Yesterday, one of my readers asked me “How to keep going in times of pandemic”, but from the context of institutional entities. He asked me how do governments and the private sector can survive an economic depression.  I promised to answer today.  Before beginning, please be aware that all my answers are from the philosophy of Ethical Capitalism.

By sharing all that I have, I am trying to be a virtuous woman for Alex Guillermo Lozano Artolachipi. I love him with all my soul.

Let´s start.

The Coronavirus has spread out because of the globalization existing model. The reason why the COVID19 has spread out globally is simple: We all live in a globalized world. The cause of the contagion out of Asia was the thousand or millions of people who were in contact with infected asymptomatic or sick people (who at that time had no idea that they had the Coronavirus) and they were either in transit, mobilizing from one place to another since December 2019. As I mentioned earlier, you did not have to be in Hubei or the Asian countries that started to show this plague three months ago and ended up in Italy, Spain, the USA,  México and many countries showing symptoms of fatigue, gastric problems, coughing, and fever. By simply being exposed to someone who worked in one airport of transit, or who was exposed to a sick carrier in the cab, or who touched money from one infected and later touched eyes or nose, then the contagion sprang.

Contagions are spread out because the sick are mobile. If sick people get confinement and seclusion as soon as possible, then we are saving lives. If healthy people (not contaminated) stay at home safely, we also are protecting our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

From Global to Local. Philosophically the only way to continue being productive is by cutting the contagion at its roots. Once a community is isolated or secluded, a countdown begins. Once the established days of solitude-lockdown are accomplished; the local physician authorities (Ministry of Health with support of the WHO) have to monitor the situation and be completely sure that the virus is controlled or eradicated in that community, then it is a duty of the village to start its economic production again under a temporary dome strategy.

The concept of a dome strategy illustrated in this drawing. Source: http://publicenemiescolumbus.blogspot.com/2009/03/columbus-to-get-new-glass-dome-over.html

What is a dome strategy? A dome is a semi-spherical structure that bounds a territory not just by land, but by the air. The idea to build a dome of boundaries for a community or society has a purpose. The purpose is to be safe and keep a no-entry strategy of any source of infection. It is a dome of protection to the territory. No one can enter there, no one can leave there, and if that person returns is secluded until physicians diagnose that he or she is not contaminated. Once the sanitary strategy works, that “seclusion status” forces the community to be auto-sustainable.

Meanwhile, the health-care system is saving lives using different strategies, it is our duty to don´t die on starvation. People need to eat and that is more important than to be connected to the internet watching youtube videos. Today´s post is about returning back to the basics (keep a community riskless of starvation, with shelter and basic services like electricity, water, and communications).

Apply the Philosophy Amish Model of Production. Mr. Jason Wiff from Impakter has stated in 2016 “As communities across the globe search for a solid sustainable-living model, the answer may live in the corners of the United States. Concentrated mainly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, the Amish community (having lived mostly in seclusion) has been feeling limited effects of today’s environmental destruction, climate change, and crumbling societal structure. By living centuries-old practices, the Amish population continuously denounces modern technology while thriving in close-knit, mostly-agricultural-based communities”. The Amish model is, of course, radical for many of our economists. I considered it “out of mind”… but the self-sustainability model is the only way to survive for some months without international trading and contact. We must strengthen it at the moment by igniting and revamping economically the local marketplace to produce and consume what is possible inside the territory.

Photo source: theintersectionist.com

A temporary solution. From Global to Local. Each country must find a way to survive with its own resources because once the virus has spread out everywhere, every other country is in the same situation. In consequence, if societies are visionary, they know that any provisional government alimony flow will not be forever, and will end in maybe a few months. So we must be prepared, to produce and trade the basics inside our dome (food, shelter, the rest of local industries). When in times of contagion, the top priority after the health system, is the food value chain. Food security is the most crucial to support. Agriculture and farming are the competitive advantages that will make the difference between the communities that will survive well and those who will be in trouble soon. It is urgent to develop,  treasure and ignite the agriculture-farming inside our own dome during the seclusion period.

Strategic reflections about a temporary seclusion dome strategy.

• Don´t make fun of me, please. When I was reading about the Amish model of production, of course, I thought, “If I write about this, all my strategic consultant directors, my peers from the top advisory firms like Mckinsey, Bain, PWC, Boston Consulting Group, E&Y, etc will laugh and make fun of me”. But I said, “Hmmm. It might be a crazy idea, but I have to share it. Regardless if it sounds absurd and insane. It may help so many during this pandemic times” Don´t take me wrong, I.am not blind to provoke us to return to such a radical way of living, but Amish communities have a lot to teach us. They have survived for decades without a grain of technology. Of course, I am not advising to return to the times without electricity, because I know that there are hybrid modern Amish communities which have adopted electricity and the newest agriculture technologies of production, without leaving its ancestors´ values. They sell and trade without any issue and are auto-sustainable. The way the Amish communities work, have prepared them in advance to any world collapse. All that Amish have to do at the moment is to install a dome strategy to their communities to keep them safe. Please tell the Amish to install a safety security dome too (they have no computers and don´t read my blog).
• Let me apply this general concept to El Salvador. We are approximately 6 million people living in 22 thousand km2. Personally, I have promoted the idea that by closing our frontiers and airports properly for some time, the Coronavirus lockdown was preventive. To install a safety dome was the most important thing to do in our Salvadoran community. We had to stop the infection spread at its roots. We couldn´t let the Coronavirus to travel inside our country. According to physicians, the virus dies in 14 days. If we were strict by keeping ourselves safe, under lockdown for the double of 14 days (as a result, it is a quarantine month or a bit more), we could have protected our country to receive virus carriers. Once time passes by, and the Salvadorean community is safe inside;  doctors must confirm to us that we are Coronavirus Free. Once we arrived at a status of Coronavirus freedom – in each and all of our cities and villages – then we can continue working as usual inside our own territory.
• The temporary dome strategy is what China did. They are now releasing little by little their extreme measures, meanwhile, they are keeping the territory safe indoors.
• Exceptions to open our frontiers: just for essential commerce with extreme and strict sanitary measures in place at the customs facilities and with customs employees and logistic drivers who have to be protected with the same gear than the health-care professionals.  Airport gates can´t be open to letting the virus come again. At least not for some weeks.  We can´t let in international individuals who are carriers of the virus to infect us. The safety sanitary dome has to be kept for several months. We must pray, that in the near future, the dome strategy will be concluded once we know for sure that there is a botanical cure or vaccine approved by physicians. Globally.
• For how long do we have to install our Amish dome?. It depends of the global response to the virus. Meanwhile, traveling carriers are around spreading the contagion, life in our tiny lilliputian country has to be under seclusion for several months. After the WHO states that it is safe to continue traveling, then it is clear to me that we have conquered the battle against the virus. The global response to this virus has to be consistent and well-orchestrated. Otherwise, we may extend the dome safety strategy for many months. A global sanitary issue needs a regional and global problem-solving strategy.
• It is in our hands the responsibility to keep the dome strategy for success. We can reduce the number of days under national seclusion. If we keep our territory safe, we will be back to work soon. El Salvador is mainly an agrarian and services society, not many jobs can be done remotely. In consequence, we must care for ourselves at home for the quarantine with the hope to return back again to work as soon as possible.
• Please pray for each and all of our countries´ government leaders. God is the best source of wisdom. Good ideas come when we are aligned with God and Jesus-Christ’s endeavors. Our global leaders need the wisdom to tackle this virus at its roots. It is a global virus that needs global solutions; In the meantime, and meanwhile, the not infected nations must protect themselves with a temporary dome strategy, so indoors we can keep working, producing, doing business as usual inside our communities as soon as it is possible, with the purpose to return back to our regular routine.

This is it. Blessings. See you again this week with the Coronavirus list of websites. Remember we will start the Socialize-Interact-Communicate disruptive technologies too.

Sources of reference utilized today:

https://impakter.com/the-amish-sustainability/

https://mises.org/library/economic-lessons-amish

Published by eleonoraescalantestrategy

Corporate Strategy Artist, San Salvador, El Salvador View all posts by eleonoraescalantestrategy