Anomie and Individual Freedom

Reading Merton right before getting into the postmodern theorists made me reflect a lot on how the implications of his claims can apply to a world that, as Derrida says, is "decentered". In particular, I have grown to think that individual freedom and especially freedom of speech is so often held up as sacred and pursued to an extreme extent in our society, and it is allowed sometimes to turn into a covert permission to perpetuate violence, due to the lack of "the salutary pressure of society" (Durkheim), namely social sanctions. And here is a paradox that I believe resonates with Derrida's, Lyotard's, and to an extent Merton's claims. In a changing world where the language of the reality that is attempted to be dismissed is the one used to dismiss itself, the dynamics of regulation and integration, and what Merton calls "culturally defined goals" and the means to achieve them, follow a similar logic. Merton's "innovation" embodies that paradox, as we feel encouraged to be "non-conforming" in order to be deemed innovators, unique, creative, which is especially relevant to individuals at the times of mass culture and mass consumption. At the same time, though, we need to be non-confirming through means which are still culturally acceptable to an extent, despite the apparent claim not to be so. An example would be the one pointed out in another thread, which is the difference of perception between a beggar and someone venturing into enterprise after dropping out of school. Do you see examples of this double-standard that goes beyond a discourse of ends and means, and paradoxically embodies our society's fixation with authenticity, though only respected if achieved through a degree of conformity?