I think we’re talking past each other. Of course the internet was around but I would argue that ten years ago was maybe the first time something like productive work during a lockdown was possible. Yes, Skype existed long before this but we all know how clunky it always has been and before that reliable broadband wasn’t widespread enough to support pretty much every single office employee staying at home.
I’m very aware that there are other countries that have handled this better; I live in one of them and am from another one. Incidentally both of them have been mentioned in the international media as exemplary on this issue. But even we have taken a huge hit to our economies and that’s not just because the US collapsed.
You couldn’t be farther from the truth there and I invite you to peruse my comment history for corroboration. What I was defending was the utility of Zoom and other long-distance communication and remote working services in this pandemic and the notion that had this happened earlier it would have been so much worse for everyone.
