We cry "scapegoat" to stigmatize all the phenomena of discrimination — political, ethnic, religious, social, racial, etc. — that we observe about us. We are right. We easily see now that scapegoats multiply wherever human groups seek to lock themselves into a given identity — communal, local, national, ideological, racial, religious, and so on.

The desire that lives through imitation almost always leads to conflict, and this conflict frequently leads to violence.

If individuals are naturally inclined to desire what their neighbors possess, or to desire what their neighbors even simply desire, this means that rivalry exists at the very heart of human social relations.

Sharing an enemy is the human sport par excellence. It's called politics.