Alone in the Apocalypse

Some thoughts on the "loneliness" epidemic

Photo by Chetan Hireholi on Unsplash

I read a story once where a single woman was asked if she wasn’t lonely being by herself all the time. She just smiled and said, “I’m alone, not lonely, there’s a difference.”

There has been a lot of attention paid to the loneliness epidemic among older people. The assumption is always that because older people are not out and about, participating in the madness that is modern society, that they are lonely and therefore need some sort of help. They may need counseling, or they may need to have relatives force them into interacting, or they may need to buy some product that will make them less lonely.

The same is true of younger people, but I can’t speak to their experience, I can’t even speak to yours. I can only speak to mine.

I am never lonely.

When I was younger I loved to read, I liked reading much more than interacting with humans. My father told what few friends I had that he was convinced I was suicidal because I didn’t play by the rules of society.

I have the capacity to endlessly entertain myself with books, playing the piano, going to the park, or just staring out the window.

Now and then I will call someone, but that’s only about once or twice each week, which is all I can handle.

I believe the loneliness epidemic was made up as a ploy, following as it did on the heels of the COVID lockdowns, to get people out and spending money.

As with every other “return to normal” grift, the people in charge lose money when we are content, they lose money when we don’t participate, they lose money when we are happy, and losing money is something they can not tolerate, and so we are told to get back on the horse, to go out and make new friends, to go to restaurants, and bars, and movie theaters, to go out and spend money.

Although I used to quite enjoy going to the movies, and bars, and restaurants, I have given all that up for the sake of my health and my peace of mind.

I had only marginally accepted the idea of being a participant in their world before the pandemic, and COVID gave me an excuse to allow my misanthropic passenger to thrive.

He is the only company I need.

It may come to pass in the near future, in addition to all the other horrors we face, that being alone will not be accepted.

As I’ve discussed before, there is no community that I can be part of because, despite their lofty claims, they will not take precautions to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

If you are alone and happy, if your life contains all that you need it to, then don’t buy into the hype. I think us loners will be just fine without the “others.” It’s very possible that we will be better than fine.

As Groucho Marx said, “I wouldn’t belong to any club that would have me as a member.”

All alone and glad of it.

---

I’m joining the beggars banquet and including this link so you can send me money if you want. You will earn a place on my wall of smiley faces with a small contribution.