"When people are so identified with their collective belief system, their ego becomes enormously pronounced. This collective ego begins looking for "enemies" in order to strengthen the sense of separateness on which the ego depends for its survival.

The personal ego already has a strong element of dysfunction, but the collective ego is, frequently, even more dysfunctional, to the point of absolute insanity. The greatest atrocities that have been committed on the planet were perpetrated by the collective ego... "

"...When people get taken over by the ego to such an extent, there is nothing else in their mind except the ego. They can no longer feel or sense their humanity -- what they share with other human beings, or even with other life forms on the planet. They are so identified with concepts in their minds that other human beings become concepts as well. This causes a sense of separateness, on which the ego thrives."

Interview series "Changing the World From Within", Eckhart Tolle