The American Loneliness Phenomenon
Dysfunction and propaganda building an ugly "new normal"
Note- this article was originally published last year on my blog. I think it has become even more relevant. There are a lot of archived articles there that subscribers here may be interested in.
Polls tell us that 27 percent of Americans aged 60 or older live by themselves, more than anywhere else in the world. Older people in other countries, on the other hand, most often live with an extended family, as was once common here. Even older married couples tend to live without anyone else; more childless married couples, or those without children at home, live in the United States than in the rest of the world. We’re number one! USA! USA!
I’ve been thinking about what is a very real epidemic of loneliness, especially in America. Rugged individualism has gone wild. A lot of this is due to the unfortunate prevalence of dysfunctional immediate and extended families. I know very few families where there isn’t an often inexplicable dispute between parents and children, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or cousins. Many of the lonely I have known personally have been in this situation. Rejected by their parents, or having rejected them. Not talking to a sibling or sibling for years, even decades. Ostracized from their children or grandchildren. Facing the sad prospects of old age alone. Is this what anyone really wants?
