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"The proportion of nearness and remoteness which gives the stranger the character of objectivity also finds practical expression in the more abstract nature of the relation to him (118-119)." In a typical group, the members have certain qualities among them alike, which make them unique from other groups. However, in the case of the stranger, the only qualities he has in common with the group are general qualities as opposed to the more specific traits the group shares which differentiates them from other groups. In Simmel's words, the stranger "is close to us insofar as we feel between him and ourselves similarities of nationality or social position, of occupation or of general human nature. He is far from us insofar as these similarities extend beyond him and us, and connect us only because they connect a great many people (119)." He also believes this sense of "strangeness" can be found in other types of relationships, even the most intimate ones. In the beginning of a relationship, the people feel that no one else has felt this way before, that "there is nothing to compare either with the person one loves or with [one's] feelings for that person (119)." However, feelings of estrangement occur when the "feeling of uniqueness" is no longer apparent. .
Simmel noted that human relationships based on these universal similarities produce tensions resulting from the duality of nearness and distance. He states, "the consciousness of having only the absolutely general in common has exactly the effect of putting a special emphasis on that which is not common (120)." The stranger in a particular society may be alienated because of a characteristic that he may share with many others, however since the characteristic is not found in the organically bound group, he is alien to them. He is not perceived as an individual, but a "stranger of a certain type." Simmel gives the example of taxes on Jews during the Middle Ages.