Is there anything that says “government” more than this?

Senator Chris Murphy just announced a bill that would establish an office within the federal government that would purport to combat loneliness. He calls it the “National Strategy for Social Connection Act.”

No, I am not kidding.

NEWS: Today I’m introducing a groundbreaking bill – the National Strategy for Social Connection Act.

It creates a federal office to combat the growing epidemic of American loneliness, develops anti-loneliness strategies, and fosters best practices to promote social connection. pic.twitter.com/hPLyCjKOXF

— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 18, 2023

There is so much to unpack here.

First of all, let’s admit that there is a serious problem here. It is true that social connections have frayed, and that the consequences of that fraying are pretty dire. Our lifespans, our sense of meaning and fulfillment, and our happiness are all largely determined by our relationships with people. First, of course, is the strength of our relationships with family, followed by friends and community ties.

Okey dokey. Gotta agree that there is a problem.

Now, let’s consider why that is, why it has become a crisis, and how best to tackle the issue. Is establishing a presidential-level office staffed by Sam Brinton’s brother or Anthony Fauci’s best friend a proper response? Perhaps Kamala Harris can take a stab at the problem.

So why is there such a crisis in human connection in the United States (and likely the entire West)?

There are longer-term reasons and immediate reasons. Obviously, I can’t claim to know them all, and of those for which I have theories I haven’t the finger strength to write about all of them. But some are obvious and pop to mind right away.

First, did anybody notice that for years the powers that be have been preaching to us that every human being around us is a walking death trap that we should avoid at all costs? Stay away from work. Cover your face. Stay far apart. Communicate by Zoom and text. Harshly criticize and even report people who gather together.

No, you can’t visit grandma in the nursing home, and no you can’t spend the last remaining moments of a loved one’s life sitting by their bedside. You can’t even have a funeral.

Gee, come to think about it, it is not shocking that mental illness skyrocketed along with suicides and deep loneliness. How many people do you know who became insufferable critics of every nonapproved move you made? How much social strife did these policies cause? How related to these policies of inviting kids to socialize on TikTok instead of in person is the current transgender fad?

How many influencers are telling kids to go “no contact” with parents and relatives?

Gee, it sure sounds like the federal government has quite a bit to say about all that, given how it created the situation in the first place through coercion and propaganda.

Just sayin’.

Longer-term trends are not so tied to government policy, although the government surely has exacerbated the issues. Our social service policies often serve to undermine family ties through welfare and old-age policies, for instance. The government has created an “I gave at the office” mentality with welfare as well, divorcing the personal connection between communities and the people in need. We hire bureaucrats to deal with people in need, and they do a crappy job.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Government isn’t responsible for our screen addiction, but it has done everything to encourage us to avoid each other as important parts of our lives, and screens have become a poor substitute.

Now consider how successful a “war on loneliness” by the government would be. Perhaps as successful as the war on drugs? The war on poverty? The war on crime?

No, what this is about is creating an entirely new, expensive, and lucrative federal bureaucracy and nonprofit infrastructure (composed of Democrat activists) to funnel taxpayer dollars to not solve a problem. Think about how the government treats the problem of homelessness, on which we spend enormous sums of money. Is homelessness reduced or eliminated? Clearly not. Yet San Francisco runs a tent city that spends $60,000 per tent to run.

Is that $60 grand helping people? Sure. The people who get the money, who are social service workers inside and outside the government, become an army of activists who vote to keep the people shipping the money to them in power. Homeless folks are the product, and the more the better for the bureaucrats.

Never, ever, EVER believe a government official who swears they are trying to solve a problem. They likely created it and are now using the problem they created to funnel money to themselves and their friends.

It is a scam. Chris Murphy should be ashamed. Instead, he will be praised and reelected. Maybe he can run for president someday.

He will have tough competition, though. Gavin Newsom has created even more problems, so he has the inside track.