Aug 31, 2026 · 43 min · 16 segments
Things that divide us cannot possibly unite us. That much would seem obvious, but as Étienne-Alexandre Beauregard tells Brian, society has for decades now prioritized hyper-individualism and promoted…
Étienne-Alexandre BeauregardGuest
Brian LilleyHost
Well, you know, we often talk about the pendulum swinging back and forth and I listen to you and I think my own son who was born, my oldest son was born the same year as you.
I was born in 1971 as the hedonistic 60s were ending and the crazy 70s were beginning.
But there really is a swing back and forth in terms of how we view things as a society.
What do we want from family? What do we want from our individual lives? And you seem to be reflecting on, well, your generation feeling that you are de-socialized, that, you know, the connections are not the same as they used to be.
I think the word you just used, de-socialized, is the best way to talk about, unfortunately, Generation Z, because I feel that, and you just look at the numbers, mostly American numbers, but often it's not different for the rest of the West, or the tendencies are just going to catch up, the amount of friends.
Yeah, but like the amount of friends that people my age have, the frequency where they see their friends, the amount of love relationships that they will have, all those things are really down compared to what our parents and grandparents used to have.
Membership in clubs, all of these measurable signs of socialization are down.
And I'm not sure that this is really divorced from how we view the place of the individual in society.
Because when everything you hear is that individual autonomy is the most important thing you can have.
That every time you link your fate to that of someone else or whenever you subordinate your own will to a bigger community, whether it's a family, whether it's an association, whether it's a nation, you lose in freedom.
Obviously, this is going to affect how you live your life and society.
To this, you can add also technology, which really allows us to live more and more insulated lives.
And this idea that individuality must exist against society rather than through it.
And this explains maybe a lot of the problems that my generation has today.
Well, you know, we often talk about the pendulum swinging back and forth and I listen to you and I think my own son who was born, my oldest son was born the same year as you.
I was born in 1971 as the hedonistic 60s were ending and the crazy 70s were beginning.
But there really is a swing back and forth in terms of how we view things as a society.
What do we want from family? What do we want from our individual lives? And you seem to be reflecting on, well, your generation feeling that you are de-socialized, that, you know, the connections are not the same as they used to be.
I think the word you just used, de-socialized, is the best way to talk about, unfortunately, Generation Z, because I feel that, and you just look at the numbers, mostly American numbers, but often it's not different for the rest of the West, or the tendencies are just going to catch up, the amount of friends.
Yeah, but like the amount of friends that people my age have, the frequency where they see their friends, the amount of love relationships that they will have, all those things are really down compared to what our parents and grandparents used to have.
Membership in clubs, all of these measurable signs of socialization are down.
And I'm not sure that this is really divorced from how we view the place of the individual in society.
Because when everything you hear is that individual autonomy is the most important thing you can have.
That every time you link your fate to that of someone else or whenever you subordinate your own will to a bigger community, whether it's a family, whether it's an association, whether it's a nation, you lose in freedom.
Obviously, this is going to affect how you live your life and society.
To this, you can add also technology, which really allows us to live more and more insulated lives.
And this idea that individuality must exist against society rather than through it.
And this explains maybe a lot of the problems that my generation has today.
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