Stop Calling It ‘Burnout.’ You’re Just Starving for Fun.
Americans have more leisure options than ever, yet genuine fun has become scarce. Rising costs, over-scheduling, and performance-driven social media have turned weekends into logistics operations and simple pleasures into luxury goods. The real shortage isn’t money — it’s our lost cultural muscle for unstructured, low-stakes play. We optimized fun out of existence, and calling it burnout is just hiding the diagnosis.