the Age of Loneliness

bird who lived on Mana Island off the coast of New Zealand was found dead near a decoy mate he spent years trying to court. According to an article in the Washington Post, Nigel migrated to the island in 2013, which was populated with some 80 decoy birds, meant to entice other followers. Nigel fell in love with one of the wooden birds, grooming her, building a nest for her, nuzzling her faded paint.

While isolation concerns only the political realm of life, loneliness concerns human life as a whole. Totalitarian government, like all tyrannies, certainly could not exist without destroying the public realm of life, that is, without destroying, by isolating men, their political capacities. But totalitarian domination as a form of government is new in that it is not content with this isolation and destroys private life as well. It bases itself on loneliness, on the experience of not belonging to the world at all, which is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man.”
Anti-democratic forces like the new waves of populism we are experiencing in the United States and throughout Europe thrive on loneliness, appealing to those who feel as if they have no place within society. With the collapse of society, individuals find themselves increasingly isolated. Today, technology and the disintegration of the public realm continue to alienate people from one another and the world, empowering political leaders like Donald Trump.