The Evil of the Sideways Glance
Envy is associated with the colour green, as in “x was green with envy.” Green is not a threatening colour—although it may connote sickness or nausea. Our culture has given very little thought to envy and its social manifestations and effects. It tends to be regarded as a harmless emotion, something to joke about.
In fact, envy is a terribly corrosive and debilitating state with huge social ramifications. It is related to the worst motivations and attitudes of humanity: resentment, bitterness, anger, pride, anger, and hatred. Envy is present on every hand. In fact, one of the reasons it is not regarded as egregious today is due to its universal presence in modern culture. It is considered a normal part of life. Yet envy betrays and displays the moral and spiritual blight of the human heart more than anything else.
Firstly, envy must be distinguished from jealousy. In popular parlance, they are often confused. Jealousy has to do with militantly protecting what one has; envy has to do with resenting that one does not have. Thus, the Scriptures tell us that the Lord our God is a jealous God. Jealousy, in this context, is clearly holy and righteous. When God says He is a jealous God, it means He seeks to preserve His honour and His glory and the devotion, thankfulness, and love from the creatures He has made, to which He rightfully has title.
Envy, however, is closely related to (although not identical with) covetousness, which is forbidden and condemned in the tenth commandment. Covetousness is an attitude of wanting what belongs to our neighbour. Now, we need to be careful here. There is nothing intrinsically evil or wrong with seeing one's neighbour prospering due to hard work or application and that being a motivation to work as hard and prosper as he has done. This is not coveting: it is rather being humble and following a good example. Moreover, if I see my neighbour has a new car, pride may lead me to go out and buy an equal or better one, so as to “keep up with the Joneses.” This may reflect a stupid vainglorious attitude—which is also evil in its own way—but it is not covetousness. The evil of covetousness comes into play when I not only want what my neighbour has got, but I want it to be taken off him and given to me. Covetousness is an attitude reflecting a zero-sum game: I want what my neighbour has; it has got to be taken off him, so it can come to me.
In the example above, covetousness would come into play if my neighbour buys a new car and is admired as “top cat” in the whole street. So, I go out and buy a better car, not just for reasons of pride and vainglory, but in an attempt to take off him the honour in which he is held in the community, by transferring the same to myself. That is covetousness.
Envy is a particular form of covetousness. Envy adds bitterness and resentment to covetousness. Envy says if I cannot take what my neighbour has, my fall back is that it be taken off him, so that no-one has it. Then I will at least have some satisfaction. Envy rejoices in the suffering of others.
Envy is now institutionalised in our culture. Athens is riddled with it. Envy has become an expression of government policy and rule. If someone is more wealthy, he should be taxed more, at a higher rate, so that he should lose it. The fact that the modern world sees this as justice is the clearest indication that envy is at play. When the community feels that such a policy is right, it has an instinctive appeal to them, it makes them feel better, and it is seen as more fair, clearly indicates that envy is is doing its deadly work. If I don't have, or can't have, no-one else should. If you cannot rejoice inwardly at the success of your neighbour, but are glad that he has to pay proportionally more taxes, envy is at play.
Envy and covetousness are at the heart of all socialist thinking, religions, and philosophies. Rarely have there appeared in human history, political ideologies or policies that seek to make a virtue out of evil. While most political ideologies have evil outcomes in one way or another, socialism as an ideology is intrinsically evil and seeks to make that evil its central raison d'etre. The fundamental doctrine of socialist ideology is that wealth or possessions can only be secured at the expense of the less wealthy. Property is theft. Therefore, it relishes the removal of property from one party to bestow upon another, or the removal of property per se, whether or not distributed to others. Instead of rejoicing at the success of some, it teaches that the success has only come as a result of the exploitation of the less wealthy. Therefore, resentment of my neighbour and his success is not only understandable, it is righteous! Taking his property away from him is just.
If a person were to prosper by kidnapping children and selling them into child prostitution rings, the community would rightly rejoice if that person were brought to justice, and all his wealth stripped away, and used to attempt to compensate his victims. Socialism creates the moral equivalent for the possessing of wealth. But it is envy that is at play, not genuinely righteous indignation. The proof of this is that according to socialism, it would be better if the wealthy were stripped of their goods, so that all were equally poor, whether or not the poor benefited. In the example of the kidnapper, he alone must be punished and his property stripped from him as a punishment. The relative wealth of others in the community is irrelevant.
Covetousness and envy are so corrosive that they make those who start to prosper hateful to an envious community. This leads to a climate where people do not wish to get ahead or stand out, for fear of suffering the rejection and hatred of others. Community rejection, ostracism, and hate for those who show drive, ambition, or a desire to better themselves are all expressions of envy and covetousness. “If I cannot have it, you are not going to either”, is the silent, unspoken mantra. But everyone in such communities knows exactly what is meant, intended, and thought. So they cower, and ambition fades. Envy leads the whole community to have a perverse pleasure at the suffering of everyone around.
One of the clearest, telltale signs of envy is the sideways glance at the neighbour. When one finds oneself measuring oneself against one's neighbour and then mentally belittling him or resenting him, envy has entered the heart. Ad hominem and envy are kissing cousins—envy always produces an attack and belittling of others, particularly when preceded by the sideways glance. This explains why public discourse in our day is largely ad hominem, and why the public love it. They cannot get enough of it. They have an insatiable quest for more.
Covetousness and envy are the greatest moral evils of our age. They are responsible for more hate, violence, anger, resentment and social division than any other moral evil But society as a whole treats these evils with cacophonous silence. That alone betrays just how deeply rooted and pervasive they have become.
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