May I call you?

In addition to our current geopolitical chaos, we are in the middle of a worldwide loneliness epidemic. All the statistics bear it out and almost at every age level; we are more disconnected on a face to face basis than ever before. 

Texting and emojies have taken the place of calling and even when encouraged the latter must be preceeded by a warning text asking for permission. Texts are answered hours or days later or sometimes not at all. This is just one of the symptoms of the malaise which we are all immersed in even if I am among those who are prompt to respond. 

One third of people tell pollsters that they are profoundly lonely much of the time which is a stark statistic. You could see this coming when we embraced technology with such gusto and then had the misfortune of meeting a once in a hundred year pandemic which only exacerbated things. 

I have more time to observe this now that I have stepped off the hamster wheel of work which keeps us distracted. The speed of everything is what prevents us from fully realizing that something is deeply wrong. 

Human beings seem to like overshooting and then learning from its consequences. It is why every era suffers from a myopia on some front until a correction is made only to then fall short somewhere else. 

Romantic arrangements are also on life support as a result and the apps which kept many hopeful aren't working. An overabundance of men fight for the attention of a smaller group of women who have more options and choice than ever. The rules of marriage, if it occurs at all, will be forever changed because we have largely removed the financial model which lay at its core.