The new surgeon general’s warning: Loneliness is harming America
Timothy P. Carney
When the surgeon general of the United States talks about what we all need more of, you might expect him to mention vegetables or exercise.
But Vivek Murthy instead told us that we all need more “social connection.” And he’s right.
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“Humans are wired for social connection,” Murthy stated in a new advisory, “but we’ve become more isolated over time.” This argument, channeling Aristotle’s insight that man is a political animal and Robert Putnam’s findings in Bowling Alone, is not a new one, but it’s a much-needed one.
Loneliness is a plague in America, and it helps explains so many of our cultural pathologies. When former President Donald Trump stated in 2015 that “the American dream is dead,” it resonated because so many people found themselves trying to get through life alone, which is not the way we are supposed to get through life.
More U.S. residents live alone than ever before, more young adults are unmarried, and fewer people go to church, volunteer, or bowl in a league than ever before. We know our neighbors less, replace human interactions with poor digital simulacra, and often believe that we can and should compile our whole lives from scratch through grit, individualism, and creativity.
The resulting loneliness is behind our outbreaks of suicide, drug abuse, and alcohol abuse — and probably our crime waves too. Loneliness harms our physical health, even if one sets aside substance abuse. “Social connection reduces the risk of premature mortality,” Murthy wrote. “It can predict better physical and mental health outcomes and ease stress.”
Loneliness and alienation are also behind our political rancor, as people (that is, political animals) project their natural need to shape the world around them onto the national political scene, where the stakes seem so much higher and futility seems so much greater.
The root cause of alienation and loneliness is the collapse of community institutions, which raises the question of what Murthy’s Department of Health and Human Services can do about it — especially because the centralization of power, commerce, and attention are some of the main enemies of local community.
For the most part, the surgeon general’s document is just advice for patients, parents, schools, and community organizations. That’s a good thing, as a federal Department of Local Community Cohesion would certainly undermine its stated aim.
Murthy’s major advisory on loneliness is pretty slim on a few important matters, such as the isolating effects of secularization and the government lockdowns, but it’s a good start to remind people that they need people.