Some people who are in financial poverty have more community than more well-to-do people.
I live close to a refugee/immigrant neighborhood and despite their fears and worries, many are more connected to their families, friends and neighbors than I am. They seem to have more celebrations and get-togethers than I do with my friends. I regularly eat at restaurants there, and there's a warmth even for strangers like me that I don't experience in higher end places.
On the other hand, there's palpable loneliness among transplants to relatively affluent places like Minnesota, where despite surface politeness, is a society that is very insular and does not (and does not know how to) integrate outsiders.
For example, statistics from dating sites show how most people don't exclude potential partners based on ethnicity, nationality, religion, line of work etc but big differences in wealth is the line that people won't cross.
The same goes for socialization and architecture is affected by it: gated communities, single-family houses, gentrification, and so on. The word "exclusive", used in real estate, is telling.
All of this is meant to allow people that belong to the same social circles/companies/church to socialize and prevent mingling with people from other walks of life.
I believe I understand what you're saying. I'm curious though, how would that correlate with loneliness?
Loneliness arises from the gap between one's desired connections vs one's actual connections.
It is true that social class is a barrier and less mixing leads to less dynamism in society. This is a themed explored in Tyler Cowen's "The Complacent Class". But it seems to me that does not in itself produce loneliness, because there's still a tremendous number of connections made within the same social classes. My working class friends are the least lonely people I know. They seem to have tons of buddies and tend not to be that selective when it comes to making friends. But except in specific instances, they have no explicit desire to make connections across classes.
I see inequality being a problem in general, but just not with respect to the specific topic of loneliness. It seems to me there's something else at play.
I live close to a refugee/immigrant neighborhood and despite their fears and worries, many are more connected to their families, friends and neighbors than I am. They seem to have more celebrations and get-togethers than I do with my friends. I regularly eat at restaurants there, and there's a warmth even for strangers like me that I don't experience in higher end places.
On the other hand, there's palpable loneliness among transplants to relatively affluent places like Minnesota, where despite surface politeness, is a society that is very insular and does not (and does not know how to) integrate outsiders.
Culture has something to do with it?