I think this is a good article about the human species, the social requirements of being human and living a long life. Being social doesn't mean cocktail parties and schmoozing with people you DON'T like.

Here are a couple notable excerpts:

• Aristotle had it right 2500 years ago: Man is a zoon politikon—a political animal. That is, he is naturally sociable; indeed, he is blessed with the power of speech so that he can communicate with his fellows. *

• Individuals with less social connection have disrupted sleep patterns, altered immune systems, more inflammation and higher levels of stress hormones. *

• One recent study found that isolation increases the risk of heart disease by 29 percent and stroke by 32 percent. . . . Socially isolated individuals had a 30 percent higher risk of dying in the next seven years, and . . . this effect was largest in middle age *

• Connectedness is a worthy humanitarian goal, and it’s also a worthy patriotic-nationalist goal. And what’s needed to turn both of these goals into something real is a societal and cultural vision of mutuality: We’re in this together; we share a duty to each other. That’s the vision that inspires Boy Scouts to help old folks across the street. That’s the vision that inspires first responders to go running up the stairs when others are running down. That’s the vision that inspires strangers to decorate the graves of our military heroes. And we can all think of myriad other acts of kindness, decency, and bravery; all together, they are what make an assemblage of people into a harmonious and strong nation. *

For the whole article

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/12/26/pinkerton-remembering-connecting-forgotten-man/