Nonconformity

“You laugh because I’m different. I laugh because you’re all the same.”
I've seen this t-shirt many, many times. The lettering is bold white on black, suitable for a grungy or clean casual look. Obviously machine-made, there is no doubt that this t-shirt has been mass produced. Several thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, were created in a factory. They were packed off and sold in department stores nation wide. They hung on a rack next to shirts with similar messages. Thousands of people who think they are 'different' are all wearing the same t-shirt.
Such a way to make a statement of nonconformity; to buy a t-shirt. Such a way to display your disdain for the common crowd; to wear a shirt that is in every way identical to thousands of others. Such is the fate of nonconformity. Such is individualism.
It does not exist. There is no way to be truly unique, nothing we can do that will set us apart. “There is nothing new under the sun.” So said a wise man three thousand years ago, and he is still right.
It has become common to be different. There is a small group of devotees for every style of clothing, every style of life, every off-the-wall speaker and wacky sci-fi tv show. In their own way, they are all the same. Each feels isolated in a world that does not understand them, each wants to find a niche, to fit in. But they do not want to sacrifice who they are in order to blend with the mainstream mediocrity of the clean-cut middle class. So they form factions and splinter groups.
No matter what their t-shirts say, they’re all the same.
I laugh, because your t-shirt contradicts itself. Does your life do the same?