See also [Eric] Berne's Law: "The basic existential position of human beings is, 'I am blameless.'"
Berne also succinctly described, in his textbook for professionals working with the Transactional Analysis school of psychology/psychiatry, one of the commonest and most toxic of human ego-states: the "Little Fascist."
A fascist may be defined as a person who has no respect for living tissue and regards it as his prey. This arrogant attitude is no doubt a relic of the prehistory of the human race, [when] ruthlessness meant efficiency and greed was motivated by hunger. But as the human mind and brain evolved through natural selection, these qualities were not bred out… Ruthlessness developed into cruelty, and greed into exploitation and theft. The small fascist in every human being is a little torturer who probes for and enjoys the weakness of his victims. …He who pretends that these forces do not exist becomes their victim.
It was a wake-up call when I read it the first time in the '70s. It remains one, day by day, this year.