Post Pandemic History Class

By 2040, the world was much different than it had been only twenty years before. As you may have read, the great pandemics starting in 2020 eventually took ten percent of the world's population. True decimation. It wasn't until about 2032 that scientists discovered how to permanently prevent any more pandemics. What I'm discussing today is the major changes in social norms that took place post-pandemics. This whole business of public masturbation in particular.

No doubt you know about the huge shift in economy. Personally, I think the biggest single factor was the finding by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical School that clothing was one of the biggest carriers of the virus. Sure, it was airborne, and could live on surfaces. At first, science thought it was hard surfaces like tabletops and coins. But no, cloth was actually the worst offender. Science started advocating nudity. Well, not at first. At first, they just suggested that people turn up the heat and wear less clothing in homes and offices, and while shopping. The brother and sister team Jenelle and Jeremy Watson of Sex270.com, who had long been outspoken advocates of masturbation, started suggesting people wear absolutely nothing, as often as possible. They also suggested masturbating in public.

Their suggestion for nudity caught on. It took a few more years before public masturbation became commonplace. At first, in the major cities, especially Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, you'd see the occasional individual with nothing but a face mask, and some even without that.Within a year, by 2028, you'd seldom see anyone with clothing on a warm day. That became the new norm. And of course, within homes, families pretty much never wore clothing any more. That too, was a huge hit on the economy, since clothing sales fell off to nothing.

Of course we all know how the financial system recovered. The governments just kept printing more money. They called the monthly payments, "stimulus checks." Everyone said that putting more cash into circulation like that would cause massive inflation. It never happened. The economists forgot to take into account how symbolic money actually is. It's not anchored in anything real, so why not make as much as needed?

Then, around 2033, just about the time the pandemics were finally over, when you'd think people would start putting clothing back on, it didn't happen. They stayed naked. Furthermore, they were partying in the streets. Literally. Sections of major downtown avenues were blocked off and made into naked pedestrian promenades. Restaurants dragged tables into the streets, and every evening, the streets filled with happy, naked people.How happy, you may ask? It started with erections. Men were no longer afraid to allow their penises to harden in public. At first, just like typical nude beaches not many years before the pandemics, having a hardon in public was generally a no-no. Oh, people said it was "natural," it was "OK", but guys were still very reluctant to be seen with erections. Now, it was totally normal.

Then they, and the women, too, started wanking. It became absolutely ordinary to see people sitting in chairs or lounging on the lawn in public parks, having conversations with each other while jerking off.

And that takes us to today. Looking around the classroom, I see three of you are wearing little decorative bits. The rest are as naked as the day you were born, just as I am. I see Cindy and Jason are fondling themselves, lightly wanking, during the lecture. I used to worry about that. I was almost offended, thinking my students weren't paying attention, but as I'm sure you've heard many times, research has shown that when people do that while learning, it actually helps them retain the information.

Oh, time's up for today, class. We'll pick this up where we left off tomorrow. Meantime, read section seventeen on the history site so you'll be prepared for tomorrow's little quiz on the Post-Pandemic Period.