“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .”

—Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Every now and then, the world resets.

Sometimes it’s a cataclysm or natural disaster that pushes the reset button. Sometimes it’s a political revolution. Sometimes it’s a war. Sometimes it’s a technological innovation.

Dickens’ immortal “best of times / worst of times” formulation comes from his novel about one such reset: the French Revolution. Dickens’ words capture the dual nature of each fracture point in history. Like the old (and spurious) trope about the Chinese word for “crisis,” a reset presents both a danger and an opportunity.

It is now apparent to all that we have arrived at another world reset. This time we are being asked to believe that it is a viral pandemic that has pushed the reset button. Others would contest that it is in fact the panic over the (presumed) pandemic that is responsible for this crisis. Yet others insist that the p(l)andemic is nothing more than a distraction from the global financial reset which was going to happen regardless.

Whatever the case, the fact remains that the reset button has been pushed. No one knows for certain what lies on the other side of this chasm, but—as we’ve been endlessly told in recent weeks—life will never be the same.

So, following Dickens, let’s explore the dual nature of this global reset and outline the dangers and the opportunities that this crisis presents. . . .

Find out more about the global reset and where humanity goes from here in this week’s subscriber editorial, and stick around for an update about how Japan is reacting to the crisis in this month’s subscriber-exclusive video. To access the full newsletter and to support this website, please become a member today.

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