In "Why does he do that?", Lundy Bancroft debunks myths that attempt to explain and excuse the behavior of abusive men, such as "he was angry and lost control" or "he had a bad childhood"

It blew my mind when he revealed that abusive men are abusive because they feel entitled to control and have power over their victim, and that the abuse tends to become especially intense when the abuser is at risk of losing their grasp over the victim.

Recently I have started noticing more and more often, how dominant classes such as men, white people, the ultra wealthy, etc. also use abusive strategies to maintain their power. It seems that these strategies and rhetoric have become even more intense in recent years/decades given the rise of women's rights, civil rights and BLM, and growing anti-capitalist sentiment which threaten to overthrow existing power structures.

The most common strategy I see in real life and online is DARVO. Honestly it is shocking to me how often men will communicate using the exact pattern Deny + Attack + Reverse Victim and Offender

DARVO is commonly used by narcissists, but really, when it comes down to it, the desire to have power over others is inherently narcissistic. Expecting women, people of color, and the working class to serve you demonstrates a lack of empathy, and extreme self-centeredness. They feel entitled to keep the privileges to which they are accustomed and use other people like tools to achieve their own interests.

Here are some examples. This list is by no means exhaustive, and I would love to see some more examples in the comments.

DENY:

"I would NEVER rape someone! It was totally consensual!"

"It's just a few bad apples, there's no such thing as 'systemic racism', most police are good and just doing their jobs"

"There is nothing preventing you from becoming rich and powerful like me. I worked hard to earn my achievements, being born to a wealthy family definitely had nothing to do with it"

ATTACK:

"That woman is a lying whore who just wants to ruin my reputation and get money/fame"

"You should be more respectful to police if you don't want to get shot. If you get arrested, it's your fault for committing a crime"

"If you're poor and living paycheck to paycheck, it's because you're a lazy parasite and stupid with your money"

REVERSE VICTIM AND OFFENDER:

"My life has been ruined by this false rape accusation" or "men who rape only do so because they are sad and lonely because of all the mean girls who rejected him" or "what about male victims of rape and domestic violence? Women are just as bad!"

"All these protestors are making police too afraid to do their jobs because they're afraid of being falsely accused of murder. It's unfair to the good ones to paint all cops with the same brush: that's discrimination! What about these other officers who were killed in the line of duty?"

"It's so hard to be a billionaire these days, everyone hates me, taxes are a war on the rich, I'm more persecuted than the Jews" (yes, this is an actual thing that a rich guy said)