I might as well start out by saying that I'm not in the best of moods. A little bit of cynicism, a little bit of despair. Comes from thinking about things that are too far beyond me.

I had a discussion with my friend yesterday about the nature of humanity and our society as it stands. He's an intelligent kid, I agree with him most of the time, but when it comes to people, he sees the world through rose-colored glasses. For example, he doesn't like to believe in a definition of "normal." And I'd agree with him that it's hard to define. But of course I had to remind him that there is such a thing as statistical averageness. He has a much more sympathetic view of the world than I do.

We ended up discussing how we both hate it when people are told they have to do this or say that in order to fit into society. The way I see it, it's our nature as humans to confrom, so wouldn't it be super-human, or a sign of superiority, for someone to question the mold?

He responded by saying that he didn't believe there was a mold.

I could only assume he meant in terms of adolescent "nonconformist" sorts of things. In today's society, there is a definite mold in place.

Everyone is expected to go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, more or less in that order. People that don't are not highly regarded in society. For example, polygamists, single working women, teenage mothers... All of these people have social stigmas, some of whom the law is confused by and therefore they don't get care their circumstances deserve. The law continues to categorize people in a divide-and-conquer way.

I think it's absurd that these standards are in place. It disgusts me how much our lives are regulated by the government, the law, et cetera. I want true freedom. The right to self-determination.

Urgh. These thoughts are crushing me.