General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Americans are the loneliest, most isolated people [View all]Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)of friendship in the U.S., as it is elsewhere, and that has nothing to do with the fact that when we die, we die. Friendship was a brotherhood or sisterhood, a friendship that felt like family ties, something deep enough that you would give your life for your friend. That's been lost, and it seems like an oddity now. Now we assign the name, "friend" to someone who is an acquaintance, because that's basically all anyone has.
It's a loss, much like the loss of the admiration and respect that Americans once held for seniors. That's now gone. Seniors are thrown on the conveyor belt of nursing homes, not listened to, not respected. A lot of things have been lost with the breakdown of social closeness in the U.S.
The way that was done was by insisting that people do not deserve anything until and unless they're measured by the capitalism measuring stick. Can they or do they contribute? If yes, then they're worthwhile, if no, then they're useless.
It's but one iota of the social breakdown though. There's so much more to the social breakdown that has taken place in the U.S. thanks to right wing ideology.