Society Can Be Kind. Why Did Millennials Allow Themselves to be Convinced Otherwise?
Agata Sikora, essayist: Millennials were promised a world without major conflicts — all they had to do was get on with their lives. The price of this peace of mind was to be withdrawal from public life and the belief that only the private sphere matters.
By Monika Ochędowska and Agata Sikora
Monika Ochędowska: According to WHO data, more than 870,000 people die every year as a result of loneliness. It’s as if the whole of Kraków had suddenly vanished from the map. Why is this happening?
Agata Sikora: Because social bonds are weakening; we are living in ever-greater isolation. And why is that? To a large extent, it stems from the fact that we have deeply internalised neoliberal ideology. We see ourselves as entrepreneurs or consumers making free choices rather than as citizens or members of a community.
Each of us is supposed to be responsible solely for ourselves. If we don’t succeed—if, for example, we lose our job or fall ill—we have only ourselves to blame, because surely we could have worked harder, changed careers, or eaten more healthily.
