Envy
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That's cool, because here are two more of his short, "hip-shot" definitions:
Marxism is the philosophy of Karl Marx (1818-1883), who wrote Das Kapital, perhaps the most famous unread book in the world, except possibly for Darwin's Origin of Species. Marxism teaches that everyone who gets rich does so at the expense of the poor. Marxism teaches that labor is the only source of value. Marxism teaches that the lower classes are always exploited by the upper classes. Marxism teaches that landowners should be dispossessed, and that all property should be held in common, jointly "owned" by all. Marxism teaches that people should have only what they need. By now, some of these ideas may sound suspiciously familiar.
Mercantilism was popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. It was the theory that if one nation gains, it must be at the expense of another nation. Mercantilists felt that if any exchange benefitted a person, he must have ripped off the other guy. So they said the government should intervene to make things fair-by favoring one group over another. This way, no one would benefit except the government and those who receive government handouts. They seldom used out-of-context Bible verses to support their case for state intervention. Unfortunately, some modern mercantilists do. This tends to confuse people. Nevertheless, it sells books.
Marxism is the philosophy of Karl Marx (1818-1883), who wrote Das Kapital, perhaps the most famous unread book in the world, except possibly for Darwin's Origin of Species. Marxism teaches that everyone who gets rich does so at the expense of the poor. Marxism teaches that labor is the only source of value. Marxism teaches that the lower classes are always exploited by the upper classes. Marxism teaches that landowners should be dispossessed, and that all property should be held in common, jointly "owned" by all. Marxism teaches that people should have only what they need. By now, some of these ideas may sound suspiciously familiar.
Mercantilism was popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. It was the theory that if one nation gains, it must be at the expense of another nation. Mercantilists felt that if any exchange benefitted a person, he must have ripped off the other guy. So they said the government should intervene to make things fair-by favoring one group over another. This way, no one would benefit except the government and those who receive government handouts. They seldom used out-of-context Bible verses to support their case for state intervention. Unfortunately, some modern mercantilists do. This tends to confuse people. Nevertheless, it sells books.
Dino,
I think envy, left to itself, long enough, without any other mitigating factors, is certainly destructive -just as any other sin, left to itself, long enough, is destructive.
But this is really to describe an entire causal chain... a causal chain which goes way beyond any normal definition of envy.
So, if you want to say envy is horrible, and bad, and dangerous, and can LEAD to all kinds of destructive things; I agree.
If you want to say the simple, normal definition of envy actually includes the entire causal chain of events which MIGHT sometimes come from envy, which is really nothing more than sheer potentiality, then I think we are not in agreement.
I enjoy your posts bro.
God Bless.
: )
I think envy, left to itself, long enough, without any other mitigating factors, is certainly destructive -just as any other sin, left to itself, long enough, is destructive.
But this is really to describe an entire causal chain... a causal chain which goes way beyond any normal definition of envy.
So, if you want to say envy is horrible, and bad, and dangerous, and can LEAD to all kinds of destructive things; I agree.
If you want to say the simple, normal definition of envy actually includes the entire causal chain of events which MIGHT sometimes come from envy, which is really nothing more than sheer potentiality, then I think we are not in agreement.
I enjoy your posts bro.
God Bless.
: )
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Some more thoughts on Envy..... (Yeah, from the same guy.) He's a bit harsh, but he sure does make ya think.
Now Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became very rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. (Genesis 26:12-15)
Envy is the greatest disease of our age. It is often confused with jealousy and covetousness, which have to do with wanting the possessions and privileges of others. Envy is much more insidious — and deadly. Envy is the feeling that someone else's having something is to blame for the fact that you do not have it. The principal motive is thus not so much to take, but to destroy. The envier acts against the object of his envy, not to benefit himself, but to cut the other person down to his own level — or below. The American Puritan divine Samuel Willard defined envy as "a man's repining at his neighbor's Prosperity, looking upon himself to be Hurt by it." In his massive study of envy, Helmut Schoeck points up this central factor: "the envious man's conviction that the envied man's prosperity, his success and his income are somehow to blame for the subject's deprivation, for the lack that he feels.” It can be summed up in Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's famous epigram: Property is Theft!
This explains why "Envy and Malice are inseparable"; as we can see from the example in Genesis quoted above, the envier's goal is destruction. Henry Hazlitt writes: "The envious are more likely to be mollified by seeing others deprived of some advantage than by getting it for themselves. It is not what they lack that chiefly troubles them, but what others have. The envious are not satisfied with equality; they secretly yearn for superiority and revenge."
And it is this envious, destructionist mentality, nursing itself on the notion that “your wealth is the cause of my poverty," that is the basic ethos of socialism. For socialism does not — and cannot — build up capital. It seeks only to expropriate or destroy the capital of others. It exalts a malignant, misanthropic disposition into an article of political economy, a machine for tyranny. Socialism is institutionalized envy.
Now Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became very rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. (Genesis 26:12-15)
Envy is the greatest disease of our age. It is often confused with jealousy and covetousness, which have to do with wanting the possessions and privileges of others. Envy is much more insidious — and deadly. Envy is the feeling that someone else's having something is to blame for the fact that you do not have it. The principal motive is thus not so much to take, but to destroy. The envier acts against the object of his envy, not to benefit himself, but to cut the other person down to his own level — or below. The American Puritan divine Samuel Willard defined envy as "a man's repining at his neighbor's Prosperity, looking upon himself to be Hurt by it." In his massive study of envy, Helmut Schoeck points up this central factor: "the envious man's conviction that the envied man's prosperity, his success and his income are somehow to blame for the subject's deprivation, for the lack that he feels.” It can be summed up in Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's famous epigram: Property is Theft!
This explains why "Envy and Malice are inseparable"; as we can see from the example in Genesis quoted above, the envier's goal is destruction. Henry Hazlitt writes: "The envious are more likely to be mollified by seeing others deprived of some advantage than by getting it for themselves. It is not what they lack that chiefly troubles them, but what others have. The envious are not satisfied with equality; they secretly yearn for superiority and revenge."
And it is this envious, destructionist mentality, nursing itself on the notion that “your wealth is the cause of my poverty," that is the basic ethos of socialism. For socialism does not — and cannot — build up capital. It seeks only to expropriate or destroy the capital of others. It exalts a malignant, misanthropic disposition into an article of political economy, a machine for tyranny. Socialism is institutionalized envy.
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ECC. 9:6.
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion
for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
PHI. 1:15-16-17.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
But the other of Love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion
for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
PHI. 1:15-16-17.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
But the other of Love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: