There are three main components of the machinery of loneliness:
- identity politics,
- political correctness, and -mob agitation.
Identity politics strips us of our individuality, and divides us into camps sorted by various identities of “oppressor” or “victim.”
Political correctness controls our speech by inducing us to self-censor under threat of ostracism.
Mobs take different forms, but they serve to enforce all of the above while cultivating conformity, compliance, and social distrust.
The machinery is further fueled in other ways to threaten people with isolation if they don’t conform. These include propaganda, censorship, the criminalization of comedy, and snitch culture. New technologies play a role too.
If we can’t speak openly to one another, we cannot organically develop bonds of trust. And if we can’t develop trusting relationships—whether as family, as children of God, or as friends and cheerful neighbors—then we’ve gone a long way towards a Stockholm Syndrome-like dependence upon our government captors.
A couple things that stand out to me, with emphasis added.
Bringing opportunity back to these hard-hit places and enabling more Americans to stay and raise families where their roots are won’t reverse the toxic impacts of social media, disrupt the right-wing media machine, or end our political polarization, but it’s a step in the right direction.
In his advisory, Murthy offers other recommendations for rebuilding social connection and cohesion. They include pro-family policies such as paid leave, and investments in public transit and community infrastructure that help people connect with one another in real life, not just online. He has also called for stronger and more sophisticated oversight and regulation of tech companies. In particular, there is an urgent need for more protections for kids on social media.
I love reading about teenagers turning to old-school flip phones so they’re no longer at the mercy of giant tech firms and hidden algorithms.
I’m getting big “Think of the children, we must regulate social media” vibes here.
Divide and conquer