Outcasts?

I used to think that the way people behaved or acted was based on an assumption that they are supposed to do so based on their observations of TV sitcoms, commercials, and what they see in media in general. In other words, they don't normally act according to their own independent thought. I still think this is the case, although I also believe that media knows they have that much power over people and they have figured out a way to control the narrative for desired outcomes in society. Is this problematic?

The problem is those same people who behave like sheep, often believe anyone who thinks different from them is controversial, to say the least. Moreover, in a radical leftist communist society they will sometimes lock-up a free thinker who doesn't believe in their ideology,  although attempts to brainwash are rampant. Here in the supposed free world, however, some might go as far as bakeracting people to ridicule or ostracize. Always be cautious of the herd anywhere, if one thinks differently. Dissident is a good label to have when the government one is under is considered a dictatorship by most, but what about when a government is lukewarm on the fence? It's difficult to know where one stands when ideology fluctuates in a subtle manner.

Regardless of what history has taught us, people continue to be labeled outcasts. We know that the masses can be wrong; hence, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union...etc. The dissidents in both of these societies were a minority. Dissidents anywhere are always the minority, and a very small one at that. The question remains with relevance to outcasts, why are they really labeled as such?