The Loneliness Economy

[Your Old Comrade]

00:00 Loneliness epidemic?
02:24 Social media economy
07:11 Masterworks
08:31 Modern Cities
12:33 The New Way of Living
16:30 Dating Market
18:45 Para-social relationships

Study after study confirms that we're all lonelier and more depressed than ever. Why is that? The root cause goes deeper than you might think.

Citations and Further Reading:

Links to mental health support (that aren’t 988)
https://warmline.org/
(from a list compiled by NPR @ https://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...)
https://www.callblackline.com/aboutfaq
https://kivagroups.carrd.co/
https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.o...
https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.o...
https://peersupportspace.org/daily-ga...
https://projectlets.org/crisis-support
https://samaritansnyc.org/
https://translifeline.org/hotline/
https://wildfloweralliance.org/online...

Alienation


• Why Marx was Righ...
https://www.marxists.org/glossary/ter...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27...

Main news clip


• We need social co...

Loneliness study
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/fil...

Burnout
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages....
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkell...
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/13/he...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/22/teach...

[Your Old Comrade]

I believe we are in the midst of a loneliness crisis.

It's become quite common nowadays for people to struggle with feelings of isolation.
In fact, roughly one out of three people report having little to no friends or feelings of disconnection from people around them.
If you're one of those people, if you're feeling lonely, you're not alone.
It's a more common experience than you might realise.

In the last decade loneliness has been on the rise, without showing any signs of slowing down.
From the elderly who have nobody to talk to, to the young adults who are isolating themselves, nobody is immune.

But why is loneliness even a problem and why should you care?