Envy

Anthony Esolen had an excellent piece in Chronicles (Oct 2018) about envy saying "only abasement will satisfy the envious." Esolen is too civilized to also suggest that minorities often envy or hate majorities for their talents and their physical looks and that can often be seen beneath the surface of civil rights movements and such social engineering as Affirmative Action, which throw merit out the window replacing it with racial quotas---and overall quality therefore declines.

Esolen reminds us that Nietzsche saw envious "ressentiment" behind the valuations of the Old and New Testament, but being a traditional Christian Esolen doesn't quite agree with that. But the religious (and Marxists), having the same will to power as every other living thing, disguise envy by promoting ideas that go against the evils of power to weaken others (often not aware they are doing it) and thereby gain power for their own cause.

I don't know what can stop envy, it seems to be inherent, especially in weaker people, and could even be explained as a part of the natural ongoing competition between individuals and groups. But I believe that some of the worst kind of envy happens between distinctively different ethnic groups and could be largely remedied by the healthy separations of an ethnopluralism of ethnostates.

With the holidays on us I am hoping I can somehow overlook the envy, resentment, etc. that happens even in the best families---but visiting may be reduced a bit.