If you are doing something to try and put yourself above someone else or justify some feeling of superiority, then obviously you aren't happy with who you are if you need to do that shit to feel good about yourself.
We already have so many problems in the world that aren't manmade, and the fact that rather than support each other we attack each other and try to put each other down, the fact that we make more problems for ourselves and each other than we already have, is self-defeating. When you hurt another person, and they return the hostility, it's a self-perpetuating cycle of negativity.
What's disturbing is that people legitimately believe they have the right to hurt other people, and believe that acting like a dick is justified, because it isn't. And the fact that people refuse to admit their own flaws to themselves because they believe life will be easier if they don't view themselves as flawed are deluding themselves. Distorting your self-perception to the point where you don't see your own flaws is unfair to yourself because it prevents you from actually dealing with your problems and seeking improvement, and its unfair to the other people that have to put up with your shit.
Of course, criticism is a large part of how we develop as people and ideological thinkers, but it can and should be done constructively, because when someone is being criticized by someone who is actually trying to help them, they'll be more open-minded to the criticism, whereas if you're just trying to make someone feel like shit, do you really think they're gonna consider what you're telling them with an open mind? Or do you think they'll just attack you back?
Obviously humor and dark humor are okay, but if someone verbally abuses the shit out of someone and takes pleasure in the resulting negative emotional state, they shouldn't pretend there's no malicious intent behind it or that it's "just joking around" because clearly it isn't.