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Nadine Storey's avatar

I only just found this today and listened right away as Dougald and Isabelle are two of my favourite thinkers/writers. I liked Isabelle’s acknowledgement of dependency with her ‘please help’ to older generations. I was just reading ‘The Corrosion of Character’ by Richard Sennett. He breaks down the modern (albeit published 1999) world of work where people are expected to forge their own career and work in short-term project teams. He believes that rejection of the idea of dependency means there is no space for trust to be built. This leaves a longing for community. This then sometimes finds a toxic outlet in far right nationalism etc (my interpretation more than what he directly says).

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Isabelle Drury's avatar

Super interesting point! I think we see this over and over, often the only place we CAN find this love and connection is in these toxic spaces. And people are often turning to them because of this current 'society' not leaving space for them (e.g. trad wives, Mens right activists, etc.)

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Nadine Storey's avatar

Sorry that may seem like a non sequitur but it reminded me of the huge influence community can have - both helpful and harmful.

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Dougald Hine's avatar

Thanks, Nadine – that seems like a relevant interpretation and extension of the arguments that Sennett was making in that era. These are questions I keep circling around – where we find our belonging, how we rebuild that capacity for mutual interdependence.

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