Has Society really changed Six Months on from Lockdown?

Pre-lockdown, which seems light years away, we were told that the norm for society across the globe was one of self-centred and egotistical behaviours. People were more interested in themselves rather than the needs and desires of others. In short, society as we knew it was self-absorbed.

Fast forward six months and life as we know has changed dramatically. We have been exposed to the unknown quantity that is a Pandemic. The words “unprecedented” , translated across the globe - “sans précédent” “isiyokuwa ya kawaida”, “senza precedenti”, “sin precedentess”, “Zenrei no nai”, “ongekend” - to become one of the most commonly used words to describe Covid-19 and the impact that it created worldwide. We witnessed pain, anguish, tragedy and sorrow as the virus impacted many many lives. However, we also witnessed human behaviour at it’s best - altruism.

The presence of altruistic tendencies are motivated by a desire to benefit someone other than oneself, often for the benefit of another person. Altruism is often used as the opposite of “selfish” or “egoistical” nature, the opposite of the person who is driven by their own motives, pushing aside the interests of anyone around them.

What we saw and continue to see is a more attractive side of humanity; we witnessed ,edict, nurses, care workers, key workers across the world put their own lives in danger. Yes, you may say, it’s their job, however, even professionals faced the unknown and succumbed. They tried at any cost t save those who were seriously and so tragically affected by the virus, in conditions that they had never experienced before. Like the mother bears who protect their cubs from attack, and in doing so put themselves in the face of danger.

However, it wasn’t only healthcare professionals that behaved in this way. Volunteer groups were set up deliberately to help those in need - from collecting medicine to roving food and meals for those who were and still are unable to fend for themselves. As a result of the Pandemic, the world appeared to be united regardless of language or culture.

But business is business and the pandemic clearly created opportunities for some sectors - the demand for cleaning products increased beyond belief, the need for technology to support remote working saw tech companies value soar, home-delivery for everything saw Amazon become one of the most “powerful” companies on the planet, and whilst that’s all very interesting, will the impact on society alter the way we view one another?

It is commonly assumed that being charitable or working in a vocational environment is not as important as the high paid and high flying roles in business, that being altruistic is a hippy happy best left to those on the healing fields at Glastonbury. But acting for the the good and sake of others has proven to be the shining and guiding light of the pandemic. It has proven that behaving altruistically is a much more attractive trait than pure self-interest.