Nonconformists.

Some peple seem to be under the impression that there are two types of people: "mainstream" society, and nonconformists. This is terribly, terribly wrong. Going to school, working in a factory, having kids etc. does not make you a conformist. To me, the ones who are really conforming are the "nonconformists". They all look the same, they all share the same beliefs, they all listen to the same music and protest the same things. If conformity is being trapped then what is more confining than looking, sounding and acting like everyone else?

To protest and fight mainstream socety is neccessary. If no one pushed back or went against the grain we would never look at society objectively and we could, in theory, descend into a Brave New World-like dystopia. Extremism, in small amounts, is entirely neccessary to make us look around and think about what is happening. I am not protesting all of you who wish to fight mainstream society, I am simply making the point that you should not label yourselves nonconformist.

It would be wrong to assume that everyone everywhere all the time is conforming. Everytime you make a decision on your own you are not conforming. If you do something without being influenced to do so, you are not conforming. If you think about why you are doing things, you are not conforming. As human beings we are naturally influenced by what we percieve (remember monkey see monkey do?) and that can be called conforming. Conforming is not a horrific act of losing your identity, its just going with the flow, and its totally normal.