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The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

afterbabel.com

221–230 of 824 posts

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#221
post #180
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What frustrates me is that, it seems (Read as: the following is just my vibe) that the majority of 3rd places left are religious in nature, but I, personally, don't want to be religious or raise children that are. There are some options, of course, but they're limited and often of poor quality, at least locally. Libraries are trying to adapt to fill this gap, and maker spaces spring up but most don't have funding to…

The mad rush to as quickly abolish religious practices in mainstream U.S. culture without any form of societal replacement is puzzling to me. I am no fan of religion having grown up in an exceedingly religious environment. But it was always completely obvious to me even as a child that the primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on. We seem to be doing it w…

It seems to me that a lot of the "community" hole left by religion declining is being quickly filled in by politics, which itself is taking on quasi-religious attributes.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#222

About 9 years ago I traveled to the US from India for education. Smartphones were still not very common in India cause data was not as cheap as it is today. When I was in the bus commuting everyone’s head was buried in their phones. I thought to myself this is such a sad thing. Look outside talk to each other but the every single person had an iPhone and was doing something on the phone. Fast forward to 2024 and ever…

When I'm out at a sit-down restaurant, I always make a mental note of everyone who has their phone out on the table. It's usually 50-50. Not necessarily using them, but within view, as if they're waiting for something else instead of prioritizing the people who took the time to be physically around them in the same place and time. No wonder lots of people feel disconnected. They forgot how to connect in even the most…

People take phones and sometimes even wallets out of their pocket when they sit down for comfort.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#223

The books the authors cite are great and worth reading. Some personal observations: - The USA lacks a unified cultural identity now. There are lots of reasons for this. But, it's considered taboo to express a love of the USA - which hurts our community + culture. - People put a lot of effort into work, and work is becoming more transactional. No more "life-long employment with the buddies" kind of situation. - Americ…

Speaking as a non-American who visited for the first time last year: > But, it's considered taboo to express a love of the USA American flags _everywhere_' Like seriously, I visited both liberal areas (Seattle) and conservative areas (Spokane's surrounds) and y'all patriotic as _fuck_. > Wars used to be a way to unify a country... Also because the US is just not threatened by anyone. I'd hope that going back to being…

> I'd hope that going back to being the Arsenal of Democracy for Ukraine (and maybe Taiwan or South Korea if things go bad) would've tied the US together, but man I was wrong there.

I mean, it's not like we need to be rolling out a B-29 every minute or an aircraft carrier a week to defeat Russia there. Just cleaning out some of the stock from the 80's held them off for months. Logistically, the war in Ukraine just isn't very taxing to maintain a psuedo-stalemate. If anything, NATO+ wants to keep this ulcer open for as long as it can in Russia, bleed them white.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#224
post #21

I've noticed an uptick recently of large brands to start referring to themselves as "The [Brand] Community". The author pointed out Youtube here (who in an Orwellian manner calls their ToS "community guidelines") but I've also seen it with many other multi-million dollar companies such as Reddit, Twitter, etc. Young people today are reaching out for real support structures, but only receiving manipulation from corpor…

Frankly, same thing with a lot of OSS projects. Everything is a "community," joyously writing code together and following community guidelines while singing and dancing! It's grotesque.

I agree, it rubs me the wrong way that simply enjoying or consuming a particular thing or doing certain activities seems to automatically make you part of the “community” of that thing. Or maybe this isn’t really true and is just what I perceive.

But I don’t like feeling like I am being spoken for, or have it automatically assumed that everyone partaking in something all share a set of values or community-wide beliefs.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#226
post #186

The lack of religion is a big factor. I'd argue as much as the internet. Religious activity--putting aside the well-documented negatives--gives group identity, belonging, a welcoming atmosphere, an in-person place to socialise, associated group events and a connection to your geographic community. The rush to abandon religion never replaced the essential in-person community it offered its adherents.

Tight knit irreligious communities always existed. I grew up in one, nobody in my family is/was religious, yet people still were close. I think the top comment nails down the root cause — rampant individualism is rewarded from an economical and financial stand point, so people avoid making sacrifices for others. If you check out very religious societies (other than closed down sects), they have a significant decline…

> But actively asserting ideas and beliefs that don’t hold ground in the modern days...

You realize that's an opinion right? Not a fact.

Such a broad and loaded generalization too.

Religion might not have a place in modern society >to youNot to mention that, just because non-religious groups are also able to become close and social, it doesn't mean that religion doesn't help here too. So there is a flaw in this logic.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#227
post #180
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What frustrates me is that, it seems (Read as: the following is just my vibe) that the majority of 3rd places left are religious in nature, but I, personally, don't want to be religious or raise children that are. There are some options, of course, but they're limited and often of poor quality, at least locally. Libraries are trying to adapt to fill this gap, and maker spaces spring up but most don't have funding to…

The mad rush to as quickly abolish religious practices in mainstream U.S. culture without any form of societal replacement is puzzling to me. I am no fan of religion having grown up in an exceedingly religious environment. But it was always completely obvious to me even as a child that the primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on. We seem to be doing it w…

> he primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on

I just don't think that is true for or to many, likely most, religious people. Community is an aspect but at its core it's a religion. You can't be a part of the community without believing, or at least pretending to believe, in the religion.

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#228

Well, yes, we've doubled down on mediating social interactions through economic relationships. Most of the interactions adults have in their lives are with or in the framing of economic relations. Homes, are being invaded with tablets and mobile devices which bring along with them framing interactions as economic relations through ad and consumer frames. Workplaces are inherently settings of economic relations, and t…

It's kinda impressive how often Marx's 19th century diagnoses of the ills of capitalism prove themselves true in the 21st century.

[deleted]

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#229
post #180
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What frustrates me is that, it seems (Read as: the following is just my vibe) that the majority of 3rd places left are religious in nature, but I, personally, don't want to be religious or raise children that are. There are some options, of course, but they're limited and often of poor quality, at least locally. Libraries are trying to adapt to fill this gap, and maker spaces spring up but most don't have funding to…

The mad rush to as quickly abolish religious practices in mainstream U.S. culture without any form of societal replacement is puzzling to me. I am no fan of religion having grown up in an exceedingly religious environment. But it was always completely obvious to me even as a child that the primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on. We seem to be doing it w…

Facebook makes money by advertising someone else's products, while religious organizations make money by advertising their own. Is the devil somewhere in those details? Could the disingenuousness of advertising be interfering with the desired authenticity of personal relationships?

Re: The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community

#230
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mad rush to as quickly abolish religious practices in mainstream U.S. culture without any form of societal replacement is puzzling to me. I am no fan of religion having grown up in an exceedingly religious environment. But it was always completely obvious to me even as a child that the primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on. We seem to be doing it w…

> The mad rush to as quickly abolish religious practices in mainstream U.S. culture without any form of societal replacement is puzzling to me. > I am no fan of religion having grown up in an exceedingly religious environment. But it was always completely obvious to me even as a child that the primary purpose of religion was to form local communities and have others with shared values to rely on. It is a problem, but…

There are certain elements that are not true. But other ones are true. There are many ways to alleviate suffering.
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