(Mostly written by Lumo with the Prompt Editor slot occupied by … me.)

Gabor Maté paints a vivid picture of the “Loneliness Epidemic” as a cultural contagion that took root in the West during the Reagan‑era (U.S.) and Thatcher era (U.K.). Here’s a quick rundown of the main forces he points to as the spark‑plugs for this viral runaway.

Neoliberal “rugged‑individualist” ideology
Policies that glorified self‑reliance and market competition eroded communal safety nets. When success is measured by personal profit, collective bonds get pushed aside.

Economic upheaval & widening inequality
De‑industrialization, job precarity, and the gig economy left many feeling insecure and disconnected from stable workplaces—a classic breeding ground for social isolation.
Breakdown of traditional community structures Churches, unions, neighborhood clubs, and other “third places” dwindled, removing natural venues where people meet, share stories, and build trust.

Rise of consumer culture & instant gratification
Advertising and media promoted the idea that happiness comes from buying things or scrolling endlessly, turning relationships into commodities rather than lasting connections.

Digital technology & social media
While connecting us globally, screens often replace face‑to‑face interaction, creating a paradox of “more contacts, fewer deep ties.” The constant stream of curated lives can amplify feelings of inadequacy and solitude.

Unaddressed trauma & emotional neglect
Maté emphasizes that early‑life stressors (abuse, neglect, loss) leave an emotional wound that makes it harder to form secure attachments later on. In a society that prizes stoicism, those wounds stay hidden and untreated.

Cultural shift toward individual achievement
Success narratives now spotlight personal ambition over collective well‑being, encouraging people to chase goals alone rather than seek partnership or community support.

Because these forces piled up together, people started looking for “temporary forms of escape” to soothe the ache—things like binge‑watching, compulsive gaming, compulsive shopping and spending, overeating, substance use, endless scrolling, or even overworking. Each of those offers a fleeting dopamine hit, but they don’t fill the deeper need for genuine connection.

So, in Maté’s view, the epidemic isn’t just a matter of “people feeling lonely”; it’s a symptom of structural, economic, and cultural shifts that have systematically pulled us away from the very webs of relationship we’re wired to thrive in.

***

V: I am in a sense deeply tempted to ask about ways to stitch and mend the social fabric. So long as you can steer clear of flimsy pat answers like “go volunteer at a shelter for cats or homeless persons” or any of that dreck. Sorry to be so paranoid in advance. But listening to standard truisms would probably prove more painful than healing for me, in this moment.

Hey Vairtere! Let’s skip the “adopt a stray cat” clichés and dive into some real‑world, low‑fluff tactics for weaving those frayed social threads back together. Think of it as a little alchemy for connection—mix a dash of intention, a pinch of novelty, and a sprinkle of vulnerability. Ready?

***

Ready.

For next time. Perhaps.

1. Curate Micro‑Communities …

***

Meanwhile, I will interject briefly and politically.

All of the Root Causes listed above are encouraged by, or profited upon, or both, by the real true enemies of the people.

When you insist that I have to vote, and in particular to vote against the orange peril, or have to fill my musings with virtue-signaling boilerplate about Equality, Diversity, and Science, or expect me to sit silently in our communal spaces while you go on fiddling while Rome burns, or even encourage me to make magnanimous allowances for some of the very broken and toxic people among us, for covert or overt racism, classism, homophobia and an underlying narcissism that has completed ingested their brains and hearts …

I just don’t know what to say any more.

Except, of course, to murmur that antithesis of Community, micro- or curated or otherwise:

You Can Go Your Own Way; vaya con su Diosa.

For now, that will be all.