As the post-modern world continues to envelope more people, our drift away from the security of modernism continues to worsen the contradictions and in particular the hypocrisies of today. The most glaring, damaging of these is the growing loneliness in every strata of society. Inspired by a multitude of factors from the prominence of digitalism in daily life, personalities derived from consumption culture to under-socialisation and effects of the COVID pandemic etcetera, all of it contributing towards a downward spiral in peoples inherent ability to connect, especially in the youth.

In a world where our definitions of work, family and every other value are mutating yet technologies gift us with theoretically more ways to connect, the most important part of humanity is being left behind: each other.

The answer here is not in encouraging individuals to become less lonely, at least not entirely. As a collective issue, loneliness requires a collective response. Society is lacking in its social faculties like never before, addressing broader issues surrounding loneliness allow individuals the ability to seek out connection. Upon inspection, glaring philosophies behind our social spaces highlight why loneliness is increasing.

1. A lack of space dedicated to socialising. In the feudal ages, peasants would spend their days working, loving and socialising in tight knit communities. The tavern, the church, the workfields, the market, the many holidays; all of it offered places to rub shoulders with people they knew their whole life. In comparison, today we maybe have work and weekend escapes to bars as the social frontline, at least in person. We have instead chosen to digitize our social life which is the root cause to the loneliness.

2. Money corrupts. The spaces that do focus on social interaction are laced with profit-driven capitalist schemes that are, in most situations, too expensive for the average consumer to be feasible solutions. Take the pub in the UK for example, this ancient institution has been suffering from extortionate tax rates (amongst other factors like beforementioned COVID) and is now in steady decline.(ban on smoking, also stops social) Obviously, in moderation, the capitalist ownership of our social spaces is OK or even beneficial. However, with alternatives like the Church becoming redundant, we are becoming more starved for options to meet people.

3. The state is terrified of the masses organising. When we choose to meet new people outside of our occupations or homes or bars, the state shivers. Without registered alcohol to tax, bosses to discipline us or families for us to service, the state loses its control over us.

In a massively populated nation, it is safer and more profitable when the citizen is isolated from the community. This is why the state has slowly but surely assassinating our ability to connect, the atomized body is incapable of revolutionary action, incapable of communicating a shared ideology.

These are only some short points and the beginning of a discussion that requires considerably more attention. I imagine I’ll revisit this topic with further reflection and I invite you to contribute in the comments.