re: Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out

Hanging out is expensive and uber-sanitized.

The article itself says it wasn't sudden.

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Because doing social stuff has gotten stupidly expensive for the average person.

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Went to this place where you throw axes at the wall and play games with a projector. fricking like $50 for 30 mins. To throw an ax at a piece of plywood. Then I realized it’s probably because of insurance costs. Then I realized that it’s because if someone gets hurt, the lawyers will get involved. Then I realized lawyers have ruined this country.

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As you post on a social media site

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Look at you make those big brain observations...

However, I still "hang out" with people. I'm at work right now between assignments.

People don't like to hear it, but DUI laws (and the general demonization of drinking and driving) have played a huge role here.

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cause most people suck

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And they are deluded by thinking that staring at their phones or posting on websites is a true substitute for human contact and interaction.

The internet, social media, and smartphones are antisocial. Then you have government and other organizations who sow division at every turn. Fragment society, pit people against each other, reap the profits.

There is a good bit of truth to this. I have read and heard it asserted that part of the isolation began with the invention of air conditioning was a major factor in the decline of active neighborhoods. The same applies to the proliferation of the automobile, and then the air conditioned automobile.

People, especially here in the South, would do anything to escape the stifling heat inside the house. In the way before times, they would build dogtrot homes with high ceilings and large porches to circulate the air and ameliorate the heat.

In the evenings, families would congregate on the porch of the home, neighbors would "hang out" and talk and socialize. Since they already knew each other, and often ran in the same social circles--churches, fraternal organizations, etc. -- those institutions thrived.

With the advent of A/C folks could beat the heat and started, over time, staying inside where it was cool, and we lost touch with each other. The kids were closer as they still played together in the neighborhood, and learned together in school. The parents, however, who got in their air conditioned cars and drove to work, then returned home from car to house grew separate.

In our times, now with all the OTHER distractions on top of this we have the so-called "I don't join things..." fiercely isolated folks.

I dunno, just my take on this.

Drinking and driving

People are living longer so young adults socialize with family members longer than they used to. It used to be pretty common that most grandparents and aunts and uncles were mostly gone by the time a young families adults were in their mid 30s and their kids were pre-teens. No granny and grandpaw are in the 80s going strong and what time young families have to socialize is focused on doing so with family.

Helicopter parenting is also a factor. Hard to have a social life as an adult if you can't be more than 3 feet from your 9 year old for more than a few minutes without panicking.

ALL social and civic groups are about exclusion, not inclusion. Most of them have a bunch of old people who have belonged for years who do so to exclude younger members. If this weren't so they'd be open to everyone and would welcome everyone. Try that at an Elks Lodge.
They are all also very time consuming...how many 30 year olds have time to become a mason, even if they had the desire?

I think the biggest factor though is the fact that about 95% of the people in the United State's biggest joy in life is being a victim AND finding fault in other people. We get what passes for social interaction on forums like this where no one knows who we are and we can act like an arse with no risk. Even in families people rarely speak to one another...they have their faces buried in their phone doing frick all and never speak. Whole families sitting at dinner staring at a phone. We do not know how to socialize anymore. Kids don't play together unless their parents are around directing the action, teens stare at their phones and torment one another digitally 24-7 and talking to co-workers about ANY subject other than work will turn into a political discussion in a short period of time or someone will get offended and someone will be called to stand tall before the man. It ain't worth the risk.

I was in my dentists waiting room Monday afternoon. There were 6 of us, middle aged white men, sitting in that room and no one was talking. A younger man walked in, sat down, and said "darn, it must be men only days on Monday around here". 2 of us chuckled and agreed and started up a conversation about the Super Bowl. Within 3 minutes the other middle aged white man started in with the Taylor Swift throwing up satanic hand gestures to the camera and the game was never on the screen because Taylor Swift was on the screen. No body can talk to that moron...and they are PLENTIFUL...and do not mind putting their mental illness on display for the world to witness. Me and the young guy went back to staring at our phones while old boy kept on and on until they called him back. Nobody wants to be in any kind of social club with that goofball....