As easy as it may be to romanticize traditional and other collective cultures, however, it would be a mistake to think of them as an automatic antidote to loneliness. Many allow so little room for individual development and expression that a different strand of loneliness, akin to alienation, emerges if you stray outside the norms or resist the pressure to conform. When belonging is strictly conditional, even minor infractions can provoke painful repercussions. Rebels and violators of the code may be shunned or exiled. Or worse. Honor killings of individuals accused of bringing shame on their
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