There is a continuous discussion on the issue of loneliness on media in England during the pandemic. I remember a writer said she had not met any friends for a year because of the lockdown. Recently, Noreena Hertz’s ‘The Lonely Century’ was published and she also included this topic in her new work.

I have been a big fan of Noreena Hertz for years. I was fascinated by one of her early works titled ‘The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy’. The book was first published in 2003. At that time, among 100 largest economies, 51 are corporations and 49 are nation-states. Hertz argued that global enterprises would be more powerful and influential than nation-states. It would widen the gap between poor and rich, between extreme poverty and unbelievable wealth. After almost twenty years, we admit that Hertz is really visionary.

Hertz is an economist and serves as a consultant for many governments. In this book, she starts with her interesting personal story. Before the pandemic, she hired a friend to have lunch and shopping with her. This ‘hired’ friend has nothing to do with sex. Really, just a friend. Hertz asked her ‘hired’ friend which is the largest target group. Her ‘hired’ friend replied, ‘the age group of 30-40. They are mostly professionals and seem not to have much time to make friends.’

Therefore, Hertz coins the term ‘Economics of Loneliness’. Before the pandemic, 3 of the 5 Americans admitted they were lonely. In well-developed countries, the trend is similar. Hertz mentioned the example of the Japanese elderly. In these twenty years, criminals over 65 have increased 3 times. In this age group of criminals, 70% would commit crimes again. These kinds of prisoners think prisons have created a community for them and this is not possible at home. One prisoner said, ‘I don’t feel lonely. I always have someone near me.’

Nevertheless, the loneliest age group is the youngest. In the US, in the generation of millennium, every 1 of 5 said they do not have friends. In the UK, half of the kids aged between 10 and 15 said they are always or sometimes lonely.

Hertz emphasized that loneliness is not only a psychological problem. It seriously affects physical health. She cited researches stating that loneliness is even more harmful than lacking exercise, alcoholism and obesity. Loneliness is equivalent to 15 cigarettes a day.

The most thought-provoking is Hertz’s definition of loneliness. Her definition doesn’t limit to loss of love, company and intimacy. It also doesn’t only apply to being ignored by your beloved and lacking care. Loneliness comes from disassociation from peers, your senior in the workplace, community and government as well. You don’t feel having any support and care from the above parties. Loneliness includes the disassociation with oneself.

Hertz’s definition of loneliness puts us back into a wider social and global context. When seeing the word ‘loneliness’, we easily associate it with lacking support from one’s lover and families. Hertz then elaborates how Neo-Liberalism causes this serious problem. ‘The Lonely Century’ is undoubtedly a very important book of our age which examines our condition of existence seriously. I will continue to discuss this book in later articles.

(Pat To Yan, Active in Hong Kong and German Theatre. Playwright, Director, Lecturer. Elected Council Member and the Chairman of the committee of Literary Art of Hong Kong Arts Development Council.)

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