Projection

Whom to blame? Let’s do some reflection:
In selection for our collection,
We hide from detection
Our secret rejection,
The connection that’s called “projection.”

When we want to kill we decree
That we’re good, and they’re bad guys, you see;
For guiltless abuses
Chimps don't make excuses
But they act just the same as do we.

Scapegoating’s what humans do,
It’s focused on outnumbered few;
This is our norm,
We’ll never transform
And some folks are going to hate you.

In a make-believe world, it’s correct
That the news would be what you project,
But not if you’ve checked
How the world’s really wrecked—
It changes what you expect.

We look up to president or czar,
‘Cause we think of our parents afar,
Plus some wishful finance
And consensual trance—
We think they’re much better than they are.

To ignore face-to-face debasement,
We look for some distant replacement;
We then give a pass
To those kicking our ass,
And that’s what we call “displacement.”

Upon some closer inspection,
Hostility has a connection:
Angry debasement
Is often displacement
And even more often projection.

Early humans likely knew how
To relate more as I and Thou
With animals and plants;
In a different trance,
Their lives weren’t like ours are now.