What 'The New Normal' Actually Means

I know. We’re all sick of hearing about it. More than anything, we want to get back to our lives. But a pandemic of this magnitude is bound to have a lasting effect on the way we think, the way we work, the way we live – even the way we dress. This is how we think Covid-19 will change the world as we know it.

- Suzy Brokensha

LIFESTYLE

LIVING LA VIDA LOCAL

FOGO is the new FOMO. ‘Fear of going out’ has replaced our ‘fear of missing out’, and lockdown has made many of us agoraphobic. (Not everyone: some can’t wait to get out there again.) To be more specific, FOGF is really what we’re suffering from (fear of going far). Retailers report that shoppers are opting for local shops over their preferred outlets pre-Covid.

Globalisation is now perceived as being ‘unsafe’, both personally and in business: during lockdown, we could no longer import zips from China or many of the drugs we routinely use from India (such as painkillers, antidepressants, cancer treatments, HRT). It’s clear that every country in the world needs to become more self-sufficient. China was becoming more expensive as part of the supply chain anyway, so it makes economic sense to localise.

Localisation has the potential to boost previously profitable businesses that have been destroyed by imports – the CMT businesses in the Western Cape, for instance, and SA’s previously highly successful concrete industry that was also outsourced to China. Plus the exchange rate has made it prohibitive for us not only to travel, but also to import goods.

This could also mean a renewed interest in local beauty products, fashion, homeware and, particularly, local tourism. Apparently large parts of Italy are already fully booked in terms of accommodation for March and April next year – all by Italians. Nobody wants to fly. Here at home, there’s a big opportunity for previously prohibitively expensive resorts aimed at foreigners to attract a new local clientele.