It's hard to give them that chance if you immediately think that you are a select man and they are simply the serfs.

I agree completely, and let me be clear about the fact that I don't believe I'm better than those I'm referring to (mostly dear friends of mine). They're better than me in many ways. The difference I refer to is the desire to be better/ make things better versus contentedness with who they are and the way things are.

Nobody likes a proselytizer.

I learned that the hard way. When I started "proselytizing," I was in my early 20s... the age that we start to think we've got it all figured out.

It just sounds like you're running with a crowd that doesn't gel with you.

This, essentially, is the crux of the problem. I did my schooling in the Navy, so I never had the chance to discuss higher ideas with a group of peers. When I became interested in those ideas, I didn't have the 'new' crowd to discuss them with that most do who get the traditional college setting. So, while I love my friends dearly, this discussion of ideas is something that they (mostly) can't provide for me.

Thanks for the compliment, by the way. I'm sure this post will not sit well with some of the afore-mentioned friends, but it was in my head, so I had to get it on paper, so to speak. And thanks for the welcome to Hubski. Judging from the dialogue I've already seen here, this is a pretty fantastic community.