Why doesn’t mimetic desire lead to a war of all against all?
Since mimetic desire often leads to contagious rivalry among individuals and among groups of people, we might naturally assume we would end up in a war of all against all. Yet, instinctively, we know this war would have a disastrous affect. Cultures avert this crisis by using the scapegoat mechanism: People unconsciously redirect the violence they would use against each other onto a surrogate victim, or a scapegoat. Instead of a war of all against all, the war turns into all against one. The community unites against one individual, or one group of people, establishing a bond among the members of the community that creates enough cohesion to form a culture.
