YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ON A TEAM.

Guess what: Life is not an elementary school playground or a high school physical education  class, unless you make it that way for yourself. It is your choice. 

Gangsterism has infected our society. Years of pro-ganster media, like The Wire, have had their impact on politics especially. Our popular music was transformed by gangster rap. Lyrics became weapons, hurled out poetically to simplistic rhythms. Verbal machine guns. Tweeting reflects the influence of rap culture. 

Massive gangs with political ideologies become mobs. Mobs become armies under evil direction. Those armies are like swarms of attacking insects if motivated by indoctrination, combined with fear of being a lone target of their rage.

Riots break out whether teams win or lose in our media-manipulated societies where recreational  drunkenness is considered mainstream. 

There is always an exit from this mindless conformity. It is always a choice.

Ideology can always be questioned by a self-educating mind. This inevitably entails loss. Separating from the hive mind brings rejection. Anyone who has come out in any way about anything knows this deeply. Some cannot tolerate the sense of exposure and will immediately flee into the welcoming tent of some other ideological group.

But those of us who sustain ourselves with careful study, reflection and skepticism can break away from the gravity of the hive mind. Then the discovery of other individuals begins. The clarity that comes with this break from mindless conformity is like waking from a dream. It allows you to recognize those with the light of reason in their eyes and manners.

How ironic that "woke" has become a word for aligning with a progressive hive mind, centered on embracing one's image as oppressed. The seduction of this cult's mindset is evident when beholding all the middle-class adherents to it. The absurdity of the proposition that they are oppressed is obvious to anyone outside that ideology.

The cult of self-satisfied individualism, joined by many Libertarians and Conservatives, can also be avoided. They are the Bootstrap Battalion. "If I did it, anyone can." is the motto. A truly compassionate individual cannot subscribe to that motto. Close investigation often reveals that those who do are underestimating the factor luck and pure selfishness played in their success. 

Being on a team is not a requirement to be a loving and generous person, especially towards oneself. I have often said, "I believe in the Team of Me.", when asked how I have endured certain crises without a lot of help from others. I am also painfully aware how quickly one's team can evaporate when life's inevitable disasters strike. 

The simple fact is that other highly developed individuals have been there for me more than any team has. And I will extend myself vigorously to aid anyone I perceive as mindful and independent.