Society (n.) first meant, in Latin, an alliance for a specific purpose, such as ruling others or committing a crime.
Society (n.) is the form in which mutual dependence for the sake of life, and nothing else, takes on public significance.
Society (n.) excludes action on every level, as the household once did; it expects behavior instead, with countless rules that normalize its members.
Society (n.) first entered the public realm disguised as an association of property-owners asking not for admission but for protection while they piled up more.
Society (n.) is the family grown superhuman: households economically organized into a facsimile of one giant family, whose political form we call the nation.
Society (n.) seems run by a conscious conspiracy because the same narrow class interest always wins amid chaos, seen by the outsider — and it needs only a resolute political will to become one.
Society (n.) is the family absorbed into larger groups: its equality resembles that of household members before a despot — except that sheer numbers make the despot unnecessary.
Society (n.) demands of its members a certain acting — the ability to present, represent and act what one actually is; in cliques the role is set by silent demands of the ensemble.