Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Jochen Weber's avatar

Over the past few weeks, several themes in my mind have started to coalesce. The picture that emerges could be titled "relationships are primary." In one corner of that picture, I would describe a tempting but false belief that "money can save you." And I am beginning to wonder to what extent this belief is very close to the root of the problem...? From reading your book, Rob, I am taking that no matter one's economic situation, so long as a human being is well integrated into a community of others (where I am still working out just "well off" that community needs to be), then money really does not do all that much to improve the "quality of life." Conversely, if a human being is isolated in their relationships, no amount of money can lift that person out of the pit of loneliness and insecurity that comes from that experience.

My hunch for the ever shriller "luxury beliefs" (which probably have existed since people cared about any kind of luxury as status symbols) is that the necessary experience of safety -- a place from which to venture into the world and feel courage to act -- has eroded over the past 50 or so years. The reason for this is an ever greater reliance on "individual strength" (encoded in financial/economic status, but also in educational credentials, and other status markers). However, none of these markers can "make up" for the loss in quality of genuine community and friendships. The lonelier people feel, the more desperate they become in finding *SOME* marker that tells them "I am safe here." On college campuses and in cultural elite households, one such marker is a feeling of "shared beliefs" that signal "we all belong together." That these beliefs are an incredibly poor substitute for the real thing (relationships in community and with friends) will become apparent once the house of cards of these beliefs comes crashing down. And similar to a hangover, the resulting pain will be excruciating...

Expand full comment
Adam Smith's avatar

Incredibly interested in the views on Marxism and happiness. As a psychotherapist who shares similar concerns with them, I found my time with Marxist thought tedious, depressing, and not at all inspiration. I will give them they have some decent critiques of power, but it’s coupled with the most naive anthropology about the working class in particular, and people more generally.

Expand full comment
20 more comments...

No posts