A couple questions. First, will lockdowns ever end (in one sense, of course, yes, but will this 'tool' of government carry on? That is something people need to dwell on). Second, what will change in society because of lockdowns. The last question is filled with the most unknowns.
Will they end?
Sure, in the short-term, each nation, state, locality is ending lockdowns. But will it ever mean they are gone forever? Is this an idea that we just needed to do for this 'pandemic.'
Government ideas usually don't end.
Government ideas often 'work.' Work in the sense that they can keep spending money on it. Work in the sense that people benefit from that spending (not the least the people working directly with it). Work in the sense that they can be branded a success, by some metric out there.
Why would governments stop lockdowns?
Any future health emergency, why wouldn't the government resort back to lockdowns? Then consider, progressive interests may rally around the idea of locking down to fight 'climate change'? That is being talked about, just one example here. Technology companies. How many ideas could they have about why everyone should be home bound? And combine the technology-company self-interest with their employees penchant to worry about climate change. And then you start to see that lockdowns are, perhaps, not going away. Once government starts doing something...
What will change in society?
Of course we think life will just go back to normal. Yet this has been a giant social experiment. Frankly, a crazy experiment.
In what ways do we know that life won't go back to normal. Working from home; that cat is out of the bag. More companies are going to forego the expense of office space and may never again require all their employees on site. Things like that we know won't go back to normal. And from there, we can deduct a lot of things won't go back to normal. And many of those could be personal and human.
The true unknowns
People could truly change.
People may simplify their lives. Potentially in profound ways. Streamlining and getting rid of excesses. For example, buying less stuff?
Or, sensing they are going to be home more. And/or wanting to be home more now. People will buy bigger homes (they want more space in case of being locked down... and they can move more remotely to where bigger homes are cheaper due to 'work-from-home' trend). Example story here.
Moving toward nature? Probable. This is, ironically, an unintended 'consequence' of tech companies work from home. People are going to work from the mountain areas of Colorado and Montana and Utah. And/or the beaches of Florida. There possibly could be more travel. As people start taking longer road trips. Who knows? The point though is to start thinking about the potential for some profound shifts in human behavior.
Currencies could change. Or the country's that dominate might change. The tech companies of today? Some or all could be rear-view memories even just 5-10 years from now. The internet of today?
Being locked down at home. It changes relationships. Deepens some. Creates new relationships. New interests. New trends. There are likely to be some totally unforeseen developments as respects society. There is potential for significant change. Negative impacts too, or more directly negative effects (such as will we find out people's health and wellness got worse?).
