
René Girard's Mimetic Theory (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)

There have been two major social inventions in history that mitigated the negative consequences of mimetic desire: the scapegoat mechanism and the market economy.
Luke Burgis • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
René Girard wrote: "All desire is a desire for being." It's a phrase I use often because this imitated desire is powered by the wish to be the person who models our desire for us. We think that this person possesses metaphysical qualities we do not. We imagine the idolized individual has the power, charisma, cool, wisdom, equanimity. So we want tha... See more
Instead of criticizing ourselves, we use our knowledge in bad faith, turning it against others. Indeed, we practice a hunt for scapegoats to the second degree, a hunt for hunters of scapegoats. Our society's obligatory compassion authorizes new forms of cruelty.
René Girard • I See Satan Fall Like Lightning
Girard’s theory of human nature explains the true origin of desire and its consequences if not directed properly