When I was a kid, I was always sure people were laughing at me behind my back, in on the big joke, and I was it. Alot of the time, it was accurate though. I was always on the outside looking in. My mom was...a little overprotective. If I went to spend the night at a friend's, and their parents didn't make me take a bath one night, my mom would forbid me to ever stay at their house again. And I was a bad kid for not forcing the issue. So, I didn't have many friends. So, quite often, I was the kid that everyone made fun of. There really was a big joke, me.

I say this to point out that for some people, there is a baseline of paranoia they are raised into. And it's not always the right wing kind.