Envy is the deadliest sin

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/01/2010 (5922 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If I could wave a magic wand and eradicate just one of the seven deadly sins from this planet, it would be envy. Envy is surely the deadliest of our sins.

I can hear the wheels turning, as you cast about for other deadly sins. Gluttony for example. Recent news headlines make much of the increase in obesity, bad diets and the horrors of eating trans fats, but gluttony is not top of my list. Nor is sloth, gluttony’s twin. Proper school programs can fix these, as they have done with smoking.

There are others — pride, for example — but in-your-face pride can be abated with a simple course on minding your manners. And prideful people usually get their comeuppance, to the great glee of close observers.

The remaining sins are lust, wrath and greed.

“Aha!” I hear you shout triumphantly, “What about greed? Why don’t you want to eliminate greed?”

Well, of course greed is bad. It’s a sin after all. Greed is reputed to make rich people richer and poor people poorer. But I think greed gets a bad rap.

In my book, the fault line between envy and the other sins sits on this: Most people have been slothful, gluttonous, prideful or greedy at times. Most have felt anger and lust. These are normal, natural sins. Most importantly, they are recognized as sins by the sinners, and are duly repented. The sinners accept full responsibility for their transgressions and strive to do better.

Envy is different. Envious people are never satisfied with their lot. They are always looking over their shoulder to see what others have, and are quick to find fault with those who have more than they do. But their real sin is that they don’t recognize that they have a sin.

I neither like nor trust envious people. They lay about, railing against the rich, and accusing them of selfishness. They take care to couch their bad-tempered rants in a thinly disguised veil of moral superiority. Claiming humanitarian motives gives them permission to become self-righteous and denounce greed. Since they actually hate greedy people, they end up with two deadly sins.

I don’t mind greedy people. At least you know where you stand with them. “What’s in it for me?” is the enthusiastic cry of the greedy, who worship at the holy grail of The Market. They don’t inflict shame on anyone. They’re too busy trying to get a piece of the action for themselves.

Plus, greed generates wealth, which is taxable, so greed produces the money that societies need to help people who are in hard times.

Envy doesn’t generate anything. Envy is debilitating. It expends energy in negative and exhausting ways. Envy belittles success and denigrates profit. The envious seek to expunge greed through shame, punishment, legislation and excessive taxation. They want to seize the assets of the wealthy and re-distribute them to the “less fortunate.”

Ever pessimistic, the envious assume that rich people gain their wealth through luck.

Greed is optimistic, expansive and global in scope. “The world is a market for my better mousetrap!” the greedy exult, rubbing their hands together in glee. The greedy landlord doesn’t care who pays the rent, as long as the rent cheque doesn’t bounce. Greed fosters tolerance for diversity.

Envy is parochial and mean-spirited. The envious try to dehumanize the greedy by impugning evil motives on greed’s success. Envy kills hope and pits people against each other, breeding societies that are negative and intolerant.

Ever anxious to share other people’s wealth, envy is silent on how to deal with their debts.

Envy is the sin of choice for socialists. Capitalists prefer greed.

People who are greedy or gluttonous or slothful are realistic. They acknowledge their sins, accept that they aren’t perfect, and get on with their diets, their exercise, their charitable donations, whatever it takes to make them become better human beings. These activities make them happy. They know that the real fun lies in the journey, not the destination.

The envious believe that money buys happiness, but it’s other people’s money they covet. Since there will always be someone richer than they are, they live life in the backwaters, never satisfied and never happy.

Can we eradicate envy? Maybe we could start with a school program. Hey, it worked with smoking didn’t it?

Marilyn Baker is a freelance writer in Richmond, B.C.