We Are The Borg; Resistance Is Futile

I just had a bit of an analogous realization about society that I'd like to share.

That is, that society, media, TV, laws... the whole shebang is like a big ol' Borg Collective.

It consists of millions of individuals, all plugged in to this confusing but agreed upon structure of how life should be lived, trying to all come together with one collective mind.

When you're part of the collective, there's power behind you and beside you and around you.  But when you're part of the collective, your individual opinion doesn't mean much, and knowing this fact, not all of the power that surrounds you in the collective is what you deem to be "good".

When I was part of the collective, I felt buffeted around and confused by society's messages versus the messages that were coming from inside of me.  I felt it was unfair that some people were using the laws and rules in a way that abused the spirit of those laws and rules, and they were being rewarded for the abuse.  I tried to be successful while following the collective's rules.

Then I began the process of disconnecting from the collective.

First it was unintentional - life was simply too busy between work and social activities to watch any television.  No TV shows, no news, no infomercials, no commercials.  Very few movies.

Next came my job - I got involved with an entrepreneur and made the mental and emotional transitions from being an employee to being an employer and business owner.

During my 20s, a lot of the disconnections came in the form of learning more about logical fallacies, and thus being able to tell truth from fabrication a lot more in what media DID reach me.

Healthy boundaries to stop manipulators in their tracks, and assertiveness practice to effectively communicate my needs and expectations came last.  When I was within the collective, those had been actively discouraged, since it wasn't "good for the group", and the learning about logical fallacies helped speed the boundaries and assertiveness along.

These days, the names and faces have changed a little from the beginning of my journey, but some of them - the ones who wanted to separate themselves from the collective - remained. 

When people still firmly plugged into the Collective speak about life, I often have troubles relating.

And, them with me.

It makes us both a little sad - especially if they're family members - but I guess that's the way it goes.