Preying
"The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions." Dwight D. Eisenhower
I like to place the words "prey" and "pray" side by side for comparison and emphasis. The hunter preys and the scapegoat prays.
Preying always seemed easy for me from my perspective from the other end. It englobes a lack of empathy and a desire for harmful destruction and domination. Power drives preying. Humans prey upon humans and some call it socializing, others call it love. It all depends on who is asking. There are violent and quick hunters and then there are slow and vicious ones. In both cases the damage is consequential.
On the other end one observes the wan scapegoat. Extenuated and drained from the constant hypervigilance. Being and feeling vulnerable is a lifestyle. It takes up all your life force and forces you to move accordingly to the hunters will despite your dreams and ambitions. The prey is completely dehumanized and haunted. Survival is the primary concern, or the only concern I might say.
JH