The ‘New Normal”?
We’ve heard the phrase since the financial crisis of 2008, when it appeared in a 2008 Bloomberg News article. * The headline of the article? “Post-Subprime Economy Means Subpar Growth as New Normal in U.S.” (Miller and Benjamin).
I never interpreted the phrase as being strictly an economic one: rather, it seemed to me to be a persuasive tool, even a psychological one, to convince people to accept and then adapt to a situation that was less than ideal, less than the financial strength the nation enjoyed before the crisis. It seemed to take away choice – it will never be the way it was again, so get over it.
As the economic growth of our country the last several years proved, predicting a new normal in a country with so much ingenuity and innovation is harder than it looks. The soothsayers, doomsayers were wrong, in the case of the economy.
Now, the term has reappeared, in the context of the pandemic with which we are struggling. The same economist who coined the phrase has pulled it up again: “New normal 2.0 for U.S. Economy Looks Awful, Long and Perilous” is the title of his new article (Miller). Given his inability to make accurate predictions, I am not ringing the death knell for our economy just yet.
But I have also noticed the term is contagious, affecting many other elements of our society other than the economy. I have heard “the new normal” will be to avoid shaking hands, to home school children, to wear masks, to stay at least 6 feet away from others. These are certainly imperatives for the duration of the pandemic, but the implication is that this virus will always be a threat, will always curtail our interactions, will always be a cause for alarm. I, and most people I know, are willing to follow those protocols for the foreseeable future – but not, as the term implies, permanently.
There is a new normal, however, that I do like and hope to see become permanent. I notice it in television ads: encouraging people to care for each other and reminding people that “we are in this together.” I see it on the freeways: the pandemic has required us to slow down, to avoid dashing here and there, in a breakneck rush to get to the shopping mall, to work, to restaurants. I hear about it from my own family, with my children and grandchildren enjoying more time together. I feel it in myself: a determination to remember what really matters; to let go of petty concerns – my own version of an essential job – I have focused on what is essential in my life, my faith, my relationships (including those that are maintained through email, phone calls, and zoom), my health, and productive use of my time.
I would like to see other new normals arise. I have been disappointed to see that the political divide has continued, that name-calling, selective news reporting, focus on party goals rather than the needs of this nation have intensified. It is my hope that we can learn from this experience: to listen to another’s ideas, to work toward compromise, to put interest for the country above interest of the party, I would hope that “keeping up with the Joneses” would be replaced with love for our neighbors. I have difficulty believing that in a country with so much wealth, we cannot work together to find a solution to homelessness. My hope is that we can return to Martin Luther King Jr’s desire – that we can begin to judge a man’s character, not his skin color.
We are in this together – not just dealing with the Corona virus – but in molding our country to the high ideals with which we were founded.
*Post-Subprime Economy Means Subpar Growth as New Normal in U.S. – Bloomberg