You must be lonely since media reports claim that loneliness is a problem in America.
Los Angeles Times columnist said, “There is a mass loneliness crisis going on.”
“Capitalism is Making You Lonely,” says Jacobin Magazine.
Vox claims, “Capitalism makes us feel empty inside.”
The media is wrong as usual.
In his new video, Johan Norberg argues that “there’s no empirical evidence that shows we feel more alone now than in the past.” … Researchers have found no evidence that loneliness has increased when comparing people to previous generations in the same life stage.
“But more people live alone now,” I say. “I’d think that would make them lonelier.”
Norberg says, “What the reports never mention is that people who spend less time with other people and live alone are happier in their relationships.”
When asked if they have friends or relatives who can help them, people all over the world say yes. People in countries like America, where there are more single people, tend to say ‘yes’.
In India and China, more people claim to have no one.
Norberg: “It is the exact opposite of what people expected.” In less market-based countries, 20 to 40 percent of people say they can’t count on anyone for help. In the most wealthy and individualistic societies, the number is in the single digits.
A socialist said on a YouTube channel that has 1.7 million subscribers: “Material incentives from capitalists isolate us from nature, ourselves and each other.”
Norberg responds, “I can understand why charlatans can attract an audience because we all get lonely at times.”
His new book “The Capitalist Manifesto” shows how capitalism can make life better for everyone, even those who are lonely.
Every poll shows that people are less lonely in market-oriented societies.
I push back. “Under capitalism, people compete. Sounds divisive. Sounds like it would pull us apart.”
He replies: “Feudalism is divisive, as are communism and fascism.” “All of them are based on stealing resources from someone else. Capitalism makes us think about what the other guy wants. Cooperation is the most important part of capitalism. It’s why you hear a double “Thank you” every time you purchase something.
It’s both true and odd. Both the salesperson and myself usually say “Thank you” when I pay. They get my money and I get the product that I want. I’m more interested in their product than money. They want more money than what they sell. We both feel we win.
In the market economy, we constantly provide each other with services. Norberg adds, “That’s how we become richer.” “No deal is ever made unless both parties believe that they will benefit.
Here’s a twist on that. He says capitalism makes us generous.
Researchers around the globe have been studying how generous people can be when they play different economic games for years.
In one of these games, the experimenter will give a person money and instruct them to split it up with a stranger in any way they like. Only one condition is required: The stranger must accept the proposal. No one gets anything if the other person declines.
Norberg writes that in capitalist economies “the most common proposal is to split the money 50/50; the receiver is offended by poor offers and will usually refuse if the offer is less than 30%.”
Researchers from around the world have conducted this experiment and found that people in capitalist societies are more generous.
On average, they offer two times as much as those living in the least-capitalist societies.
Norberg explains that the closer people are to markets, the more generous and kind they become. If they are constantly buying and selling and negotiating, they start to consider other people’s needs. This is what markets do. But not as the critics claim. They do not make us more aggressive and divisive. “They make us more generous.”
Capitalism has many positive aspects.
