The fact that our lives depend on biological and physical processes we can barely categorize, and complex dynamics we certainly do not command, should occasion wonder—and a large dose of humility. This humility is the ethos I associate with the good and generative capacities of insecurity, the kind that can help us be curious, connect, evolve, and

Trying to be less guarded, more resilient, and authentic does not preclude also trying, simultaneously, to change the structures that systematically assault our self-worth.

our economic system depends on manufacturing insecurity to create more pliable workers and insatiable consumers.

When the Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a poll asking if people would prefer financial stability to upward mobility, more than nine out of ten respondents said they would eagerly abandon the pursuit of wealth for security.

This means that our current capitalist system is set up less to meet and fulfill our current needs than it is to generate new ones, which, of course, can only be met through additional consumption—consumption of new lifestyles, experiences, products, upgrades, and apps with features we suddenly can’t live without.

The fault lies not with struggling individuals but with an economy structured to profit from indebtedness, treat land as a speculative asset, and keep us overwhelmed, isolated, and insecure.

Curiosity is something we can safely be consumed by, since consuming knowledge enriches us without creating waste.

To be insecure, then, means being unfixed and unsure, to be in a place of possibility. Depending on the context, this kind of insecurity can be unpleasant or even terrifying, and it is especially awful when it is foisted on us by those looking to take advantage of our disorientation. But under the right conditions—when it is buttressed by a more fu

When we shrink the welfare state because we expect the worst from people, we end up hurting ourselves and those we care about, creating a vicious cycle that stokes desperation and division.