[cjcole]

Then it's a shame that society has largely decided to discard as outdated longstanding philosophies whose tenets do teach the intrinsic value of each human independent of their economic output.

https://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/theogloss/imago-body.html

But pushing aside those outmoded ways of thinking did make it easier to sell people useless goods and services which can't fill the hole where dignity and self-respect could instead reside.

And on top we've built the artifice of "social" media (the most shameless oxymoron imaginable) producing sufficient anxiety ensuring that the hole remains unfilled despite all effort.

This is a frightening confluence.