[vkou]

If I were to look for it, I don't think there's a single country on Earth where I couldn't find a smorgasbord of social conformism that I strongly dislike.

It's a social glue that holds every culture together, and it never has to make much sense.

[hp48fan]

But there are different amounts and different quality of conformism. The Nordic (as in Germany northward) one is particularly insistent on crushing deviations from the zeitgeist (German word).

[vkou]

Disagree. There is just nonsense conformism that you like, and nonsense conformism that you dislike. Every culture, including various subsets of American/Canadian/British/French has enough sacred cows that you will be in a world of crap for transgressing over.

What differs between them is not how much crap you'll be in, but the shape of the cow. You like it, I dislike it, and you'll feel like you aren't pressured to conform, while I'll feel like the world around me is utterly insane.