"The one we are primarily discussing is ENVY, but PRIDE and GLUTTONY are fellow travelers."
No that's the distant little cousin of the one I was referring to. I think the big one is built into us, maybe because it's made mankind what we are today. I think it's more akin to a competition bug...a thing that makes us strive to do better and better and to leave this place a finer place for our family, our tribe and, ultimately, our world.
Whatever you call it, it's universal. It's what causes the pious to try to be more pious, the business owner to try to run the best business, the doctor to try to be the best doctor, the SI poster to try to write the best post....
In any event, you can call it whatever you want but if you don't have a decent opportunity to succeed relative to your peers then, regardless of your absolute level of comfort, I doubt you'll be happy. And there's no right or wrong or good or bad about that; it simply is.
As a corollary, a society that has too great of a chasm between the haves and the have nots will be an unhealthy society.
Or maybe you think that it's different this time. Ed |
