(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Zlatan Krizan, Iowa State University

(THE CONVERSATION) The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting daily routines around the world. Overwhelmed hospitals, desolate schools, ghostly towns and self-isolation echo a campy horror flick, but an all too real one.

Companies are laying people off by the thousands, the service industry is teetering on the brink of collapse, and socialist ideas suddenly don't sound so bad to an average citizen . According to a recent poll by the University of South...