“The Minister of Loneliness” | Sarah Kay | TED

In the country of Japan, in the month of October 2020, more people died by suicide than had died from COVID-19 in all of 2020 up to that point.

In response, the Japanese government instituted a new position of a minister of loneliness.

The Minister of Loneliness has abolished email.

He is installing tin cans on every windowsill with a piece of string to someone else's window.

Not several, just one. Each person, of course, does not need a lot of people to speak to.

Just the one. But the one must be reliable, must be available when needed.

We are employing a buddy system now. Every day is a field trip to the Adulthood Museum, and we don't go home until everyone has been accounted for.