The news right now is filled with hangover thoughts. Trump is defeated and on his way out. Covid will be vanquished by an imminent vaccine. Closer to home, Ace Magashule looks set to face corruption charges and Jacob Zuma has bought a ticket back to prison – this time for considerably less noble reasons.
As with all hangovers, though, there are a lot of headaches to get through. The global pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world economy. 400 million jobs have been lost. A 10% decline in global GDP seems optimistic. And in South Africa our economy has shrunk over 50% this year. That is a terrifying number that will ultimately leave no-one untouched.
Optimistically, economic activity may return to pre-Covid levels by 2024. We are all beachcombers until then.
But if there is any story other than Covid and the Trump attempted coup that defines 2020, it will be the accelerated momentum of the digital revolution. A pandemic might be terrible for most things humans value, but it’s been spectacular for the internet.