Apathy

This is possibly my biggest pet peeve.
Is it so much easier to deny yourself and your feelings than to just be in touch and be honest?It seems now-a- days everyone is taking the easy road; Not caring...
I don't get it. By denying our feelings we are denying ourselves. Have we become so afraid to risk expression, let alone act on such expression? Is it the public criticism that most of us learned as children in the schoolyard and thus learned we must try to fit in( which to me is denying ourselves)? Is it the re-inforcement of the media and its commentators as they character assassinate someone(ie...Howard Dean)?How do we stop this?
Even I sometimes find myself succumbing to this, and it reminds me of self mutilation: doing something to myself to disassociate from what I am doing to myself. Having an opinion, or feelings or controversial thoughts doesn't make you a freak. It makes you you. It takes guts to say ,"Damn the World! This is who I am!"
When we react, we allow someone or something to define our actions. In turn that takes us away from being ourselves. Is that the motivation for tearing others down; to bring them to our level because we get jealous of someone else standing up and 'standing out'? I got news for you folks. Just being you makes you 'stand out'. And not being you, allows you to blend in and be safe. Is that living? I wonder how much of this would be considered like a Character discrimination; "that person's different, I don't like the way I feel when I am around him. There must be something wrong with him." That's all I got for now...