I think future humans will probably look back on us and compare us in many ways to the various ancient savages who we already look back and think we have grown past. I also think that our current situation is a decent solution to the Fermi paradox. Aliens probably think we're batshyte crazy and don't want to go anywhere near us.

I don't think this planet has 500 years left. We'll be lucky to make it to next Tuesday.

I think people will look back to our time with confusion and dismay.
How could people be stupid enough to politicize mask in a pandemic?
Wearing them isn't a political statement, refusing to wear a mask is a political statement.
Stupid is as stupid does.

Lives have been 'sacrificed' for ritual religious gatherings as well. The economy appears less important to a good number of these nut jobs than the 'freedom' to do whatever they want, including not wearing a face covering in public or at church. Let's hope that the majority in the not-too-distant future (perhaps much sooner than 500 years) will take note of the inconsistencies by many who profess to be 'pro life.'

It's entirely feasible. These might be regarded as the days when humanity became aware of its vulnerability to mother nature and took drastic steps to remedy the situation. Or, more likely, this was a flat beep on the EKG, before a jump start, followed by the deafening beeeep of expiration.
Bleak out look, I know, but every civilsation has had one thing in common. They never recognised, nor acknowledged the decline of their culture and did everything to prop it up. Do you think that they were the ancient climate change deniers, or just willfully ignorant, because the truth was too unpalatable?

Well, if one takes the fate of Ancient Rome, the City not the Empire, as an example then I'd say a definite Yes since Ancient Rome was built solely as an importing and consumer based society in that it actually produced very little to sustain itself and relied solely on what it could get, steal/extort, etc, from it conquered/allied territories and their peoples.
Imo, this so-called Western Civilization of ours has, by means of 'creating' itself in to Consumption based society, sown the seeds of its own fate with the ideologies of Import, Import and 'Built in Obsolence' whilst producing, in lesser developed countries, etc, a form of "Sweat-shop Slavery" to feed its consumption needs.
Yes, I agree that our Political Leaders are literally sacrificing the lives during this crisis purely for the sake the avarice driven economies they have constructed and just like with Ancient Rome, they cannot see that when there are just a mere few, so to speak, average consumers left then what good will a strong Economy be.

Yes, it’s disgusting what Trump and the GOP are doing.

10 years from now you won’t be able to force anyone to admit to supporting trump. Just like in 1946 there were no Germans who had been Hitler supporting NAZIs.

Well, Historians like to group 'ages' with Technology. So Fire, the wheel, iron, bronze, Stone, etc. I think the future historians will do the same. the Atomic age, the Particle, the molecular, the information, the yadda age. Just my thoughts. but the only age that didn't ground itself in Scientific's, was the 'dark' age. Although, I'd love to time travel to 500 years into the future to see just what they say. But I rather like the idea of 'the second enlightened age'. Not that my 500 year old off spring would probably know, but I would be content in knowing that I had a small part in that Just my .02 cents.

That's assuming that humans will still dominate the planet in 500 years. Maybe the Earth will become the planet of intelligent apes. I'm sure they will do a better job as caretakers of the planet. They can't do worse. Or maybe they can, after all we're all related. LOL

Depends who writes the book

Religious leaders do not sacrifice anything for anybody ever. Stop being delusional.

If any remnants of the US are left in 500 years, it will be a bunch of shit hole countries.

No. They are so deluded by their blind allegiance to a book, and their insulated group of similarly deluded and insulated followers and support structure, no amount of contrary factual occurrences (people dying handling snakes, for example) will convince them otherwise.
The fallback explanation is, "Well, you just didn't really believe."
No, odds are, they didn't, for the simple reason it was unbelievable, and what was left of their rational faculties knew it.
But I venture to guess plenty of true believers have been proven wrong, to no avail, and went on believing anyway...

No! They will make sure to overtly surgery coat it!!!

So that they come off as sane and stable, living under the guise of scientific forward thinking and progress for all humanity!!!

The reality is they are committing mass genocide of all within the realms of the poverty they caused!!!

Both eras built on ignorance for which they cannot be blamed but willful application of useless fantasy solutions is not so easy to forgive.