The coronavirus pandemic and weeks of civil unrest could have a bigger impact on American society than anyone ever imagined.
One new study finds that the madness could literally remake the map – and those changes could have major ramifications for upcoming state, local, and national elections.
University of Sydney researchers say their models show that epidemics, civil unrest, and wars are the three biggest causes of mass migration.
And in America we’re going through two out of those three right n what theyow.
“Our theoretical modeling suggested that, when faced with either threat or opportunity, people tend to avoid risks, seek an advantage, or both,” Prof. Mikhail Prokopenko said in a news release.
That, he said, causes people to move.
“While many countries’ borders are now closed, making migration virtually impossible, a post-pandemic world might look very different,” he added.
And it might already be happening – thanks to something else caused by the coronavirus: people working from home.
The Atlantic, citing numbers from the Federal Reserve, finds that the number of remote workers in the country has tripled over 15 years …
And the coronavirus shutdowns are speeding that transformation.
“The coronavirus is going to be a tipping point,” Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics, told CNBC. “We plodded along at about 10 percent growth a year for the last 10 years, but I foresee that this is going to really accelerate the trend.”
It’s forced companies that never would’ve dreamed of having remote workers to quickly adapt – finding ways to allow employees to do their jobs from home.
And when you can work from “home,” you can work from anywhere – making your home someplace that’s cheaper, has more space, lower costs and a higher quality of life should you choose.
“I don’t think we’ll go back to the same way we used to operate,” Jennifer Christie, chief HR officer at Twitter, told CNBC. “I really don’t.”
It hasn’t worked for everyone. Some companies are no doubt itching to get everyone back into an office, and those workers will be tied to their jobs and commutes.
But others are rethinking the entire setup in ways that could remake cities as they find workers can be perfectly productive from home.
More importantly, it’s cheaper to have them work from home.
Now, many are thinking, why have so much office space… especially in the middle of some of America’s most expensive cities… if workers can do the job from home?
ZDNet listed at least four ways companies could save big money by expanding remote workers … and real estate is just one of them.
Companies would also save on travel expenses as remote work gets people more comfortable with remote meetings. They’d save on HR expenses as fewer people in offices means fewer personnel incidents that need to be investigated and handled (and perhaps settled).
And more tasks will be automated, with fewer necessary workers overall.
CNBC notes another potential cost saving: middle management might be eliminated almost entirely.
“A lot of organizations are going to say, ‘Wait a minute, we don’t really need all these layers of middle management that we had in the past,’” former Apple CEO John Sculley told the news organization.
All these workers now “liberated” from offices will be on the move – potentially millions of people fleeing the cities.
And that could lead to something else.
It could remake the election map!
A lot of “blue state” workers might seek new homes in low-tax red states.
That means one question would remain: Would these people adapt to the values of those around them in their new homes … or will they bring with them their own brand of politics?
The results could change entire states … a Texas that turns blue from “blue state refugees,” while a state like New York could turn red as city progressives leave but rural conservatives remain.
It may have been considered impossible just a year ago.
Now, it’s well within the realm of possibility.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert, and is the author of “America’s Final Warning.”