Loneliness undermines health and is linked to early mortality—and baby boomers are especially feeling the effects
Modern life can be lonely, but we didn't evolve to live like this. In our ancient tribes the elderly lived alongside their families and were never lonely. Elders were respected for their wisdom, and loved for their many stories where the dragons they had fought in the past had got bigger and more menacing by the year.
Modern Life is Rubbish is the title of one of Blur's albums.
In tribal societies if your house got burnt down everyone in the village would help help you build a new one.
No one bartered or sold people stuff. If you needed a new pair of shoes, one of your friends, or someone in your village, would probably give you a pair, but the next day you might help him in his field. People had great friendships.
Young inexperienced mothers were never left alone with young, difficult to manage children as the extended family and also the tribe would all help out. Grandmothers and Great grandmothers with a lot of experience would help the young mothers and so the offspring would get a very secure and more nurturing environment leading to them becoming far healthier and happy adults.
Everyone had a job, and as long as you did your best to contribute the differences in output from people was tolerated. There was the perfect blend of conservatism and socialism.
Of course modern life has many advantages and many of us wouldn't be here without modern technology and healthcare, but have we lost something in the process? Something vital?
Carl Jung asked how much more consciousness can mankind tolerate? The animals have no idea what death means, and they cannot see into the future and worry. WW3? And they have no idea of future horrible diseases.
Many people in the West have no religious faith now. In Europe two thirds have no faith, but in the US two thirds do have a faith, but it is said that one of those thirds also have no faith even though they go to church. Faith helped people cope with life.
Loneliness can lead to depression and chronic diseases.
This is one of the reasons that I think the Job Guarantee is such a good idea. Lots of people living on their own without work will be able to not only earn a bit of money but also be able to get out and meet people. And for those who are not well enough to get out they can have people who are on the Job Guarantee come around to keep them company, or do some tidying up for them, maybe do the garden, or even cook them a meal.
This is one of the reasons that I think the Job Guarantee is such a good idea. Lots of people living on their own without work will be able to not only earn a bit of money but also be able to get out and meet people. And for those who are not well enough to get out they can have people who are on the Job Guarantee come around to keep them company, or do some tidying up for them, maybe do the garden, or even cook them a meal.
The dialectic process: thesis (modern society), antithesis (loneliness, lack of social life), Synthesis (Social work, paid for by the Job Garantee, maybe?)
Okey, enough of my yacking, here's the article.
Danny Miner, a 66-year-old retired chemical plant supervisor, spends most days alone in his Tooele, Utah, apartment, with “Gunsmoke” reruns to keep him company and a phone that rarely rings.
Old age wasn’t supposed to feel this lonely. Mr. Miner married five times, each bride bringing the promise of lifelong companionship. Three unions ended in divorce. Two wives died. Now his legs ache and his balance is faulty, and he’s stopped going to church or meeting friends at the Marine Corps League, a group for former Marines. “I get a little depressed from time to time,” he says.
Baby boomers are aging alone more than any generation in U.S. history, and the resulting loneliness is a looming public health threat. About one in 11 Americans age 50 and older lacks a spousethrash, partner or living child, census figures and other research show. That amounts to about eight million people in the U.S. without close kin, the main source of companionship in old age, and their share of the population is projected to grow.
The Wall Street Journal
4 comments:
For every loss there is gain, and for every gain there is loss. Ancient life had many advantages over modern life, but also had many disadvantages. Your tribe was constantly in danger of being attacked by hostile alien tribes. Famine, plague, and other disasters were always possibilities. Minor diseases could be death sentences.
“The animals have no idea what death means, and they cannot see into the future and worry. And they have no idea of future horrible diseases.”
I think animals have far more awareness and intelligence than humans give them credit for. This is one reason why I am a vegetarian.
“Many people in the West have no religious faith now. In Europe two thirds have no faith, but in the US two thirds do have a faith, but it is said that one of those thirds also have no faith even though they go to church. Faith helped people cope with life.”
Religion is always with us, but it changes over time. Today we have faith-based belief in “rape culture,” in “male privilege,” in the “terrorist threat,” in the “free market,” in the “holocaust,”™ in the “goodness” of war victors, and so on. All these have priests, rituals, liturgies, taboos, and Holy Scriptures. People use these beliefs to cope with life.
“Loneliness can lead to depression and chronic diseases.”
Loneliness can be offset. Just go out and find someone who is worse off than you, and see if you can help him or her in any way. No matter how far down you are, there is always someone worse off than you.
“Danny Miner, a 66-year-old retired chemical plant supervisor, spends most days alone in his Tooele, Utah, apartment, with “Gunsmoke” reruns to keep him company and a phone that rarely rings.”
At least he isn’t reduced to living in a tent outside. Still, I understand loneliness, and I agree that it is a problem in modern life. Across the street from me is an elderly woman who lives alone. If she manages to catch you, she talks your ear off. Talk, talk, talk about nothing. It’s her way of extending the presence of others. She makes you search for excuses to leave. You have something on the stove that’s about to burn. You left a clothes iron plugged in. The dog you were washing in the tub has probably jumped out and is running around the house dripping wet.
(You have a dog? How come I've never seen it? Let me tell you some stories about a dog I once had. Or maybe it was a parrot in a cage. Anyway, I had this cat, and . . .)
I myself talk to strangers all the time, everywhere I go. And yet I hate concerts, sporting events, and other crowded places.
And as bad as it is to be alone, for me it’s still better than having to sit every day in awful traffic jams so we can toil in awful jobs with awful people.
We certainly wouldn't want to go back to the old days without machinery so we would be toiling the fields, and with the risk of diseases and famine while living in tents freezing our nuts off in winter.
And they didn't have the PoNS device back then too.
So it's about the dialectic process: Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.
I agree with you that the world has become a lonelier place. With all our wealth and media exposure, many of us
still live alone. The young, our children, have become so busy, so distracted, so into their cellphones that even
close family doesn't keep in touch. I spend lots of early mornings thinking of something to do about this. Maybe
we need more movies that focus on loneliness and how important it is to get out and join the crowd. My mother was
lonely because even though she was married to a very successful man (who had numerous affairs), she never felt that she was important to anyone. As a teenager, I watched that loneliness and wondered how to help her out. She turned to drinking.
So good for you to be bringing the subject up and making everyone give a little thought to the problem. Thank you. Susan
Ball
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