Envy

Summary

Anyone who calls for higher taxes on wealth and criticizes excessive manager bonuses is often accused of speaking out of envy. Envy, in this very context, is considered an expression of greed, indulgence and jealousy towards top performers whose successes are revealed to be morally questionable. This chapter unearths how envy has been a motive behind many political campaigns, without it actually being described as such. Antisemites blamed ‘the Jews’ for everything bad and had no qualms about taking their possessions during the Nazi period. Social envy also existed in the ‘classless society’ of the GDR, and with the dramatic increase in the inequality of the distribution of income and wealth since the 1990s, it is an important issue in the united Germany: Many people are questioning the fairness of society and the economy; others simply dismiss this as envy.