The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis

by Martha C. Nussbaum

In his memorable discussion of envy in A Theory of Justice, John Rawls answers my second question.2 He suggests that there are three conditions under which outbreaks of socially destructive envy are especially likely. First, there is a psychological condition: people lack secure confidence “in their own value and in their ability to do anything worthwhile.” Second, there is a social condition: many circumstances arise when this psychological condition is experienced as painful and humiliating, because the conditions of social life make the discrepancies that give rise to envy highly visible. Third, the envious see their position as offering them no constructive alternative to mere hostility. The only relief they can envisage is to inflict pain on others.