Is the culture of individualism destroying our relationships?

Friendship within capitalism becomes a radical act, a kind of investment or sacrifice from which to obtain some kind of return as society becomes increasingly individualistic. Will love be our salvation?

This culture of extreme individualism, which is widespread in neoliberal thinking, is what is making the creation or appreciation of interpersonal relationships increasingly difficult. These often end up dissolving due to a series of factors that have moved and/or affected, above all, the new generations. From the precariousness or the culture of exploitation in “progressive” or creative jobs, to the feeling of loneliness or isolation, which is often chronically connected to the epidemic of contemporary anxiety.

The fact of living (or surviving) based on the cult of productivity within a work-centric system, after all, means that we have to organize our whole life to the millimeter, even the social aspects, triggering the destruction or separation with certain people.

This hyper-individualistic approach is precisely what leads to the fact that our social circles are becoming smaller and smaller, and that, in turn, we feel lonelier than ever. That we find ourselves induced in a deep collective sadness, while that constant need to socialize or to be eternally connected persists; but, above all, not to stop producing at any time.

THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

The basic qualities that could define a solid relationship, such as sharing problems, helping each other or spending time with another person, seem to be diluted when, beyond not having the material time to do so, due to issues such as our incessant work lives, we do not have the energy or the mental capacity to be in sync or in emotional balance in that friendship. Many times empathizing with the pain or problems of others is difficult when you have to cope with your own, or when that friendship does not “benefit” your mental health.

In this sense, in TikTok there is already the trend of “traumatic dumping”: a buzzword that criticizes the fact of oversharing problems or emotions with the people around us. At this point, all that remains is to project a series of superficial gestures to people or online users through the networks.

In the end, structural capitalism is submerging us in the belief that work, beyond being necessary for economic production, makes up a large part of our identity, when it is only a part of it, often even minimal, causing this narrative or thinking to permeate society and lead to social isolation and to conceiving social relationships as bonds lacking in utility.