Remember the insanity at the start of the pandemic, I gave serious thought to the idea that society

[Shellback Squid]

might break down..
I know I'm not alone with that consideration

[Moostache]

1. We lost over 560,000 lives, had an economic melt-down and a failed coup...

That's pretty goddamn close to breaking down in my book.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. +1

[Irish_Dem]

4. It could have been even worse. With food and basic commodities rioting.

People who provide basic services sick and dying.
It could have been even worse.

[KT2000]

3. We are not out of the woods

the next crisis to come is mental health. Due to Covid and aging population, there will be more mental illness to deal with. The sidewalks are already filled and the "local" facilities are overflowing as it is. Pharmaceuticals are not the success once thought so we need to get care to the pre-crisis people and homes for those with serious mental illness.

No one is doing anything about this or even considering the even worse problem it will become.

[Afrocat]

5. I don't know about a complete break down, but I was concerned about supply lines

breaking down because too many of folks that move freight would take sick. El Stupid had no plans in place and no intention to make any either.

[brush]

8. He didn't even know he was supposed to be thinking about that.

And neither did anyone on his "crack" staff. What a bunch of only the best people he hired.

[PCIntern]

9. Agreed...

It was closer than people realized. Idiot in the WH could have declared emergency powers and we’d still be looking at his ugly puss daily.

[Silent3]

6. I hope we learn some lessons from COVID, because much worse viruses are possible...

...and even likely someday. It's sad that even millions of deaths are a mere wake-up call for what's possible.

Besides the health and safety issues, another thing we need to consider is how fragile our supply chains are. COVID-caused shortages were mostly nuisances, not life or death, but if a lot more people are sick, or a lot more people are scared of becoming sick, supply chains for food and energy and many other basic needs could collapse.

The only good news here is that we have had a dress rehearsal, and someone like Biden would be a good person to push preparedness for the next pandemic.