Interesting article, Lawman. Thanks for posting it.
What I find...depressing, I guess... is that restaurants and retail comprise such a large chunk of our overall economy. We "consume" clothing at a prodigious rate. We pay people to produce mediocre meals for us, because we can't be bothered to take the time to cook (but we have time to go to bars, attend sporting events, watch far too much TV, etc.). I wonder if being under "stay at home" orders for months may cause people to discover that: 1) they can cook, and can produce meals that are better than the vast majority of restaurant dishes; 2) that this occurs at far less cost than going out. I'm less optimistic that masses will discover the joys of reading books instead of going out to "watch" things (whether sports, movies, concerts, whatever), much less actually delve into creative arts themselves (painting, photography, writing, crafts, etc.).
It's kind of sad. We proclaim that we have a "modern, equalitarian" society - and yet a huge chunk of our economy consists of paying other people minimum wage (or less, in the case of restaurant wait staff) to wait on us. One has to wonder if society wasn't treating its "underclass" better when they had live-in positions as cooks, housekeepers, maids, butlers, etc. At least they had reliable shelter, regular meals, etc. Now... they're on their own, can't make the rent, may wind up homeless.
Not that I'm advocating a return to Victorian society! But as a society, we tend to just assume that "of course" we're doing better by people. But are we? Particularly in the United States, where we don't assure access to health care, or frankly, even to food and shelter?
