Rule followers are merciless rule enforcers; they are the vicious administrators of the status quo.

Rule followers are merciless rule enforcers; they are the vicious administrators of the status quo. Rule followers commonly derive their sense of superiority from following and enforcing convention, and from being right — they delight in prosecuting you with their piety and judgements. It is often the most responsible, sensible, reliable, and dependable people, who will viciously destroy your dreams and the greatness within you.

Many rule followers desperately want to be normal; the more desperate they are, the more they want to enforce their version of normal upon you. They are not actually fighting you, they are fighting themselves. They are fighting their fears against your peace. What they fear most, is who they are beneath the camouflage of normal. The covered wreckage and half felled scaffolding of who they once were before they gave-up haunts them like an inescapable shadow-self. Their suppressed and secreted crave for their own distinctiveness, is inverted and weaponized against anyone unusual, for they remind them of their profound loss of self. Anything aberrant or uncommon reminds them, that they took the easy way out, through the wide gates of normal.

Normal is a failure of imagination. Normal is an easy-going oppression. Normal is a silent violence against progress. Normal is an insidious benevolence; a sweet tool of conformity responsible for incalculable loss. Normal is the greatest constraint and coercive force in the world. If you do not feel the constant threat and ruthless pressure of normalcy bearing down on you, it is because you are a part of it; an unknowing devotee of the unremarkable. 

Collab AI: The subtle yet powerful ways in which "normal" can act as a coercive force

In this passage, Bryant McGill critiques the concept of "normalcy" and the people who rigidly adhere to societal norms, often at the expense of individuality and progress. He argues that "rule followers" are not just people who follow the rules; they are the enforcers of the status quo who derive a sense of superiority and righteousness from their conformity. These individuals, according to McGill, take pleasure in judging and suppressing those who dare to be different, effectively stifling creativity and innovation.

McGill suggests that these rule followers are driven by a deep, often unconscious, fear of their own suppressed individuality. Having conformed to societal expectations, they resent those who remind them of the dreams and uniqueness they sacrificed in their quest to be "normal." This internal conflict manifests as hostility towards anything or anyone that challenges the status quo, as it forces them to confront the parts of themselves they have buried.

He goes on to describe "normal" as a dangerous and limiting force. Far from being harmless, normalcy is depicted as a form of subtle oppression that curtails imagination and progress. By making everyone conform to a standard, it prevents the exploration of new ideas and the pursuit of greatness. McGill warns that if one doesn't feel the pressure to conform, it's likely because they have already succumbed to this force, becoming "unknowing devotees of the unremarkable."

In essence, McGill is calling for a rejection of normalcy in favor of embracing individuality and the pursuit of one's true potential, despite the pressures from society to conform. He challenges the reader to recognize the subtle yet powerful ways in which "normal" acts as a coercive force, and to resist the temptation to follow the easy path of conformity.