Global Sadness

 David Brooks argues that we are in a growing tide of "global sadness" based on global polling. The main culprits are - he and the author he cites claim - loss of community, food insecurity and simple physical pain.

Loss of community I can totally see. We are a balkanized world of isolated people in crowded spaces. Social media ironically exacerbates this by amplifying those feelings of being alone in a crowded world. Food insecurity is surprising, given the decrease in global poverty, especially at the poorest levels. Same goes for physical pain.

I wonder if we aren't looking at a "relative deprivation" model where people are measuring themselves against a global elite whom they see on their TVs and other devices. A farmer in Nigeria had no way of knowing what life was like in London; now he does. 

I heard a line the other day, "Comparison is the thief of joy." We are constantly measuring ourselves against impossible standards. That can't help but make us miserable, and the worst part is, we do it to ourselves. 

I don't know what to do about this, but unhappy people are revolutionary people (look at Iran). Revolutions are usually more destructive than constructive. Not sure where we go from here.