Collectivists imposing their ways on individualists

In the modern, social media era, the apparent need to put others, and oneself into a box borders on obsessive. 

Whether it's university groups, school clubs or local sports teams, most have existed for a long time. The difference now is that we no longer appear capable of growing out of them. Or in the case of sports groups, separate them from the other parts of our identity as we grow into adults.

On the face of it, our capacity to switch personas relevant to situations, be flexible or even grow up, appears to have been stunted. Though digging deeper, there are now more forums open to people. Even outside the real world in virtual universes and alternate media, the attraction is broader, and therefore more appealing to more people, than ever. The attraction to groups is a social life and identity. What makes them stay in said groups is usually exploration of this and other options available to them and surmising that this particular group best fits them. 

So why with so many more options now, are some people so reluctant to explore at the risk of not "fitting in"? And where did the ability to "leave it at the door" go? The answer may simply be for some that it is a kneejerk reaction of human instinct to crave simplicity in the face of all this choice. Much research supports this. Maybe it's entirely this, maybe a mass brain altering, toxin emitting government experiment gone wrong, is to blame. They've kept some crazy things under wraps over the years. Allegedly.

But the third option I'd posit is the pure safety it offers. They've been nicknamed snowflakes for a reason. There is no need to think when a member can just live in the safe bubble (strength in numbers) of the groups mantra. The fact that those on the left are by and large those that put themselves and others into concise boxes, supports this theory. The drive to be safe in ideas and physically is the same as the primitive and childlike exclusion of out group people and alternate ways of living. Despite any facts and rationale those outside the club may bring to the table. 

The drive for membership at all costs also resembles primitive social drives. Have we really come so far as a society that we (some of us at least) are going backwards? Or is something else at play? 

One common missing denominator that unites these cavemen traits once more, is the society building, technology advancing, delayed gratification. The delayed gratification that would allow creativity to enter arenas once more. It's all good and well at initial encounters, having so many more options. But if those options are now so inclusive, and frankly drab, as we've established, pre-historic. It's time we embraced delayed gratification once more. 

The delayed gratification that enabled artists, architects, builders, statesmen and the like to put forward their work and gain admiration their work warranted. Warranted more than a billion virtous faceache statuses. And they did all this despite no group affiliation, except perhaps their families. Who all had different roles. So though this isolation is not necessarily causation for success, the ability to delay gratification certainly is. And the irony is that these game changers joined a more important motley crew of others that added to a world that kept the wheels turning and allowed future generations to benefit. In societies where they might not necessarily have liked others in the group, but were aware of their value. Another difference here, is that a lot of people were made aware of the benefits of delayed gratification through necessity. Without working to provide services in exchange for money or even food, they would cease to exist. 

A huge reason why most on the left are little rich kids who want for nothing. And why would they jeopardise this? Well, one reason is the aforementioned unhappiness that is only getting worse. We've seen their anger when they come out to screech hysterically at UKIP candidates, at the recent election cycle. Without giving them or anyone else outside their neat and tidy group ideas, the time of day. It could well be unsafe to their preprogrammed notions. The NPC parallels are fitting. But as much as those, lone wolf, statesmen, family men and women, adventurers, and many other types alike, though very different, are united in the hilarity of the modern lefts hysterics, they are human like all us other types. It's high time marshmallow tests became mandatory in primary schools. 

And to add to this, make it mandatory that the superficial diverse figures in libraries are replaced by the diverse character traits and ideas that made them who they were. The rainbow has become synonymous with shallow blending of individuals of the same thoughts simply with different appearances. A community is not built on diversity of colour with the same monotonous ideas, it is built by geniune diversity. Not by a collective but by individuals who have respect for one another. Delayed gratification will enable this respect when shared by those on the left, centre and right. The colours are easy to understand but the true blending that builds societies takes a closer look.

Otherwise civil unrest will continue and we will have to come to this conclusion anyway. Only with a lot more rebuilding to do.