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Comment by jollybean | Hacker News Reader

I think the key insight in your comment is that adulthood takes a kind of social maturity and that we have crashed a lot of institutions that have developed over centuries and millennia, and that people (including everyone) don't quite yet fathom the degree to which they were a part of the social fabric.

I wish education and homes were a bit less expensive, I feel a bit for Gen Y/Z as they've been through 2 existential crisis and definitely have some legit beefs, but on this one, I think they should be coming into the office, joining social groups.

Political polarization, and not vaxx polarization is part of the problem, sadly every brand on the Internet that communications anything is a bit part of the problem, some more than others.

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I used to read the newspaper everyday and cared about societal issues. After this pandemic & the response to it, I've lost all faith and excitement about society. My loneliness will only get worse

The 'newspaper' is not a source of social issues, it's all political, particularly in the US.

Your community is.

Also, the global response to the pandemic has been the most amazing thing in human history: we have never been so rapid and coordinated. Never have international institutions worked together across the globe in concert like this.

We had a vaccine crated before the disease even hit the West, we tested and manufactured over several months.

Vax hesitancy is understandable, although the anti-vax stuff is terrible, it's mostly been an American thing.

Even the coordinated economic measures, as crap as they are ... were on the whole good.

If this were 50 years ago, we would be dying at 5x the rate and the Fiscal Policy / Central Banks I don't think would have reacted and we would be in a terrible recession with serious calamity. It would have been destructive globally, maybe even leading to war.

You bring up some good points, I agree the vaccine was a miracle and I hope we can find many more cures to all the diseases out there. However, I personally am more gloomy about how countries are witholding information about the origins of the pandemic, nations without domestic vaccines have been left behind with who knows how many dead, lockdowns + economic pains + supply shortages + postponed elections have led to terrible crises like the war in Ethiopia or the overthrow of democratically elected leaders like in Myanmmar.

As for the "community," that has slowly been disintegrating in modern societies around the world. I can only personally attest to not feeling like I belong to one myself, whether it be a neighborhood, church, workplace, or anything else that people find community in. Not necessarily for lack of trying, but for not finding a group of people who deeply understand and accept me - aka loneliness.

China's coverup of their ills is a 2/10 for the bad things they have done even in recent history. That's normal.

As far as group cohesion, yes, it's a problem, I totally agree. Though don't think anyone 'understands' anyone, often not even their spouses or closest relatives, so keep your chin up and keep an open mind, be thankful for the things you do have.

Thanks for the positive message. As I've grown older and matured, I've learned to be content and even amusedly appreciative of both the beauty and many flaws of the world. I've also developed a better relationship with myself through writing more and giving myself the time and space to think about and appreciate who I am and how far I've come.

Hope you have beautiful day and a beautiful life ahead.

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