Mendelssohn, Tyson Diagnose Joyless Decadence in 2026 Culture as 1 in 8 Americans Take GLP-1s
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 26
Mendelssohn, Tyson Diagnose Joyless Decadence in 2026 Culture as 1 in 8 Americans Take GLP-1s
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 26
Summary
Michèle Mendelssohn and Charlie Tyson argue modern abundance has produced “decadence without pleasure” — a culture flooded with luxury, stimulation and optimization yet marked by boredom, emptiness and weak satisfaction.
Their essay traces that shift through elite self-management and tech systems: Bryan Johnson’s reported $2 million-a-year longevity regimen, AI’s “hollow” outputs, and looksmaxxing all turn sensation into measurement, control or dependency.
GLP-1 drugs exemplify the trend, they say: 1 in 8 U.S. adults reported taking them for weight loss in a 2025 Gallup poll, and some users describe lethargy, lower libido and a weaker social connection to eating.
The authors contrast that with 19th-century decadence, which treated pleasure as an end in itself and artifice as a way to intensify lived sensation rather than suppress appetite or outsource judgment.
They conclude a democratic “New Decadence” is needed to resist optimization culture and recover embodied, everyday pleasures before elite values of efficiency and enhancement define taste for everyone else.