A mother will try to console her wildly unpopular child by assuring him, “They’re just envious,” fearing to burden him with the truth that he may just be hateful, or annoying, unwilling to see it herself. But a thinking man would not let this comfort him for long, for how often is it, truly that hatred follows from envy? Some may say that is often true, and envy brings light to hatred; they must be at least somewhat related. One might use hatred to justify their envy. But it is clear that they are not one in the same. Plutarch in his Moralia makes clear why a mother telling such things to her son should not be of comfort. In the essay “On Hatred and Envy” he draws distinctions between the two: Hatred is brought on by disgust, feeling that someone or something is a threat, that one has wronged you or has ill will towards you. Envy is brought on by one’s prosperity and goodness, or high reputation. One can envy their friend, one cannot hate their friend. One can simultaneously like someone and envy them, but it is not so with hatred. Envy is aggravated by one’s success, kindness towards you, or virtue. It is soothed by one showing that they are less good; whether a downfall of success or show that they are not virtuous. Hatred is roused by one’s badness, worsened by almost anything that the hated does. But it is pacified by the hated acting well or showing kindness. It is clear that they differ essentially by their causes, therefore they cannot be one in the same. Does this then mean that they cannot overlap?
It seems that the reason why people conflate hatred and envy is because they speak of the material envy. Envy over one’s belongings, success, appearance, talent can certainly bring upon hatred, if the person is not a virtuous individual. If the person is swelling with pride, superiority over the smaller man, unkindness, dishonesty and false persona, then it becomes easier to hate them for their success. We feel that such people are undeserving of such success, or that they abuse it, and we ourselves don’t want them to possess it. We are resentful that others extol them and respect them and like them, for they have not earned it, at least in our eyes. Most of all we are resentful because we feel that we ourselves deserve it more, but we do not have it. This, however, for the sake of consistency with definition, is an entirely different phenomena than envy itself. But may I propose another idea; that this may be a way of coping with envy. When one is envious, he alleviates his envy by finding flaw in the envied, in other words, finding reason to hate him instead of envy him. It is easier to hate than envy, for it puts the other man at fault, whereas envy is entirely self inflicted and is a pain caused not by someone else, but their competence in relation to your own incompetence. It is an affliction on the ego, an assault on the pride. Hatred, like anger, can feel empowering. So it remains that they are not the same. But is the mother still wrong in comforting her child with such a claim? Yes, people do not hate purely out of envy. And if they hate to ease their envy, it should not be comforting, for it only means they were able to find a flaw which brings you down enough to comfort them.
Why do we seek relief from envy but not from hatred? Hatred we build up and work to justify it more and more, but we never wish to justify our envy, in fact, we want it to be proven unnecessary. First, it is that envy is entirely aimed at the self. It is pain at one’s goodness because it shines a light on your faultiness. You are resentful not of the envied, but of yourself and the circumstances responsible for what you are. One’s joy causes your suffering, but one’s suffering causes you to think, “So he is like me.” You do not wish to inflict the envied man’s failure, as you would with one you hate, but it does supply you with comfort if it happens. Hatred is an indulgence of the pride, for in hating and looking down upon someone, you are inclined to see the ways in which you are superior and your pride begins to grow. Envy is a result of pride, for pride which is big is also easily perturbed. It is discontentment and pain associated with another’s success. Both are vices which are a result of pride.
So how do we overcome envy? It is simple: love. In Christianity, the Scriptures gives us these insights, “Love your neighbor as yourself…” “…That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” “Love does not envy, it does not boast.” In other words, love is not prideful, for pride only comes from the sense that you are your own person, an individual attached to no one or nothing else. And envy is prideful, therefore love, in fact, does not envy. To love your neighbor is to make their suffering your suffering, and their joy your joy. How can one be envious at the goodness of your neighbor if it is also yours?
THE EDUCATION OF A MILLENNIAL 