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B.L.'s avatar

I would like to think that a lack of rootedness is a big contributor to this. Modernity wants to dissolve all of our social connections and sense of place so we can be pure consumers and fill that hole with Chinese made garbage, social media, and porn that makes your life worse. Then, in a pit of 21st century existential darkness, you can finish things off with opioids and fentanyl.

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e.pierce's avatar

That would be postmodernity (postmodern social conditions).

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e.pierce's avatar

suburban consumerism. relativism-pluralism. a tendency toward the social pathologies of narcissism and nihilism.

the economic base of postmodern values is digital capitalism and global trade-finance.

postmodern values reject the "absolutisms" of both religious myths (social order based on renunciation of evil and sin) and modern rationalism.

the industrial working classes are seen as an impediment to "progress" toward pluralistic, "planetary" culture.

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PH's avatar

And a big part of the lack of rootedness is people leaving, or having never joined, a faith community. Despite its many faults, and there are many, my Catholic school upbringing made me a permanent part of a group, with defined values and boundaries. Although I’m no longer a practicing Catholic, I am still a part of that group.

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Jan 17, 2023
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PH's avatar

Bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think? While still no fan of Catholicism, I would suggest you not throw the baby out with the bathwater. And, it was just an example, chill.

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