The first reading assigned for this week was “How Coronavirus Could Make People Move” by Paragraphed Khanna and Kailash K. Prasad. This reading challenged the reader to consider the different reasons people may find to migrate during or following the COVID pandemic. The authors illuminated the idea that many profession individuals might not opt to move into wealthy cities, due to how they handled the pandemic.
“Milan, Madrid, Tokyo and Seattle are other wealthy, modern cities that have nonetheless become virus hot spots. Their appeal to professionals may diminish given their high cost of living and potential under-preparedness for the next virus wave.”
The Covid-19 pandemic is leaving people with the mindset of weighing their options and considering multiple variables. In the case of wealthy cities, like the authors said, professional won’t only consider how they handled the pandemic — it might also lead them to consider how much they’d be paying to live in a place that also can’t handle a pandemic properly.
“America’s smaller second-tier cities and towns might be less dangerous if you’re worried about a pandemic spreading, but they don’t offer better medical care than wealthier cities.”
Here, the authors were highlighting another issue that migrators may run into:
- Big cities are too dense and viruses can spread easily.
- Moving to a small town in the ‘middle of nowhere’ might work.
- However, healthcare in “second-tier” cities is far inferior to healthcare in premier cities.
“The many awakenings the coronavirus has brought may well inspire millions of people to eye Earth’s bounteous and uninhabited places as ideal for a fresh start.”
The second reading for this week was “The Importance of Effective Communication While Working from Home” by Charlotte Arnold. This article focused on the lives of two individuals — one who was used to working from home but was faced with new challenges thanks to the pandemic, and another who wasn’t used to working from home at all.
“Normally, he would have a quiet space with monitors, but working from home during the pandemic means that his kids and spouse are home as well.”
The first person, Joseph Rix, has worked from home before. His main problem now is that he doesn’t have his working space (home) to himself anymore. He needs to learn how to coexist with everyone else while being able to get his work done.
I personally can empathize with Joseph Rix, because learning how to handle coursework at home has been quite a task, while coexisting with others in my house who I’m not used to seeing while I work.
“She said that working remotely was a difficult adjustment at first because her job is events-based. She is still planning events but changing the format of in-person events to virtual platforms.”
The second person, Ella Barton, is not used to working from home at all, as she’s an event coordinator. This of course presents a huge issue for her.
I can personally understand this because I’ve had to attend many events (Job, Clubs, Church, Parties) over Zoom and it isn’t the same effect as being in person. I can only imagine how it is for someone with a job like Ella’s
Weekly Prompt:
I wouldn’t personally say that we’ve had many positives when it comes to daily migration in New York City if anyone were to ask me. However, one of the largest benefits that NYC in particular has taken from this pandemic has been a greater interest in general cleanliness of our public transportation system. The fact that our metro system hasn’t taken a dedicated cleaning break in decades is pure insanity. I’m very glad we were able to get that. I am not sure if that counts as “Migration” instead of regular transportation, but that has been great.
As far as people migrating, I like the ideas presented in the first reading; that people will begin to consider a wider array of areas to live in during and after the pandemic. Urban population density can lead to much lower living conditions with great disparities between rich and poor.
Now, unfortunately many people will be displaced on a daily basis because of people moving in and out of their communities and constant housing pricing hikes and dips. That might be the largest disadvantage we have.
My Home Life
Being home this much has made me develop much different patterns
- I don’t want to be in my bedroom as much as I did before.
- I find myself sleeping more, for sure.
- Some days I’m extremely productive, while other days I do close to nothing because I’m ‘home.’
- I’ve studied Stock, Options and Forex trading much more than I was prior to the pandemic.
I would say the largest problem with social interaction I’ve had has been the lack of interaction with classmates. Not being able to study together, talk and discuss things in person has been difficult. Students try to start group chats with entires classes so that we can stay connected, but it ends up turning into a chat with test answers — effectively making the group chat a crime. These things weren’t as prevalent beforehand.
My Questions:
- Is it morally okay to ignore the migration affects that Covid-19 is having on people, If it’s not affecting you? Do people have an obligation to help in some type of way?
- With unemployment hovering at 20%, our homeless population could possibly increase as well. Much like question #1, do those who aren’t affected by the pandemic obligated to help those around them or in dire times like these is it okay to say “Every man for himself?”
Grade: 5/5
Thanks for sharing these thoughtful reflections, Brandon. On an aesthetic note, I also appreciate the design of your blog.