Doug Wilson's Letter from America

Regardless of Real Amounts: Exposing Envy


There is no real understanding of modern politics possible that does not take into full account the deep and pervasive presence of envy. And such a broad cultural understanding will not come about until there is a reformation in the church, and my current suspicion is that it will have to be the kind of reformation that makes the Great Awakening look like a fifteen minute awards ceremony for the Sunday School classes of 4th Memorial somewhere in Topeka.

A European proverb tells the story -- "if envy were an illness, the world would be a hospital."

And a not very good hospital either, because not very many people are getting well.

Here is your political litmus test. Regardless of real amounts, would you rather have the whole population have the same basic income (give or take 5 percent), or would you want seventy-five percent of the people to have twice that amount, and twenty-five percent to have ten times that amount? Which is your ideal?

If the former, then whether or not you are, your worldview is riddled with envy -- and repentance of some sort is in order.

If the latter, it is also important to remember that this discrepancy of income is not a problem to be solved, but is rather a description of the solution to the equally distributed miseries created by the levelers and haters who insist on the first option.

Reagan once said that socialism would only work in two places -- in Heaven, where they don't need it, and Hell, where they already have it.

Posted by Douglas Wilson - 7th December, 2009