## Cultural hegemony - narratives of individualism - loneliness as a personal failure - breakdown of communal relationships outside family ## Economic - competition over cooperation - self-sufficiency narrative - Community spaces defunded. - Pay to make friends ## Political - Links to economic - defunding of community spaces - Reduced welfare state - Loneliness is framed as a private matter, not a public one. See [[loneliness is not about the maladaptive individual]] ## Media - Glorification of solitary leaders/ heros - Social media creates the illusion of connection - Algorithms exploits loneliness ## Tech - Companies profit from doom-scrolling/ solitary activity - Make shallow relationships easy, getting in the way of deep relationships. ## Educational - Focussed on competition and ranks over communal learning - Soft skills undervalues ## Gender and race - Minority groups pushed aside, making them more lonely - Stereotypes like men must be stoic discourages genuine connection ## Why? - Lonely people are - more fragmented and easier to govern - more consumptive - more compliant (less likely to organise)