The Deaths of Capitalism

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The Deaths of Capitalism

In a time when connection feels harder than ever to come by, the roots of our loneliness run far deeper than the age of smartphones and social media. To understand why the West is unraveling in a crisis of isolation, depression, and disconnection, we must first understand the arc of its history: a story of migration, invention, capitalism, and the slow dismantling of communal life. This is not merely about nostalgia for the past—it’s a sober examination of how we’ve traded the village for the market, tribal belonging for individual status, and food for profit. What’s killing us isn’t technology—it’s the breakdown of the social and ecological ecosystems that once held us. This is the story of the West.

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Please reach out if you related to anything in these articles or they trigger experiences in your own life.

A Note from Me to You

These articles are personal reflections — shaped by my experiences living in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the U.S. They’re not meant to be universal truths, but rather open windows into the cultural patterns I’ve witnessed and the questions they’ve stirred in me. Much of what I write here is about the quiet ways society can make us feel like we are the problem, when really, we’re responding in very human ways to a world that often feels disconnected or misaligned.

If something here resonates with you — if you’ve ever felt frustrated, misplaced, or just tired of trying to “fix” yourself to fit into systems that feel off — I’d love to hear from you. You’re not alone. This space is here to invite honest conversation, shared stories, and connection.

What are you navigating? What systems or beliefs have weighed on you? What are you hoping to shift?

I’d be honored to walk beside you on your path.

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“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

— Lily Tomlin

The Story of the West

Origins: From Tribal Ecosystems to Feudal Hierarchies

Human beings evolved in small groups—tribes, villages, bands of kin—where social cohesion and physical proximity created resilience. Our psychological and emotional design is adapted for communities of around 150 people, a limit supported by Dunbar’s number, a cognitive threshold identified by anthropologist Robin Dunbar. In such groups, every face is familiar, every crisis is witnessed, and every celebration shared.

Feudal Europe marked a shift from these organic communities to rigid, top-down hierarchies. Life was defined by birth, lineage, and class. The feudal system centralized power and wealth, creating large landholding families and an immobile peasant class. The few had privilege, the many had subsistence.

The American Breakaway: From Bloodlines to Bootstraps

The United States was born from a rejection of European class rigidity. The settler-colonists who left Europe—many impoverished and desperate—carried the dream of reinvention. Land, opportunity, and escape from inherited status created the mythos of the “self-made man.”

Yet in doing so, the U.S. cast aside not only the aristocracy—but also the village. The social fabric was replaced with personal ambition. The great American story became one of leaving home, striking out alone, and succeeding through grit. From the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley, the narrative remains: leave the past behind, become someone new.

Industrialization: The Death of the Village

The true rupture came with the Industrial Revolution. Across Europe and America, families were pulled off farms and drawn into cities. As factories rose, rural communities collapsed. The pace of life accelerated. Multi-generational households split. Work moved from shared, seasonal rhythms to mechanized shifts under fluorescent lights.

Aristotle once wrote that a true democracy can only function in a polis no larger than 5,000 people. In modern megacities, we have long since surpassed that number, creating systems that cannot reflect communal will. The city is too large, too fast, too anonymous.

Capitalism, Commodification, and Isolation

With industrialization came capitalism in its modern form: the commodification of everything, including time, food, health, and even relationships. In Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism (Case & Deaton, 2020), the authors show that suicide, opioid overdose, and alcohol-related disease are now claiming more American lives than ever—not because people are weaker, but because support systems have collapsed.

Meanwhile, our food systems have followed the money. Entrepreneurs like the Kelloggs, Colonel Sanders, and the McDonalds built billion-dollar empires—not to feed people, but to feed markets. The result is the most malnourished, chemically toxic food supply in the developed world.

The Mental Health Mirage: Replacing Community with Clinics

What was once processed collectively through ritual and community—grief, illness, trauma—is now isolated, pathologized, and treated behind closed doors. Mental health “awareness” campaigns have grown, but many replace community care with pills and personal branding. We have replaced tribal touch, collective care, and real human connection with giant empty rooms—sterile circles of isolated chairs for the ‘damaged,’ interrogated by the phrase: “Who wants to go next?” as if we are criminals.

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it’s connection.”
— Johann Hari

Trauma is not new. War, violence, and loss have always existed. But in a tribal setting, these experiences are shared. In the village, a woman with a violent husband has twenty brothers to intervene. Native Indians processed trauma and war in sweat lodges, together. There are no such things as ‘full time carers’ in the villages I have lived in because there are about ten or more people around always helping out. A child with a disability is cared for by a web of neighbors. In today’s world, she is left alone or institutionalized. We label and diagnose like its second nature, we have no idea what it means to be embraced.

The Myth of Social Media as the Villain

Contrary to modern scapegoating, social media is not the cause of our disconnection—it is a mirror. Humans have always compared, gossiped, and positioned themselves socially. Victorian letter writing was as emotionally fraught as Instagram scrolling. What has changed is not our nature—but our lack of community buffers.

Social media is not the illness. It is a symptom. And no different than what we’ve always been doing.

Pandemic and the Great Pause: A Return to the Self

If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic offered a strange gift: a glimpse into the truth that many already felt. In the silence, people remembered they didn’t want more money—they wanted more meaning. A slower life. Connection. Simplicity. As millions re-evaluated their lives, the illusion of endless hustle began to crack.

The Path Forward: Reweaving the Village

We are not returning to feudal farms—but we can choose intentional community. Micro-communities. Villages by choice. Shared housing, local gardens, friend-families, eco-schools, co-ops. This is not regression—it is evolution in a conscious direction.

As we wake from the spell of hyper-individualism, we must remember: it takes a village to raise a child, and a village to keep us human.

The Illusion of Progress

The West did not fail out of malice. It moved quickly, with innovation and optimism. But in running from monarchy, it created machinery. In fleeing hierarchy, it forged isolation. In the pursuit of freedom, it forgot belonging.

Now we stand at a precipice—not of collapse, but of possibility. To reclaim the village is not to go back in time, but to step forward with new awareness. It is not utopia—it is human.

This is the story of the West.

“Man is by nature a social animal… Anyone who cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.”

— Aristotle, Politics

I’d Love to Hear From You

If anything in this article spoke to you, or sparked a thought, I’d love to hear about it. Whether you want to explore these ideas more deeply or simply share what’s going on in your life right now, you’re warmly invited to reach out. You don’t need to have it all figured out — I’m here to listen, reflect, and walk beside you in whatever part of the journey you’re in..

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RESOURCES

Below is a List of Resources – Read, Watch, Listen and Be Inspired!

Books

Sebastian Junger – “Tribe”: Examines how modern soldiers often feel more fulfilled in war units than in civilian life because of the tribal bonds they form.

Vivek Murthy – “Together”: The U.S. Surgeon General’s call to confront the loneliness epidemic and rebuild social fabric.

David Brooks – “The Second Mountain”: Discusses how meaning and fulfillment are found in commitment to community, not self.

You Tube Videos

Johann Hari – “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong”

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it’s connection. Disconnection from community and meaning is a root cause of modern suffering.

Vivek Murthy – “Why We’re Experiencing a Loneliness Epidemic.

The U.S. Surgeon General discusses loneliness as a public health crisis.
Why It Fits: Direct support for your central thesis; scientific and personal perspectives on social fragmentation.

Sebastian Junger – “Our Lonely Society Makes It Hard to Come Home from War”

Soldiers miss war not for violence, but for tribal belonging. Highlights how Western society fails to replicate the safety and connection of tribal units.

Robert Waldinger – “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness”

Harvard’s 80-year study proves: close relationships are the key to a meaningful, healthy life. Scientific validation that connection—not status or wealth—builds well-being.

Podcasts & Interviews

Ezra Klein interviews Anne Case & Angus Deaton – “What Capitalism Is Doing to Us”
The authors of Deaths of Despair discuss how economic shifts created a health and suicide crisis. Foundational for your critique of capitalism’s impact on health and belonging.

On Being with Krista Tippett – “Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Intelligence of Plants”

Indigenous worldview as a path to ecological and communal healing. Supports the call for a return to balanced, reciprocal ways of living.

Rich Roll Podcast – Johann Hari on Depression, Connection, and Meaning

Hari dives deeper into how modern society breeds emotional distress and disconnection. Highly engaging and deeply relevant for your points on meaning, belonging, and despair.

TED Talks