Envy: The underrated sin

Jewish World Review ^ | August 17, 2007 | Jonah Goldberg

[CutePuppy]

As my wife will attest, I often suffer from futterneid. This is the term Germans use to describe the envy we feel when, for example, someone orders a better meal than ours. I'm also prone to schadenfreude, the tendency to take pleasure in the misfortune of others. So if I get the braised short ribs and you get stuck with the snail tartare, your futterneid will fuel my schadenfreude.

Perhaps it's no coincidence the Germans have so many words for the chillingly petty emotions that run like cold streams through the human heart. Poor, dark and divided, Germany was an ideal location to harbor resentment against one's neighbor, be he a slightly more prosperous farmer, a Jew, a Catholic or even a nation.

.....

Indeed, just look again on the 20th century. Envy turned Germany cruel. In Russia, the ideology of envy — socialism — likewise ran amok under the label Bolshevism and threatened to overrun the world.

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In primitive societies, "No one dares to show anything that might lead people to think he was better off," Schoeck observed. "Innovations are unlikely. Agricultural methods remain traditional and primitive, to the detriment of the whole village, because every deviation from previous practice comes up against the limitations set by envy."

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In America, we have our own politics of fools. John Edwards leads an all-star cast of liberal politicians and intellectuals (Edwards is decidedly not the latter) who worship at the altar of Invidia, praying that she will exact penance from the undeserving half of our "two Americas."

Like the "scientific socialism" that concealed envy behind a slide rule, today's liberals invoke social science as justification for their covetousness.

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[CutePuppy]

“Envy” in the sense of (or translated into) “competitiveness” or “incentive” can be useful.

Socialism, on the other hand, is about simple jealousy and, except in rare circumstances, generally denies the incentive to be productive or competitive, or to strive for improvement which leads to society of general mediocrity, at best.

[perseid 67]

I skimmed over the article and read the article once.

You are right about Jonah Goldberg pointing out that communism ,socialism ,and collectivism all are rooted in envy. What is it they envy? Is it the objects we enjoy or our ability to feel joy? They make the world bland. They would be pleased if our days were like colorless, flavorless cubes of jello.

[SergeiRachmaninov]

Great article. Thanks for posting.

[tpaine]

-- communism ,socialism ,and collectivism all are rooted in envy. What is it they envy? Is it the objects we enjoy?

Their envy is rooted in the fear that they [the moral socialist majority] may lose control, if someone somewhere is having a bit too much fun.

[CutePuppy]

I think that the envy is the main tool of “isms” to make the society rely on or reward its members less based on individual achievements, but rather deny them the sense of achievement.

“Envy” can be useful if it spurs the achievement of the sense of accomplishment, rather than the denying someone else the accomplishment - just to make [almost] everyone “equal”. That only breeds corruption and disincentive to progress.

[supercat]

When you hate somebody, the object of your hate doesn't suffer. But you will. You are also giving the object of your hate power over you.

That is not to say, of course, that one should feel positively toward everyone and everything. It is right to despise certain things, even to the point of working toward their utter destruction. It is important, however, to maintain a perspective that one is destroying such things because it is necessary, rather than because it is fun.

When you engage in self-pity, nobody is going to feel sorry for you but yourself. Self-pity is poor box office. Your self-pity will drive your successful friends away from you and you will be surrounded by losers like yourself.

Liberalism, of course, teaches that victimhood is a good and noble. A woman who submits to rape is more noble in her acceptance of the pain than one who shoots the rapist--making him suffer because of her unwillingness to do so. In their eyes, a team that loses massively on an unfair playing field can claim they're good enough that they should have won, far more effectively than can a team which lost narrowly on a fair one. Thus, magnifying the unfairness against them is more important than trying to win.

[supercat]

“Envy” in the sense of (or translated into) “competitiveness” or “incentive” can be useful.

If someone sees his neighbor really enjoying his 100" television set, decides to set about getting one himself, and feels glad that the world has provided him with such a goal to strive toward, I would not consider that envy. Even if his desire is, to some extent, to "keep up with the Joneses", if he is made happy by the challenge rather than annoyed at not having met it yet, that isn't envy.

I would regard envy, rather, as the feeling that one is 'owed' something--that one's lack of it is 'unfair'. In short, the fact that the neighbor's possession of an item one lacks makes one miserable rather than happy.

[ran20]

The liberal will also think up reasons to destroy what another has, without revealing the true reason. For example an expensive SUV, the liberal will try to say to stop global warming you must give up your vehicle.

[Tanniker Smith]

You don’t hear about envy too much — mostly because too many people confuse it with jealousy and believe that the two are synonomous or interchangeable.

[KoRn]

"I despise envious people, people that are always looking around at others and trying to outdo the Joneses while never being happy with what they have. I could give a rat’s arse about what other people are doing, I do what makes me happy and have my own style.

I think it make you more decisive and creative, and more independent and stronger, which ironically brings even more envy from the enviers. Which is why I dismiss these weak and pathetic wastes with a standard answer - STFU and mind your own business."

This entire post just needs to be quoted. I feel the same as you.

[supercat]

The liberal will also think up reasons to destroy what another has, without revealing the true reason. For example an expensive SUV, the liberal will try to say to stop global warming you must give up your vehicle.

I generally dislike SUVs because of the obstacle they pose to vision. I don't want to get into a 'whose vehicle is taller' competition, since I'd rather spend money on things other than the extra gas necessary to feed a larger vehicle.

That mild practical dislike, of course, is far short of the hatred felt by some people.

[CutePuppy]

Thank you. I am glad I did, it turned out to be a great thread as well.

[SamAdams76]

Well I was referring to people, not inanimate things like liberalism, marxism or dog fighting. It is okay to despise those things and work against them. That is different than "hating" a specific person. I know people who have become consumed by hate against other people and that is a self-destructive behavior. It eats them up inside while the object of their hate feels no pain whatsoever. They have, in effect, given the people they hate power over them.

I can honestly say that I hate nobody. I might despise things that other people do - like murder, drugs or advocate for higher taxes. But I do not hate them personally and do not waste a minute of my life hating them.

[supercat]

Well I was referring to people, not inanimate things like liberalism, marxism or dog fighting. It is okay to despise those things and work against them. That is different than "hating" a specific person.

Even with 'things', it's important to separate despising from hatred. Hatred even of abstract concepts can create a hole in ones soul which won't be filled even if the concept is taken care of.