Michael Crawford is a former Walt Disney Co. executive. Crawford’s future is happy and without masks. It does not have people going out of their way to remain “6 FEET APART.” No more avoiding crowds on the supposition other people are a lethal threat all of the time. In short sanity rules.
He has faith that humans, whose innovations have relentlessly elevated living standards, will persevere. Those whose discoveries prolong life will win out. We will all move forward just for living, breathing, and enjoying life.
Crawford sees a world beyond coronavirus hysteria. It is a place where we encourage people to high five, hug, or even eat near one another. Thank goodness for entrepreneurs like him. Through their faith and evangelism. Through their speculations, they create information. They use it in support of their vision without which there’s no progress.
The future has to be better than the present
In Crawford’s case, he’s building what he describes as “the Disneyland of football.” The Wall Street Journal reports the Canton, Ohio development is a resort. It will include a football stadium with seats from which tightly packed football fans will cheer. It will also include “a football-themed water park, hotels, retail space, a research building and, ultimately, apartments.” Nice or necessary? You decide.
But wait, most say. “Everything changed” with the arrival of the new coronavirus. Despite a death rate that is microscopic. Despite a hospitalization rate that is almost as microscopic. Many presume big crowds are a yesterday thing.
As for water parks… OMG aren’t we now terrified? Couldn’t the obsessively clean with every splash of every happy human… Oh No! The public health danger… come on! Those days are gone. The future is the separation of humans. Increasingly speedy internet will enable this future complete with plexiglass.
Crawford disagrees. History and logic support his disagreement. Some readers doubtless remember the assertions about the “death of distance.” Proponents reveal their corny selves during the days of slower, dial-up internet. It was true until the opposite happened. The internet’s rise coincides with an even greater concentration of people in cities. But concentration is cities probably has more to do with zoning and social engineering than the internet. That’s a different rant.