I mean events that cause disruption like this pandemic. We can probably tolerate monthly plane bombings without regression. However, if we had a shock like the pandemic on an annual basis, I think we could see the decline of our current civilization by multiple metrics that can widely be agreed upon, something like the Dark Ages trajectory. I'm using broad terms like 'systemic instability', because I trust that you know what I mean. Rome suffered 'systemic instability'. I don't propose that we are there atm. I just think that we have moved closer. It's possible we are there, but unlikely."Systemic instability" is classic mk-ese. What's wrong with systemic instability versus systemic stasis? If you call it "dynamism" it sounds like a good thing. If you measure actual incidents, like plane bombings, it's harder to justify concern.
I don't know who's right, but many people argue that the cure is worse than the disease. If we had a response like 2020, every year, it wouldn't be Dark Ages right away but it would be bleak. If we only had the novel virus and let it run wild, it would cause a slight (and very tragic) bump in the baseline mortality rate. Influenza and pneumonia could be ten times deadlier, and they would still be less deadly than heart disease and cancer are individually.events that cause disruption like this pandemic
if we had a shock like the pandemic on an annual basis