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Dissociation is an

adolescent form of identity,

whether manifested

in individuals or institutions.

Most teenagers, one way

or another and sooner or later,

figure out that,

"I'm not like you!"

neither gives us

a sense of moral or

other superiority, 

nor tells us who we really are.

Once this threshold

is reached, where the emptiness

of difference-shaming is revealed,

the way forward

is through expanding community;

by realizing our differences

are much smaller and

far less consequential

than our simpler selves imagined.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins