Rachel Haywire

Sep 5, 2023

Is there a loneliness epidemic? Definitely. Did the lockdowns make everything worse? Absolutely. The people who orchestrated them need to be taken to trial, which is widespread knowledge. Yet there’s a misconception about how the loneliness epidemic exclusively afflicts men, primarily within the confines of dating. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Making friends as an adult, whatever your gender, feels as demoralizing and depressing as using a dating app. In many ways, it feels even worse.

Nearly half of all Americans report having fewer than three close friends while 12% admit to having no friends at all. People have fewer friends now than they’ve had in decades, and while the lockdowns are an obvious answer as to why things have become this way, they are not the only answer. The lockdowns are over, yet many people continue to socially distance as if they are still occurring. Author Philip K. Dick has a famous quote about this type of behavior: “the empire never ended.” Our guy had this modern era clocked during his sci-fi career in the 60s. While the decline of social media is forcing an online to offline shift, the methodology in which this shift is occurring is jumbled and bewildering.

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