Fears of empty super­market shelves, deserted city centers, reports of military transporters carrying corpses to over­filled crematoria, and new shocking coronavirus statistics every evening. What we only knew from movies has suddenly become reality. Yet while some people look back with a longing and ask themselves when things will finally return to how they were, Max Frisch would probably ask whether we want our old lives back at all. Or has the pandemic even done us some good perhaps?

One thing seems certain – it has made many of us stop and think. For example, is the constant “bigger, faster, more” really so life-enhancing? Would a slower pace of life help not only the environment but each and every one of us? Are not a sense of community and together­ness indeed more valuable than striving for ever-greater prosperity and success? We do not know when we will have overcome the corona­virus pandemic. However, according to futurologist Matthias Hort, more than half of us have absolutely no desire to go back to life before Covid. We take stock of the new normal.

In lockdown, everyone gets together in video chats. Ne­ces­sity is the mother of inven­tion, whether for eating dinner with friends, playing games, or making music. Jimmy Fallon, host of the “Tonight Show” in the U.S., provides one example of how this creates amazing art. He regularly invites big names such as Sting to make music together online. For many people, the net has become the most important place for meeting with family and friends during the pandemic. A Bitkom study concludes that 40 percent of senior citizens view digitalization more positively than before and the majority of older internet users are coping better with the pandemic.

What’s more – although increasing numbers of people are online, the Deutsche Telekom network has run smoothly throughout the pandemic to date.

And suddenly schools are shut. The last time that happened in Germany was after World War Two, when education ground to a halt. Now, lockdown sees the kitchen table transformed into a school desk.

The abrupt changeover to home­schooling has presented many families with major challenges. In particular, children whose parents cannot offer them the necessary support quickly reach the limits of their learning. And the lack of social interaction between students is also having a negative impact. However, the corona­virus pandemic has shown that, despite not being an alternative to class­room teaching, home­school­ing can help bridge these times of crisis and provide a useful addition to lessons in the long term.

Restrictions on travel, groups of multiple people no longer being allowed to meet in public spaces, and ordering quarantine – even though such measures for protecting health are useful and necessary, many of us wonder whether this isn’t damaging our democracy. Yet here, too, it appears that those who cannot meet offline meet online. Take, for example, the members of the Fridays for Future movement, who moved online when the pandemic started. Despite fewer young people getting involved online, coronavirus is not the end of the movement. Even new protest move­ments have emerged in the pandemic, such as those that campaign for the rights of workers in agricultural businesses and abattoirs.
The German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne has also found out that there has been a huge increase in online petitions during the coronavirus pandemic. Up to five times more petitions were launched in March than before. “This clear rise in political protest in the digital arena shows that democracy can demonstrate resilience even in times of crisis,” according to the study’s authors.

The slower pace of life and the difficulties resulting from the coronavirus pandemic are making us focus more intensively on increased social cohesion. We have been brought closer together while at the same time maintaining social dis­tanc­ing. Creative ideas, whether they involve live music in a backyard, assistance with shopping, or a courier service, are intended to help ease isolation, particularly for people in need. Many such initiatives have been organized online. The study “Gesell­schaft­licher Zusammen­halt 2020” (social cohesion in 2020) by the Bertelsmann Foundation concludes that solidarity in Germany grew in the first few months after the outbreak of the pandemic.

The internet offers solutions for var­ious crises, not just pandemics. For instance, in just a few clicks, it helps us find the closest neighbor with a drill to lend. Doing away with buying your own tool saves resources and the environment.

No traffic jams, no hectic rush in the morning, fewer meetings, and less stress. This begs the question – can’t this slower pace of life continue, in general but especially in our working lives? In conurbations in particular, people have been benefiting from working from home since the start of the coronavirus pandemic – for example in London, where commuter jams of up to one-and-a-half hours were previously the norm. According to research by the BBC 50 of the largest employers are not planning to bring back their employees to their offices on a full-time basis for the foreseeable future.

For many companies, working from home will also become the norm in Germany over the long term, as the ifo Institute found in a corporate survey. Over half want to offer remote working solutions in the long term.

The success of numerous meetings online, which eliminates the need for business travel, also has con­se­quenc­es: “I’ll be traveling much less for work after the pandemic. I’m much more productive than when I’m on the move all the time,” says Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges.