The Price of Proximity
In our relentless pursuit of economic security, we've inadvertently commodified the very foundations of human connection. Time—once freely exchanged between friends—has become our scarcest resource, meticulously budgeted and increasingly expensive to share.
We inhabit a paradox: never more financially interconnected yet socially isolated. Our economic systems value productivity over presence, efficiency over empathy. We've created neighbourhoods designed for property values rather than conversation, workplaces that extract commitment while severing collegial bonds, and digital platforms that simulate togetherness while harvesting our attention.
The modern friendship doesn't merely compete with work—it has been subjugated by the same market forces. We schedule friendships like meetings, optimise social gatherings for convenience, and unconsciously evaluate relationships through the lens of investment and return. Those who can afford to outsource domestic labours gain the luxury of social time, while others work second jobs during hours once reserved for community.
The crisis of connection isn't simply about individual choices or technology—it reflects a society that has forgotten that meaningful relationships require something our economic system struggles to value: unproductive, inefficient, gloriously purposeless time together.