Status Updates From ENVY: A Theory of Social Be...

Wow, the chapter on Crimes of Envy is really pushing the use of Envy to its limit. Even accounting for the fact that criminological, psychological and brain science is not as further developed as it is today, it’s doubtful that all the cases that he mentioned can be really attributed to Envy.

Keeps questioning and pointing out why Envy is not more studied or included by philosophers, social scientists and the like. Feels though like he is trying to make Envy a thing, which to be honest, at this point doesn’t seem convincing.

Odd conclusion that he comes to “that man experiences his membership of a group not as fulfilment but as diminution”, and seems more of a statement that betrays his ideological inclination than a statement of fact.

Schoeck writes somewhat disapprovingly about Miligram’s acceptance of restrictions in Norwegian society in the interest of the community. I think that it can be a bit of balanced between the two sides - not for total individuality at the expense of the group, but neither should group cohesion suffocate the individual.

The book was written in 1966, and it shows. Chapter 5 feels like an indictment of the pursuit of equality, and uses cases from primitive tribes to make the case against greater equality. It feels like a stretch though, that just because envy stifles innovation and development, and the only way to guard against envy is to be the same (equal), thus the implication is that the pursuit of equality is undesirable.

Just a reminder because I stopped reading this.