I remember reading many years ago, part of a book that is no longer published. It was called “Civilization.” And the author made the argument that civilizations all go the same way — they start with some kind of family unit (defined pretty wide, like a tribe) that takes on the vast part of responsibility for this unit of people. As a civilization progresses, there is a shift towards individuality. It goes through many stages — from large family units or tribes, to smaller family units, and finally to the individual. As this shift happens, government fills the void that is left behind from the family/tribe unit. However, government can never really fill the void because it is impersonal and can only deal with the material needs of a person. At the end of a civilization, you end up with a whole bunch of disconnected individuals and a large government — essentially what you are calling loneliness.
