Since the release of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 80-plus-page report on the health detriments of loneliness back in May, prominent mainstream-media outlets have covered our “loneliness epidemic” extensively.
According to the report, social isolation is “associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death.” This is shocking stuff. The report also memorably noted that a lonely life is akin to smoking a whopping 15 cigarettes per day.
There is no denying that there is a dearth of social capital and civic engagement, not only in America, but in the West writ large. Some politicians, however, have taken these indisputable facts as an opportunity to push top-down, government-centric policy solutions.
Just last week, New York governor Kathy Hochul appointed erstwhile sex therapist and television personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer as the state’s first “Ambassador to Loneliness.” In a statement, Hochul said that Westheimer’s new honorary position “may be just what the doctor ordered.” But the idea that a TV sex doctor, now 95 years old, could in any way ameliorate our current societal malady of loneliness is dubious, to say the least.
But this isn’t the first attempt at a top-down fix from the government. In July, Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn) introduced legislation that would create an “Office of Social Connection Policy” in the White House. “This legislation provides a starting point for a national, government-wide strategy for tackling loneliness,” Murphy said in a statement.
In the bill, Murphy calls for a “dedicated expert body,” to assist in efforts to curb loneliness. The implication is that a technocratic entity is needed to rescue Americans from this very real problem. That argument makes me uneasy.
To leverage government power to solve our current problem of loneliness is, at best, like taking Tylenol to cure cancer. There is a deep-seated ailment present; the source of the disease lies well below the surface.
In an op-ed co-written with Ian Marcus Corbin, Murphy called for a “spiritual renaissance” in America. Here, he is unquestionably right. Americans in 2023 are becoming more secular and growing further removed from the Burkean and Toquevillean underpinnings of our great nation. They increasingly exist in a realm of anomie that is without foundation and societal glue. Murphy and Corbin argue that Americans feel unfulfilled and a sense of “emptiness.”
All of this points to a deeper problem that Murphy’s legislation simply could not address. Expanding the White House with an Office of Social Connection Policy, as he proposes, could not reshape the American ethos. An advisory council can write up all of the research papers it likes. But it wouldn’t recharge our old impulses to form voluntary associations and attend Sunday mass.
The logical question then becomes: How do we come together again? Well, we are already showing signs of a desire to reintegrate into American social life. As reported by Business Insider (and noted by me) back in September, young people are emptying their wallets on gym memberships, pasta-making classes, and various other social clubs with the sole intention of establishing social bonds. We have even seen the rise of friend-finding apps like Bumble for Friends, on which young people are swiping right for potential platonic partners. This is an example of the market, not government, at work. And while friend-finding apps won’t magically restore the communitarian America of Tocqueville, their increasing popularity points to an organic desire for human connection, and that is an encouraging sign.
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There is no escaping human reality. People will always crave social interaction, especially during times when there is a dearth of it. Government, by staying out of the way, can create an environment where lonely individuals can utilize market products like Bumble for Friends or Meetup to create bonds that may very well last a lifetime.
But while apps can help, they can’t do all the work for us. The recovery of American civil society will require each of us, in our own lives, to step out of ourselves and our comfort zones and be the community engagement we need in the world. It’ll take steps as small as striking up a conversation in line at the store and as big as hosting social gatherings or joining voluntary organizations. If government can’t solve the loneliness crisis, then it’s up to us — all of us.
The Government Can’t Solve the Loneliness Crisis
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15.11.2023
Since the release of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 80-plus-page report on the health detriments of loneliness back in May, prominent mainstream-media outlets have covered our “loneliness epidemic” extensively.
According to the report, social isolation is “associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death.” This is shocking stuff. The report also memorably noted that a lonely life is akin to smoking a whopping 15 cigarettes per day.
There is no denying that there is a dearth of social capital and civic engagement, not only in America, but in the West writ large. Some politicians, however, have taken these indisputable facts as an opportunity to push top-down, government-centric policy solutions.
Just last week, New York governor Kathy Hochul appointed erstwhile sex therapist and television personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer as the state’s first “Ambassador to Loneliness.” In a statement, Hochul said that Westheimer’s new honorary position “may be just what the doctor ordered.” But the idea that a TV sex doctor, now 95 years old,........
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