“cynical about society” = anti social
“Anti social” means reclusive. “Cynical about society” is different from that.The word “society” has been so thoroughly and systematically abused by socialists that it’s hard for people to think straight.
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.In modern parlance, society is often referred to as “the market.”Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness;Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one . . .the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices.
The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions.
The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest . . . — Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)