Exhaustion from exploitation: a serious threat to humankind's survival

People curious about the current state of Australia will observe the following worrisome trends:

Currently, many psychiatrists in NSW are considering quitting their jobs because of severe burnout as a result of long work hours, high patient loads, and the emotional strain of working in an already overstretched mental health system.

An increasing number of tertiary students ignore their responsibility to become highly trained professionals, settling for the bare minimum of learning and relying on plagiarism and AI programs to write their assessments.

An increasing number of professionals are leaving Australia because of the high taxes and high cost of living, including unaffordable housing, healthcare and education. The emerging tent cities in large and small cities are visible signs of increased homelessness and a lack of social services.

An increasing number of men have given up on the idea of marriage or even dating, joining the so-called MGTOW (men go their own way) lifestyle and responding to the experiences of men affected by divorces predominantly initiated by women.

The number of people affected emotionally and financially by natural catastrophes has increased tenfold since the 1960s, with the devastating fires in Los Angeles being only one relatively recent example.

Studies show a significant increase in illnesses characterised by exhaustion as a main symptom. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the so-called long COVID has joined chronic fatigue syndrome.

These are just six of many more examples that could be listed here.

In this paper, I argue that these seemingly unconnected scenarios share the common trait of exhaustion from the ubiquitous exploitation that most people have endured for many centuries. What may be new is the level of exhaustion that has emerged as a combination of environmental problems, socioeconomic exploitation, psychological exhaustion from social isolation, lack of access to nature, worries about the state of the world, and compulsive social media and internet use (see, for example, Lanier, 2019).

Other visible signs relating to various aspects of exhaustion and exploitation include:

Depression and the increase in people taking their own lives

• Reduced empathy
• Social withdrawal, avoidance, loneliness, and divorce
• A movement to the political right and de-democratisation
• Psychological manipulation of the masses
• Growing polarisation between the rich and the poor
• Time wasting through social media and internet-related addictions
• Stultification to the point of not understanding one's self-interest
• A perceived sense of a loss of meaning
• Alexithymia (lack of emotional intelligence)