Addiction and Authoritarianism

As I read Michelle Goldberg’s article in the New York Times, Loneliness is Breaking America, her description of the causes of totalitarian ideologies and authoritarianism sounded exactly like the underlying causes of addiction….. loneliness, disconnection, isolation and the breakdown of social relationships.
We learned from Johann Hari that the opposite of addiction is not sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection. Michelle Goldberg quotes Hannah Arendt that lonely people are drawn to totalitarian ideologies…. “The chief characteristic of the mass man is not brutality and backwardness but his isolation and lack of normal social relationships”.
It is not surprising then that both addiction and authoritarianism have been exacerbated by Covid. The social distancing, isolation and disconnection from community required to protect us from the virus has resulted in 93,000 overdose deaths and a marked increase in movements fueled by conspiracies and antivaxing hysteria.
Isolated, atomized people, craving connection find temporary solace in QAnon and / or substances and other compulsive activities.
The increase in loneliness and disconnection has been growing for many years and for many reasons too numerous to name .There is no easy ,immediate fix.Social media, allegedly designed to connect us has unfortunately worked against us ,increasing polarization and self deception. The digital culture is contrary to authentic connection.inviting curated, imaginary, perfect and projected selves, distractions rather than connections.
Community is the healing agent for pathological loneliness. The most powerful healing community I know is the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, one addict helping another, offering authentic acceptance and belonging, filling the hole in the soul that craves connection. David Brooks writes about Weavers, spontaneous communities forming to address social ills. A recent article in the New Yorker called Togetherness talks about a noticeable rush to communal living in places like Treehouse as an antidote to the loneliness of single family dwelling and suggests that single family living is ill suited to modern life.
In summary, we are confronting two deadly diseases, Covid and loneliness and the treatments contradict one another. What a dilemma!