There are some good nuggets in that story.

This "Again, if we have to resort to trading batteries for food then something is seriously wrong." It seems you miss the part about something IS seriously wrong.

I would not recommend buying batteries but maybe you should have stocked up on ammo. It has a better shelf life than batteries and batteries won't help you when you need ammo. In the U.S. it is too late to stock up on ammo the shelves are already bare.

My mother was not made stronger by the Great Depression, it made her fearful and a bit of a hoarder.

This "Humanity will heal," maybe but it will leave a scar and it may hurt for as long as we live.

What makes you think the end of the Pandemic is the end of the crisis and not just the next of many?

TEK