Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions

by Johann Hari

Reconnection Seven: Restoring the Future

If you’re going to try to reconnect in the ways I’ve been describing—if you’re going to (say) develop a community, democratize your workplace, or set up groups to explore your intrinsic values—you will need time, and you need confidence.

The key to a guaranteed income,7 Rutger says, is that it empowers people to say no. For the first time, they will be able to leave jobs that are degrading, or humiliating, or excruciating. Obviously, some boring things will still have to be done. That means those employers will have to offer either better wages, or better working conditions. In one swoop, the worst jobs, the ones that cause the most depression and anxiety, will have to radically improve, to attract workers.