii in March, 2020. Holland America, which has smaller ships than most. During the voyage cleaning was clearly ramped up, and all of us on that ship felt very safe. Got home on March 18 to a very closed down country. Restaurants were closed, and so I wasn't eating out any more. Darn. That has come back, although not as much as prior to Covid.

For me, being older, now 74, it's not as difficult an adjustment as it would be for some one 50 years younger, single, and wanting to go out often. That's certainly what I was like in my 20s.

But here's what I've been saying for some time now: Imagine it's the spring of 1939, you and I (hi there!) are good friends, and we're planning a trip to Europe next year. We can hardly wait! We've been planning and saving for several years now, and will soon be figuring out our itinerary, book the transatlantic trip, reading up on all the places we will visit. It will be wonderful! But then, September 1939 rolls around, and Germany attacks Poland. The Second World War breaks out. Oh, crap! Looks like we won't be going to Europe next year, but we're optimistic, hope it won't last very long, and we'll be able to make that trip in 1941.

Well, as you already know, the war drags on, and on, doesn't end until the middle of 1945. The very soonest you and I might take that long-postponed trip will be 1946, more likely a year or more later. And the Europe we finally see will be nothing like the Europe of 1939. So much will have changed, in ways we could not have imagined at the outset.

And I honestly think it's going to be a lot like this with Covid. Things have already changed a lot, and they are going to continue to change for years.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. So many interesting things you talk about! Thanks

for sharing!

Good point about what it would have been like for many years after WW2. Makes me want to know more about what the aftermath was like and how long it took to bounce back.

Even when we, if we resume normal activities post covid (high death rate Covid that is), there will be ripple affects for quite some time. Fed Ex, for one, foresees a recession. And their stock plummeted today.

I wonder when and if restaurants will get back. They can't get enough help. And service & quality is no where near before, IMHO. And shopping has indeed changed. Online has taken over brick and mortar & impossible and imprudent to stock inventory. Think Bill Maher talked about that a couple weeks ago... Bringing back thriving malls.