One recent survey found that 43% of Americans feel socially isolated, and that members of Generation Z – the cohort now in their teens and early 20s – are the loneliest of all. — Dreamstime/TNS
A society’s success is gauged not just by economics but by the strength of human relationships. By that measure, the US is slipping dangerously. Bringing Americans together again will take a vigorous effort at every level of society, and public policy will have a role to play.
On paper, the US is still one of the world’s richest nations, even after accounting for inequality. But it has many problems not fully captured in income and output statistics, but which reduce quality of life for its people. One of these is a high rate of violent crime; the US has more than four times as many murders per capita as the United Kingdom, and more than 25 times as many as Japan. Another is poor health; obesity, opiate drugs, and other problems have combined to push US life expectancy below that of its rich-world peers.
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