I think that a good chunk of people on this site come from various planets where life has already failed and migrate in only to repeat the exact same cycle of degeneration and destruction that brought all of this weird shit that you really only see here upon them
"Clique" here was something that hadn't existed in my lifetime. He is describing something alien, like he is perpetually trapped in a John Hughes film from the 80s. And yet it's a monolith in his mind and the minds of others. Baffling stuff!