The most common way of assuaging one's guilt is to project that guilt onto the victim, thereby relieving (however temporarily) the uncomfortable feelings associated with that guilt. One of the most basic human drives is to avoid pain, both physical and emotional, and the human brain is well-equipped for self-delusion in order to satisfy that drive. Blaming the victim is one way in which humans accomplish that.For example, in this country, one of the biggest scapegoats is the poor. Rather than examine the uncomfortable truths surrounding the systemic poverty that permeates our world, many of which reveal our own complicity, we relieve our guilt by blaming the victims. It is much easier to