The document summarizes and criticizes a US government advisory on addressing loneliness. It argues that the advisory's goal of strengthening social infrastructure and enacting pro-connection policies threatens freedom of association by giving the federal government too much control over communities and relationships. It claims the six pillars proposed would monitor social connections, enforce compliance with bureaucratic norms, and undermine local control through mass federal oversight of all institutions and social interactions. The author is skeptical that a large government program could genuinely address loneliness and fears it will isolate people further by invading privacy and individual freedom.
One way of breaking the ice at a social gathering is to ask, “So, what do you
study?” When you mention physics, psychology, history, dance, or theology,
people nod in understanding, since these are common subjects in high
school or elsewhere. But when you answer, “Public administration,” eyes
glaze over, because it is not a common subject. Civics has not been a mandatory
course for the past 30 or 40 years. But once you have made clear that
public administration is about government, you are not the only expert in
the room. Everyone has opinions about government: Government cannot
be trusted. Government is bureaucratic, riddled with red tape, slow
and unresponsive. Government collects too much in taxes and should leave
people alone. Government is too big.
The presentation is based on a philosophical paper which outlines both the causes of the current attack on the welfare state and recommends new thinking about the purpose and structure of the welfare state
Inequality in Healthcare Essay examples
Essay on Inequality
The Issue Of Inequality
Essay about Inequality in Life
Essay about A Discourse on Inequality
Inequality
Social Inequality Essay
Thesis For Inequality
Research in sociological literatures states that people think and take action according to their cognitive structure and that technology is perceived with an understanding of change from old to news technologies that integrate specialty and demarcation. And socio-technical systems incorporate sociological processes that lead to the visionary leadership. This basic concept validates that policy and socio-technical linkage provides a framework of governance system and ensures environment sustainability. Consequently the adaptive governance corporate social responsibility and drives visionary political and managerial leadership.
One way of breaking the ice at a social gathering is to ask, “So, what do you
study?” When you mention physics, psychology, history, dance, or theology,
people nod in understanding, since these are common subjects in high
school or elsewhere. But when you answer, “Public administration,” eyes
glaze over, because it is not a common subject. Civics has not been a mandatory
course for the past 30 or 40 years. But once you have made clear that
public administration is about government, you are not the only expert in
the room. Everyone has opinions about government: Government cannot
be trusted. Government is bureaucratic, riddled with red tape, slow
and unresponsive. Government collects too much in taxes and should leave
people alone. Government is too big.
The presentation is based on a philosophical paper which outlines both the causes of the current attack on the welfare state and recommends new thinking about the purpose and structure of the welfare state
Inequality in Healthcare Essay examples
Essay on Inequality
The Issue Of Inequality
Essay about Inequality in Life
Essay about A Discourse on Inequality
Inequality
Social Inequality Essay
Thesis For Inequality
Research in sociological literatures states that people think and take action according to their cognitive structure and that technology is perceived with an understanding of change from old to news technologies that integrate specialty and demarcation. And socio-technical systems incorporate sociological processes that lead to the visionary leadership. This basic concept validates that policy and socio-technical linkage provides a framework of governance system and ensures environment sustainability. Consequently the adaptive governance corporate social responsibility and drives visionary political and managerial leadership.
El Puerto de Algeciras continúa un año más como el más eficiente del continente europeo y vuelve a situarse en el “top ten” mundial, según el informe The Container Port Performance Index 2023 (CPPI), elaborado por el Banco Mundial y la consultora S&P Global.
El informe CPPI utiliza dos enfoques metodológicos diferentes para calcular la clasificación del índice: uno administrativo o técnico y otro estadístico, basado en análisis factorial (FA). Según los autores, esta dualidad pretende asegurar una clasificación que refleje con precisión el rendimiento real del puerto, a la vez que sea estadísticamente sólida. En esta edición del informe CPPI 2023, se han empleado los mismos enfoques metodológicos y se ha aplicado un método de agregación de clasificaciones para combinar los resultados de ambos enfoques y obtener una clasificación agregada.
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
El Puerto de Algeciras continúa un año más como el más eficiente del continente europeo y vuelve a situarse en el “top ten” mundial, según el informe The Container Port Performance Index 2023 (CPPI), elaborado por el Banco Mundial y la consultora S&P Global.
El informe CPPI utiliza dos enfoques metodológicos diferentes para calcular la clasificación del índice: uno administrativo o técnico y otro estadístico, basado en análisis factorial (FA). Según los autores, esta dualidad pretende asegurar una clasificación que refleje con precisión el rendimiento real del puerto, a la vez que sea estadísticamente sólida. En esta edición del informe CPPI 2023, se han empleado los mismos enfoques metodológicos y se ha aplicado un método de agregación de clasificaciones para combinar los resultados de ambos enfoques y obtener una clasificación agregada.
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
To Address The Loneliness Epidemic, The Feds Want To Control Your Town And Friends
1. Free Speech Lives
Grab your freebies!
To Address Loneliness, The Feds
Want To Control Your Friends
To Address Loneliness, The Feds
Want To Control Your Friends
The project is potentially so massive in scope that it
threatens to regulate our freedom of association in
shocking ways.
By Stella Morabito
9 min. read
View original
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently released an
advisory titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” It
warns that social isolation is a major public health problem.
The 81-page document presents six government-directed
“pillars” of action to address the health hazards of social
isolation.
On the surface, these six directives may look innocuous, but
they present a clear and present danger to the autonomy of
our private lives and relationships. The project is potentially so
massive in scope that it’s not an overstatement to say it
2. threatens to regulate our freedom of association in ways we
never could have imagined.
Let’s look in greater depth at those pillars and the risks they
pose.
‘Building a Social Infrastructure’
The first stated goal is to “strengthen social infrastructure in
local communities.” It defines “social infrastructure” as the
regular events and institutions that make up community life,
and says the federal government should both fund local
organizations and direct how they’re structured, including their
locations. This can only mean that all local communities must
answer to the federal bureaucracy in the quest to strengthen
social connections among people.
Social infrastructure, the report says, includes physical parts of
a community, such as housing, libraries, parks and recreation
spaces, transport systems, and so forth. The report expresses
concern that some people have better access to such
locations than other people, and recommends federal
interventions.
Those are likely to be used to promote densified housing along
the lines of the “15-minute city” (more accurately termed 15-
minute ghettoes), as well as the eventual dismantling of single-
family housing. The goal of replacing private vehicles with
public transportation fits easily into this scheme too.
I don’t presume that this plan will, by itself, drive wholesale
changes in our physical infrastructure. But it would certainly
3. provide authority and justification for changes supported by
radical environmentalists, all of which diminish our freedoms.
The advisory warns that participation is mandatory if the plan
is to work: “It will take all of us — individuals, families, schools,
and workplaces, health care and public health systems,
technology companies, governments, faith organizations, and
communities — working together…”
The report’s proposed infrastructure to solve the problem of
social isolation seems designed to lock everybody into
compliance with and dependence upon federal mandates.
Local control is then lost.
We end up with a massive federal infrastructure that can
monitor the levels of social connection and disconnection in
every nook and cranny of society. As described in the report,
this would mean every institution, every governmental
department, every volunteer association, every locality, every
church, every faith community, every organization, every club,
every service club, every sports league, and so on, would
likely be assessed and “strengthened” to promote social
connection.
‘Enact Pro-Connection Public Policies
Everywhere’
According to the second pillar, “Government has a
responsibility to use its authority to monitor and mitigate the
public health harm caused by policies, products, and services
that drive social disconnection.” How will these be tracked and
mitigated? It “requires establishing cross-departmental
4. leadership to develop and oversee an overarching social
connection strategy. Diversity, equity, inclusion, [DEI] and
accessibility are critical components of any such strategy.”
In other words, some people are more socially connected than
others, and that’s not fair. They enjoy benefits — as in “
unearned privileges” — that put others at a disadvantage. So
the government needs to intervene for the sake of equity to
“spread the wealth” of social connections.
DEI is a creature of identity politics, which serves to erase
human individuality and replace it with demographic identity
markers that label people as either oppressors or victims, thus
cultivating more resentments and hostilities in society. By
injecting the codes of DEI into all social relationships, we’re
bound to become even more divided, alienated, and lonely.
And the federal government is bound to become even more
authoritarian and meddlesome in our personal relationships
and social interactions.
‘Mobilize the Health Sector’
Another threat to the private sphere of life comes under the
directive to “mobilize the health sector” by expanding “public
health surveillance and interventions.” This sounds very much
like tracking your social connections and intervening when the
bureaucracy deems it necessary. Big Brother sitting in on your
doctor visits and therapy sessions?
The report indicates that health care workers will be trained to
track cases of what the government views as social
connection and disconnection. As they obediently report to the
5. federal bureaucracy, most individual and local control will be
lost. Medicine is bound to become more federalized and less
private than ever when answering to these mandates.
Consider also that mental health practitioners are already
suggesting that signs of racial or cultural bias should be
classified as a mental illness. Of course, to the promoters of
DEI, all white people are inherently racially biased, simply
because of their skin color. This brings to mind the disturbing
practice in the Soviet Union of consigning political dissenters
to psychiatric treatment. The official line was that you must be
mentally ill if you disagree with communism.
‘Reform Digital Environments’
The advisory recognizes that overuse of the internet and social
media can drive people deeper into social isolation. But it also
promotes centralized government control over technology
development, especially in human interactions: “We must learn
more by requiring data transparency from technology
companies,” it says. So government would decide how to
design and use such technologies. It would very likely compel
technology companies to provide data to the government on
Americans’ social connections.
The advisory also backs the “development of pro-connection
technologies” with the goal of creating “safe” environments
and “safeguarding the well-being of users.” Such phrasing has
been used in recent years to justify censorship under the guise
of protecting certain demographics.
6. In light of the importance of DEI to the overall strategy, this
sounds ominously like a call for further “protection,” i.e.,
government control of the private sphere. Again, the primary
director of all these remedies is the federal bureaucracy, not a
trusted family member, friend, pastor, or neighbor.
‘Deepening Our Knowledge’
The fifth pillar of the advisory pushes a “research agenda” that
enlists all “stakeholders” — that means every level of
government, every organization, every corporation, every
school, every family, every individual — to deepen their
knowledge about social connection and disconnection. Of
course, the advisory has already predetermined the outcome
of much of this research, and we can be reasonably confident
this research will reflect the outlook offered by the advisory.
After all, that’s how researchers get grants and research
contracts.
I imagine institutions will publicize their “studies” through a
media monopoly that promotes the preferred narrative on what
kinds of relationships we should have, what we can and can’t
talk about. Essentially, we’ll get a flood of government
propaganda about their preferences for human relationships.
In the context of today’s censorship regime, this means
promoting a single narrative that will drown any competing
views offered by critics and the public with the favored views of
government and corporate interests, parroted endlessly by Big
Media.
‘Cultivate a Culture of Social Connection’
7. Finally, the advisory advocates for cultivating “a culture of
connection,” one based on “kindness, respect, service, and
commitment to one another.” This sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, our government’s relentless push for woke
policies tells us that we cannot expect to understand those
terms as traditional virtues.
Rather, such terms will likely be used in woke Orwellian
fashion, to direct our social interactions and behaviors. For
example, not dating a transgender person is now labeled
unkind and “transphobic.” “Gender affirming care” — i.e.,
castration and mutilation of children — is the only “respectful”
way of treating gender dysphoria. Your “responsibility” is to
comply without question.
The advisory also calls for the media and the arts to promote
stories that encourage “connection,” most likely in the
Orwellian sense that wokeness demands. Further, the report
cautions that certain kinds of social connection are harmful for
individuals and society. It warns that too much like-
mindedness can lead to extremism and violence.
We should be very skeptical of the federal government’s role
in deciding which groups it deems acceptable, given its
growing politicization of law enforcement, its attempts to
silence concerned parents at school board meetings by
labeling them “domestic terrorists,” and its overall undermining
of due process and the Bill of Rights.
The Historical Pattern of Big Government Is
Atomization, Not Social Connection
8. Ironies abound in this advisory. The pretext for government
injecting itself into our personal lives is to rescue us from the
misery of our loneliness epidemic. Never mind that
government policies are largely to blame for family breakdown,
welfare dependency, urban blight, attacks on free speech,
attacks on privacy, and countless other developments that
result in an acute sense of isolation and polarization.
Never mind that the proven prescription for loneliness is the
opposite: a private sphere of life where intact families raise
their children with a sense of virtue; where institutions of faith
give people a sense of order and purpose in life; and where
friends can confide in one another without meddlers
eavesdropping on their conversations. This sphere of life —
the private sphere — is the fount of freedom, love, and trust
that nurtures social connections. It can only thrive in privacy.
But this private sphere seems to be in the crosshairs of
Murthy’s massive government project to “fix” the social
connections of all Americans. The government will doubtless
enlist a media monopoly and Big Tech for support in
monitoring those connections.
Given the current direction of this administration’s policies, it
will also deploy heavy-handed political censorship — of which
Murthy already proved a huge fan during Covid — to enforce
compliance and punish dissent. Such censorship heightens
the fear of speaking openly, which only builds more walls
between people. Ironically, we would end up more atomized
than ever.
The Tentacles of Bureaucracy
9. This may sound over the top to a general reader who may find
the advisory benign and even welcoming, and perhaps just a
narrowly focused plan to address a recognized health issue.
I am very skeptical about that for two reasons. The first is the
natural inclinations of bureaucracies populated by “experts.”
Bureaucracies never shrink. They continuously bloat. That’s
the nature of the beast. Their protectors keep pushing their
relevance on some issue or problem. Their experts — who will
always “know better” than anyone else — will present
solutions to be deployed by the bureaucracy. Compliance will
then be demanded. And the bureaucracy will continue to bloat
until its tentacles strangle every area of life.
The second reason for skepticism is history, which is filled with
examples of governments invading the private sphere of life,
specifically the institutions of family, faith, and community.
That private sphere is still the most decentralized area of life,
the one in which individuals are most able to think and speak
freely, unless the government invades. Communist China, the
Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany are prime examples in the
20th century of government invading the private sphere.
Eminent sociologist Robert Nisbet wrote about the deep-
seated tendency of governments to hijack the functions of the
mediating institutions of family, faith, and community. When
the government takes over those functions, we lose those
institutions as buffer zones between the isolated individual and
the all-powerful state. We become powerless in the resulting
isolation.
10. Nisbet posed this rhetorical question: “What remains then, but
to rescue the masses from their loneliness, their
hopelessness, and despair, by leading them into the promised
land of the absolute, redemptive State?”
I believe the surgeon general’s advisory vindicates Nisbet’s
point. Indeed, the state creates the malady and then offers its
authority as the only cure as it rushes into the vacuum. The
strategy for doing so seems evident in the report’s “six pillars.”
Where Does It All End?
No one can say for sure where this “Ministry of Loneliness”
proposal will end up. History — particularly recent history —
has warned us about such projects. The goals of this advisory
may seem unobjectionable, but the concern is about who
decides how we connect socially.
When the “who” is the federal government, we should
remember that the pattern of the mass state is always to
induce loyalty to the mass state. That pattern always comes
with a push to surrender our loyalty to one another as
individual human beings capable of real kindness and real
love. That amounts to something I call the weaponization of
loneliness.
We must insist on making our own decisions to live as free
individuals. That means pushing back in any way possible
against potential intrusions in the private sphere of life. It
means rejecting the pseudo-intimacy and pseudo-connection
that our federal government seems intent on foisting upon us
in exchange for control of our private lives and relationships.
11. Otherwise, we end up in much worse isolation that renders us
powerless and unfree.
Stella Morabito is a senior contributor at The Federalist. She is
author of "The Weaponization of Loneliness: How Tyrants
Stoke Our Fear of Isolation to Silence, Divide, and Conquer."
Her essays have appeared in various publications, including
the Washington Examiner, American Greatness, Townhall,
Public Discourse, and The Human Life Review. In her previous
work as an intelligence analyst, Morabito focused on various
aspects of Russian and Soviet politics, including communist
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