Many businesses will fail to make it through the coronavirus period because of people’s changing buying habits, and the subsequent loss of demand for many nonessential goods and services.
The question then becomes, what should those business owners do in order to secure an income?
I think that governments need not pour money into saving businesses that lose demand, and that they instead make sure that all of their citizens are provided with life’s essentials.
I have written extensively in support of universal basic income on condition that it is provided in exchange for engaging in learning programs that would aim to upgrade our awareness of our present-day interdependence, and which would enrich the life of society. If basic income was given with no requirement to learn about how to improve social connections and encourage more positive contribution to society, then society would stagnate.
The coronavirus has illuminated our interdependence all around the world very sharply.
We have been shown how much we depend on each other maintaining personal hygiene and social distancing conditions in order to keep ourselves virus free.
However, we have yet to delve into the depths of what it means to be completely dependent on each other.
Therefore, business owners who will lose their businesses in this period would do well to pioneer a new model of learning how to live interdependently in exchange for a basic income. Then, as the competent, skilled and efficient people they are, they would be able to become leading educators and guides of such learning.
As the demand for all kinds of nonessential items dissipates, the need for positive human connection will increasingly rise, because if we fail to upgrade our relationships, then we can expect much greater problems lurking on the horizon.
Therefore, I hope that we will wake up to realize the importance of creating the foundation of a positively-connected society that could serve as a model for a more harmonious, happier, more secure and confident humanity.
If we see the demise of nonessential businesses as an opportunity to build a new league of educators for leading humanity to better relationships, then we could make a serious shift toward a better world.
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