Stepping Out--Alone and Powerless

From Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

...I thought of myself stepping out, alone and powerless, to confront the mob of solid and virtuous citizens, avid for the excitement of punishment and blood to alleviate the tedium of existence.

People are gregarious by necessity. Since the days of the first cave dweller, humans--hairless, weak, and helpless save for cunning--have survived by joining together in groups; knowing, as so many other edible creatures have found, that there is protection in numbers. And that knowledge, bred in the bone, is what lies behind mob rule. Because to step outside the group, let alone to stand against it, was for uncounted thousands of years death to the creature who dared it. To stand against a crowd would take something more than ordinary courage; something that went beyond human instinct. And I feared I did not have it, and fearing, was ashamed.

Thinking of polyamory as a lifestyle choice and the possible implications of this lifestyle when it comes up against the social construct of monogamy which is often carried out as a bred in the bone mob rule mentality.