On Projecting

Whether you are a physicist who believes in quantum entanglement or a spiritualist who believes in synchronicity, you believe in what Jesus, Rumi, and the movie Matrix tried to convey: we are all One, and reality is a projection of our perception of this Oneness.

With the rise of Democratic-Socialists Zohran Mamdani and Omar Fateh as front-runners for the mayors of New York and Minneapolis, I decided to read A Gentleman in Moscow to recall what happens when Socialists and Communists take over. In one particularly vivid scene, the authorities order the Metropol Hotel’s sommelier to strip the labels from ten thousand bottles of fine wine, forcing guests to choose only between red or white, all at a single price, in the name of equality.

Authoritarians have long relied on projection to succeed, accusing their critics of the very crimes they commit. The Bolsheviks branded political opponents as “counterrevolutionaries” and “enemies of the people,” even as they dismantled democratic institutions, censored the press, and ruled through terror.

The Nazis mastered this tactic, accusing Jews of plotting world domination while themselves pursuing global conquest and racial supremacy. They painted communists as violent conspirators even as they torched civil liberties, outlawed opposition, and built concentration camps.

Modern strongmen continue this tradition, crying “election fraud” while rigging votes, smearing journalists as “fake news” while funding propaganda, and decrying “corruption” even as they enrich themselves and their cronies. Projection is no accident of rhetoric; it is a deliberate weapon. By accusing others of their sins, they sow confusion, weaken moral clarity, and preempt accountability.

I have experienced this firsthand, labeled a racist or narcissist by those who, upon reflection, seemed to be projecting their flaws. This phenomenon is easily applied to friends, partners, husbands and wives. 

— Sina.

Note: City Club will publish “Another Angle,” a counterpoint to Sina’s lead column, starting this week.