With that said, I also think Hertz doesn’t go quite far enough. Noreena Hertz, The Lonely Century Can we really create a ‘caring capitalism’? As such, the solutions given in this book are both the only ones that will probably work, and also feel like a bit of a utopian dream.Īs we rebuild our post Covid-19 world, governments have a rare opportunity to seize the moment, act transformatively and rethink priorities on a fundamental level. Hertz might suggest my cynicism arises from my own loneliness and lack of community, I don’t trust the government to have my back or give a damn about me, and I certainly don’t trust big business. I have to admit, I felt quite cynical that any of this might come about. RELATED POST: Review of Daylio - a mood tracker and micro diary app A lot of books like this blithely talk about the gig economy and inequality being reasons for causing negative change and then turn around and put all the onus for improvement on the individual. These suggestions mainly focus on structural changes, which I appreciate. Hertz recommends a range of things we can do to alleviate loneliness.
I have felt the social anxiety of walking into a room full of strangers for the first time and tried to figure out how to talk to people (and the overwhelming compulsion to scroll twitter instead). As an older millennial, I have witnessed the way technology has utterly upended the way we interact with each other and do business. She notes that the rise of populist politics can be linked to loneliness fraying our trust in each other and in government. Loneliness has been implicated in everything from heart disease to hypertension. They are more anxious, and they are sicker. Lonely people become more suspicious and aggressive. Hertz argues that loneliness has a profound impact on us. Noreena Hertz, The Lonely Century What is the impact of loneliness? The way we now live, the changing nature of work, the changing nature of relationships, the way our cities are now built and our offices designed, the way we treat each other and the way our government treats us, our smartphone addiction and even the way we now love are all contributing to how lonely we have become. The trend towards ‘contactless’ shopping, whether by the rise in e-commerce or the introduction of self-scan checkouts.Īnd so on.Urbanisation, migration, temporary accommodation that generates a feeling of rootlessness.The collapse of social organisations such as trade unions (and churches).The gig economy, and the trend towards hot desking, open plan workspaces etc.Screen addiction, and the fact that social media companies design their apps to be addictive.Poorly funded social infrastructure, and investment in ‘hostile’ architecture such as anti-homeless benches.
Hertz argues that this loneliness is the product of: And single people who eat their meals whilst watching YouTube celebrities also eat, a practice known as mukbang.įew millennials would not recognise the bleak portrait she paints in her opening chapters.
Elderly Japanese women who are committing petty crimes in order to be sent to prison, in order to alleviate their loneliness. She points to colleges that are needing to teach students how to interact with other people face-to-face. The Lonely Century is a book that argues we are living in an age of extreme loneliness.