Seven Deadly Sins- Envy

    

    In the second of seven blogs about the seven deadly sins and how I see our country and society today falling into them I decided the next logical step from Pride is Envy.  The definition of envy is: A feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's advantages, possessions, etc.; resentful dislike of another who has something that one desires.  If you read the definition and cannot immediately see the connection to what is going on in todays world I hope to be able to highlight what I feel exemplifies how envy is a major contributing factor.

    The term "white privilege" was coined in 1988 by Peggy McIntosh.  She wrote a paper titled "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies."  In this paper she gives 46 different examples of White Privilege.  Some of these include:

"I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time"

"I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me"

"If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live"

"I can be reasonably sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me"

"I can go shopping alone most of the time, fairly well assured that I will not be followed or harassed by store detectives"

In the years since she wrote this paper the term has referred to a "Power structure inherent in American society that disproportionately benefits white people while putting people of color at a disadvantage."  This perceived power structure is the main driving force behind the envy destroying our society today.  Black people are raised to believe that due to the atrocities of slavery in the past they are starting from a place of immediate disadvantage.  That for every step a white person makes to get ahead they will have to take five.  They are often told the system is against them.  That the white people look down on them and will always harbor racism in their hearts, even if that is not true for almost all Americans.  These factors alone are the physical respresentation of "A feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's advantage".  By raising children to always feel inferior it creates the next generation of discontent and ill will.  Only when we begin to raise our children to feel as though they can achieve anything no matter what skin color they were born with can we begin to stop this sense of envy.

    During the 2011 Occupy movement the slogan we are the 99% was widely used.  This movement took to the streets to protest what they felt was the inequality of the rich, or the 1%, or in other words the upper class being better than the lower class.  It was a movement towards class warfare.  The idea that we must rise up and "Eat the rich" or take their wealth and give it to the poor to meet this perceived equality is another real world example of envy.  We were told by the leaders of the movement that the 1% should be taxed at almost 100% to ensure the poor could be raised up and brought our of their economic hardship.  In reality that would do nothing but create a greater wealth vacuum and ultimately lead to the death of millions.  Being envious of others wealth, poccessions, houses, etc. leads to hate.  This sense of inequality can lead you to feel hopeless and that can lead to crime and violence.

    So how can we overcome envy and begin to create real change?  I propose we teach our next generation the greatness of our country.  The fact that we are the one of the only countries in the world that has ended slavery and taken strides to make equality and founding principle of our society.  Stop teaching the under privileged that they cannot overcome their hardships.  Stop highlighting skin color as a benefit or disadvantage.  Stop making criminals into heroes.  Teach our children to respect real heroes like police officers, firefighters, EMT's, and soldiers.  Celebrate our freedoms and ensure that future generations know what our constitution says and why it is important.  Instead of teaching how evil our founders were teach about the great things they did even though they were imperfect.  Push for two parent household and show the benefits of having strong family values.  Teach good morals and find a reason to bring God, Allah, or some kind of faith into our lives.  Only when we do these things can we overcome not only envy but all of the other evils that are destroying our once great country.