Mainstream vs. Alternative

I've been enjoying reading

Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind

and it has made me more sensitive to my tendency to look at myself and others as belonging to tribe-like groups. And how unlike the groups some people belong to, I belong to groups composed of (ahem!) virtuous people with enlightened values!

I often talk and write about "mainstream culture" vs. "alternative culture". These are super-abstract generalizations of the values and behavior of large numbers of people. A LiveJournal friend recently asked me:

"Is there a sharp line between your alternative culture and the mainstream?"

What a great question! I would like to answer it authentically, as a geek who travels in lots of cultures and thinks alot about these things. And then ask y'all to chime in with your notions about these things. Let me not presume you find this topic interesting right now.
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_Greg