Are you more likely to reveal your deepest feelings, true opinions, and shameful past failures in a group or when you’re with a trusted friend , family member, or spouse/partner?

Are you more willing to disagree , argue, or discuss things with a group or with an individual in a one on one conversation?

Do you feel understood, loved, valued , and accepted by a group of people you know superficially or by someone you know well and they know you ?

Are you more likely to consider a different point of view regarding something important to you when it’s presented by someone close you to you or in a group?

Would you trust a group to stand up for you , protect you , and defend you more than someone who deeply cares about your well being and life?

Are you more likely to pretend to think , believe , or be something you’re not when you’re in a group ?

Have you ever felt yourself going along with the group because if you didn’t you’d feel left out or embarrassed?

All of these are examples of how people’s behavior is modified by groups . In today’s society there is strong pressure from the youngest age to learn how to be a well functioning member of various groups . There is next to no attention in schools given to teaching the skills of being an independent thinker, debating skills, logical thinking, not giving in to peer pressure, leadership skills, being a do it yourselfer, entrepreneurial skills, or that family and friends are one’s actual support system.

We all live in communities , whether town, city, or rural . Unless we are the rare hermit living off the grid , we interact with , conduct business, share information, enjoy leisure activities, etc with other people because these are natural human behaviors that make life easier and better. Yet the social planners seem to think that this is not enough and we must be constantly bombarded with messages that suggest that something called “building community” is of utmost importance and we need to do it more often . “Teamwork and team building ” are emphasized in every corporate employee manual . Children are made to work as teams on school projects. But it’s a well known fact that most teams have a leader, a worker or two and a slacker or two. This is human nature again . No group functions without a leader even if you refrain from using the term . The effect of these forced teams is to sort out the leaders and workers and slackers .

What about relationships? If you ask most adults , very few have more than one close friend that they share everything with . In my experience, men often have no one but their spouse that they trust that much . Their friends may be close but there’s still that boundary line. In community groups , by which I mean , groups such as hobby groups, churches, classes, political groups, sports teams, friendships may form and in private , people will be themselves , but not in the group . But for people without a close friend , the danger of being surrounded by people but being very lonely is very real .

Why do they focus on groups so much ? For the reasons in the questions above . They want to restrict people’s tendencies to think independently, disagree, have their own beliefs and personal goals. They want people to think of the group as their family . They want you to depend on the group for approval and validation and what to think . Independence is dangerous to the progressive socialist agenda. Why do so many go along with it ? Because they play on people’s fears . The few who don’t go along are willing to stick out from the crowd, be different, endure ridicule and abuse, fight against oppression and stand up for their rights to their own lives.

Don’t let the social pressure keep you from being yourself . America was founded on the belief that we are free individuals, not the property of the state , and we have freedom of speech! If you don’t use it , you might lose it . Whether you like groups or not doesn’t  matter . It’s how you act in a group. Be true to yourself!