I remember in a general psychology class in college we were required to take a test. I answered the question, "Have you ever envied anyone?" with a "no." I was told that couldn't be true, and I was mystified why it couldn't be. At that time I honestly couldn't think of anyone I envied, if envy is defined as wanting to drag the other person down.
There were people who had traits and things I would have liked to have, but I didn't want them to lose them. It was more like I emulated them, which is a form of admiration, which the Greeks noticed is the benign form of envy.
After thinking about these things for many years, and reading about it, I realized that envy is the worst and most destructive emotion in the world. It is in fact the only one of the Seven Deadly Sins that isn't any fun at all.
When I was about 21 I had a very attractive girlfriend. I was mystified at the things she told me -- guys telling her (but not to my face) that she could do better than me. And telling me to my face they were going to steal her from me (I laughed at them about that one and told them they were welcome to try).
Right before I was involved with her I lived in a coed house. There were two girls in it. I was involved with one of them for a while. A few of the guys in house (two of them) said things about me behind my back. I couldn't figure out why, until I realized that both the girls in the house were interested in me and not them, and they couldn't stand it and were envious. And the biggest sign of being envious is to put down someone else. It took me years to figure that out, because no one explained it to me.
Then there was the problem with short guys with the Little Man Complex.
The first defense against envy, as I just mentioned, is to devalue the other person. I saw a fair amount of that, in college, directed toward me.
The second defense is to overvalue yourself (which is narcissistic grandiosity), and that's what I've notice about Obnoxious Midgets with the Little Man Complex. ("You may be taller than me, but I'm smarter than you, I make more money, I lift weights and can beat you up, I'm better-looking than you, I get all the women, you have nothing I can envy, etc. etc.") These people tend to project their problems on other people and that means they degrade/devalue them.
I think that both defenses go together, but it's that one defense tends to be stronger than the other.
This defense against envy is why there is such a brutal attack on white men as the Cause of All Evil in the World. It's a defense against the fact that white men have created about 97% of everything in the world. "I'll destroy you even if I destroy myself!"
These defenses against envy have even poisoned the relationships between men and women, since so many women put men down, i.e., devalue them. "Men are the cause of all the problems in the world...I can't find one who is tall, handsome, well-to-do, loyal to me...won't give me home, husband, children.." so as a defense against the perceived power of these men (and the envy of them) they have to be devalued. That's why I say feminism is based on the envy of men.
I written this before, but in the story of the Garden of Eden, the serpent (actually nachash - whisperer, seducer) - is a symbol of envy and therefore hate. And it's Eve who first listens to him, and then the moronic Adam listens to her! And we know what happens after that.
One of the morals of the story is that women are far more easily seduced by hate/envy (hence feminism) than men and that no man should ever listen to a woman when what she is saying/doing is based on envy/hate. If she tries to put men down (devaluation) or put herself above him (grandiosity) or blames her problems on him (projection/scapegoating) then that should be stopped but fast. Unfortunately, it wasn't done. And now we're paying the price for that.
4 comments:
Sometimes I think you really do have a sense of humor after all, but then I'm not so sure.
You need to take a break. Too many posts over last week or so. Take a break.
I do remember feeling slightly jealous as a young child. I don't remember what for, but it would probably have been something like a pushbike.
These days I don't feel jealousy or envy. I think, like you said, where others see envy I have admiration. Rather than being jealous I decide if I want to put in the time/effort/work for that payoff and usually the answer is no.
I feel that we have enough people in the manosphere on this topic Wallace. I wish someone would take the next step and find a practical way to overcome feminism in a way that doesn't push women's buttons and they submit willingly.
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