When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to … - Paul Graham

Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I’ve read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks.

Language policing is so creepy. You can tell the people who do it aren't real writers, or they could never produce the horrible rules they come up with. It's like priests telling people how to have sex.

The other thing that's different about the real world [compared to high school] is that it's much larger. In a large enough pool, even the smallest minorities can achieve a critical mass if they clump together.

Twitter mobs are conformism storms.