a carefree society part 1.5

another example

perhaps a more poignant example of how professional services have tried to replace community is the grief counsellor.

generally speaking, when someone suffers a death of a close family member or friend, neighbours, families and friends would gather together to comfort and provide for the mourner. nowadays, the grief counsellor is called in. instead of being surrounded by friends and family, one can pay someone to talk about his sadness.

the implicit message is: we're not capable of helping someone out. we lack the expertise to care for someone who has suffered a close death. instead of caring, let's call in the expert and let him take care of it, when in fact, it would probably be more beneficial for the mourner to be surrounded and cared for by close friends, family and neighbours.