There will be and are people with damaged psyches due to the virus, but I believe the large majority of the people will gladly move on with life as it was before the virus once the virus fades away.
I don't believe it was "manufactured" for "fear and control" - at least not in the US. I try to remember never to attribute to malice that can be explained by incompetence, but there's definitely a power struggle.
Some things are interesting to me going forward. The first is related to the fact that many appear to be surprised by the vaccine response here in CA. Based on who we elect, there is nothing about the response that surprised me. The feeling I get is that there is a significant number of people with children who are dissatisfied with CA's response in general and specifically w.r.t. children. With Newsome as governor, look at SF as your model. Since we all have children, I did two Google searches: "Is San Francisco good for raising children?" and "Is Austin good for raising children". Both areas are solidly blue. The first lines of the results are interesting.
SF: "San Francisco is a great city for the rich"
Austin: "Raising a family in Austin can be a wonderful experience."
Will the virus response accelerate the already existing trend to move out of CA? Beyond families moving out, we now have a few large companies moving out as well. We also have a greater acceptance of professionals working remotely - which may mean working outside of CA. For schools, how many will decide that public school is not the best alternative for them? I am not predicting a collapse, but I have to think that the tax base will take a hit significant enough to squeeze many existing programs - including public schools. We have also heard since the pandemic about how many communities are already underserved, and that's why the virus has inordinately affected those communities. I can't imagine that gets better.
Ha! I just realized I put up a rather negative post as my first in the new year. At least it is appropriate in the "Bad News Thread" and in "Off Topic 2" where all the crazies reside
Happy New Year to all the real people behind your screen names. I appreciate your civil discourse.