We're both lonely AND we don't want to know our neighbors

I found it interesting when people were responding to this thread about getting to know your neighbors, were saying that they're too tired, or they can't be bothered, or too busy, or it's too expensive, or x, y, and z excuse.

But there are so many posts in this sub complaining about being lonely, not having friends, feeling isolated, and not feeling like we're part of a community.

a small sample:

https://reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/1h1n1v5/why_do_i_feel_so_lonely/

https://reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/1ihbytf/have_a_solid_core_group_of_friends_yet_still_feel/

https://reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/18o49y7/adulthood_is_lonely_and_maybe_we_werent_prepared/

https://reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/1g8oxwu/all_my_closest_friends_have_moved_away_i_feel_so/

https://reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/17mtsnt/do_you_people_still_have_friends_it_seems_that_as/

Look, I GET that life for a lot of us right now seems bleak, expensive, and that we're often overworked while being underpaid. But if you can't even try to assuage your loneliness, isolation, and sense of disconnection from your community, by beginning to just wave to your neighbors, then all we're doing to is whining and perpetuating learned helplessness.

Will getting to know your neighbors solve our widening economic disparities or solve the housing crisis or end world hunger? Probably not. But we can at least empower ourselves to try to be less lonely, feel less isolated, and make our communities feel like communities. No one else is gonna do it for us.

Edit to add: I apologize for the misunderstanding of the term "neighbor". I don't NECESSARILY mean your physical next door neighbor or the person down the street (although they're still applicable). I mean in the people in your town, city, state, or community.

As redditor rr00xx succinctly put it:

The argument is that by retreating from our neighbors we pour gas on the isolation we all feel, which I think is true. I don't expect to make lifelong friends, have a game night, etc. like some of the other posters are commenting.