Partying Isn’t Dead. It Just Moved to the Bodega
Pastrami, cheese, coffee, and a sick DJ set — this is the new era of partying.
There’s panic in the air among a certain subset of cultural exegetes over the question: “Is the disco dying?”
Bars and clubs across New York are closing, reports the New York Times, due to “stubborn rent, spiking insurance rates, and decreased revenue from young people’s drinking less alcohol.” Elusive 4 a.m. liquor licences have exacerbated the issue further — no one is dancing til daybreak because there are now fewer places to do so.
Even in less rowdy circumstances, people are reportedly not socializing as much as they used to. “Since 2003, there’s been a 70% decline in attending or hosting social events amongst Americans under 25,” said writer Derek Thompson during a live Substack conversation about the death of partying with Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg. In January of this year, Thompson wrote a story on the topic for The Atlantic titled “The Anti-Social Century,” where he attributes our collective self-imposed solitude to the “privatization of leisure” via smartphones, social media, streaming services, and such, and the inflated, and maybe overly reparative emphasis on wellness. And of course, there's COVID.
I get it, the stats are scary, the outlook is grim, and the rise of loneliness is a justified cause for concern. But I also don’t buy that there is no party in the USA.
