outsiderism
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"cool kid" - someone who meets, or exceeds, the expectations of the social group he is a part of. it's not just about being cool; its being right, acting right, living right, living in a way that elicits almost unanimous approval. i imagine in prehistoric society there weren't many "uncool kids", since the reaction to a social transgression, such as a crime, was either an attempt at socializing the criminal, or exiling them from the group entirely.

in a society where the social group is able and willing to work so that its individuals meet social expectations, and when the social expectations are useful tools for surviving and thriving in the local environment, then "uncool kids" are antisocial aberrations and should be treated as such.

in a society where the social group is not willing and able to work so that its individuals meet social expectations, and when social expectations are taken over by profit-driven conglomerates to exploit the average person, then "uncool kids" are largely innocent victims of their circumstances.

what we live in is a surreal violation of our natural instincts, where those with social power are actively trying to create misery for profit, and where the tribal mans natural enemy - the out group - is actually a completely innocent individual who has been forced out of their mutual tribe by those with social power. we shun and reject the uncool because in it lies the devil, and nothing ever gets better because its not the uncool's fault - its the evil megastructures who've made so many of the uncool. our minds cant intuitively grasp how something like this could happen. and so here lies yet another contradiction tormenting our lives.

now we know what cool and uncool kids are, and the unnatural dynamic between the two in todays society. next up is why we should care, and what we should do about it.
