It came to pass in the season of diminished light in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty that out of the nether regions of the Communism/Capitalism experiment known as China there came a scourge that struck at the very foundation of society. 

  Quickly transported around the world, governments acted in line with their reasonings towards the pestilence's impact upon their economies and whether or not actions taken would be of benefit for the few citizens holding the larger stakes. When it dawned upon them that actions were not of their choice but of necessity to make, measures were enacted to contain the contagion.

To this end every facet of society was affected but as to the knowledge about exactly why and to what extent personal measures were to be taken in order to preserve their beings such understanding varied widely, as it was left up to each to heed and comprehend the danger. 

Never having ceased their labors for long, most of the populace could not in their minds fathom stopping their routines of toil and gathering for longer than a week-end, as it was called, the days of the week after the Sabbath and unto Saturday deemed 'the workweek' since before they had been born. 

It was common in the days that followed that confusion reigned. Purveyors of what was known as 'the news' offered differing opinions and thus many of the populace were befuddled, not knowing or even believing that anything out of the ordinary was occurring. 

More distressing still, those that sat in positions of power were loathe to truly enlighten the many and declared that what was occurring was not real. These sorts of declarations were commonly uttered and depressingly familiar, so that no one knew anything for sure. Trust had been eroded to the point where mere fragments were all that was left of what heretofore had been a more substantial fabric interwoven throughout society.

Even so, enough of the ones in the path of this cresting wave of disease were trusted by others and word was passed that common sense ought be heeded and attention not be paid to the vapid arguments taking place daily and leading people nowhere.

Stores became beset by throngs of hurried shoppers gathering up sustenance and hoarding was by necessity curbed, so that enough could procure supplies. Streets and byways, formerly crowded with visitors from many lands, by decree and degree became emptier until only those known as residents of the region remained, in towns and villages now kept silent from the hand of man. 

Even religious gatherings were curtailed, depriving the faithful from their usual solace, but upon their personal devices congregants could still partake of The Word. Workers were, for the first time ever, told to refrain from their labors, unless those labors could be performed at home. This caveat applied only to a small percentage of the population. The greater mass of men, idled, were offered stipends by governments that had all but ignored them for years and years. Beyond any doubt, these were momentous times. 

Into the depths of their private lives the many went. Forbid to gather, bereft of the social nourishment that comes from assembly, they disappeared from view to individually experience the world, a subordinate and inferior world universally deemed to be painfully restrictive, a world that mocked them from behind shuttered windows and closed gates, one that stood in stark contrast to the one they had only weeks before known. 

Truly, this was the worst it had ever been, even to the most sage recollection. Uncertainty about the future abounded. Many turned to the diviners of times to come, seeking relief from the anxieties that spring up in the minds of ones adrift on spartan seas of isolation.

Others turned to the drivel offered as ‘entertainment’, akin to the self-same gruel that filled their dinner pots, while wiser ones filled their heads with the wisdom to be gained from carefully choosing amongst myriad offerings. 

Elected officials in high places made bold claims and rash statements that lacked conformance to reason. Panicking, they were, as their holdings dwindled, the markets that ruled their existence offering them daily evidence of now fading fortunes. 

Thus it was, and is, still, of this writing, asserted to be a 'calamity'. But what of the philosophers? The quieter ones amongst the clamoring voices who are not seeing things as anything approaching impending doom (but when are their words ever heard)? Nay, generations turn away because they have been conditioned to know that The Golden Rule is that those who have the gold, rule. 

As to what, pray tell, the world will look like when this is over vexes even the most astute prognosticators but all feel that a message is being given, loud and clear, that admonition being: "Things Will Not Be Allowed To Continue In The Manner In Which The Populace Has Become Accustomed". 

Who made that decision, and why, some would say is God, others, Mother Nature, while others still want nothing of it and aim to continue with extraordinary vigor along the path they were previously barreling, upon the lifting of the restraints.

  Day by day the world abides now, ne'r peeking into the future a dram, for the present is all consuming. A pause has come that can't within the bounds of even the most distressed mental facilities be overlooked. There are, now that all the din has lessened, many lessons about living in a highly populated and technologically able age to be discovered. Some even say this unforeseen and extraordinarily portentous event will usher in the best of times, when mankind perceives that extremes aren't necessary (or sustainable) any longer- and to that end I, too, agree.

C. Dickens