Envy society

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The term envy society is a political catchphrase that describes a society in which envy and especially “ social envy ” are generally fueled politically and economically as motivation . The term also appears in socio-political arguments with the aim of either dismissing more or less justified demands for more social justice as simple expressions of envy or, on the other hand, of presenting a justified criticism of unjust demands for privileges, as these are merely under the guise of "social justice" - however, particular interests play in the backgrounda motivating role - is put forward. In fact, the psychoanalyst Rolf Haubl differentiates here between the negative, hostile-damaging and depressive-paralyzing and the positive, ambitious-stimulating and indignant-justifying envy, which stimulates the feeling of justice and urges change. Consequently, the political motivation of both the user and the critic of this political catchphrase must always be examined in detail.

The Duden defines envy society as "a society in which large parts of the population are convinced that income, assets and property are unjustly distributed."

Envy and company

According to the sociologist Helmut Schoeck , envy is an anthropological constant. Envy in his work . He pursues a theory of society , based on microsocial envy phenomena such as sibling envy, the idea of ​​an "envy-free" society using examples such as kibbutzim and other socialist utopias that can only be maintained through control bodies.

In his article, the sociologist Sighard Neckel called Germany's yellow bile the all too “crude Teutonic” understanding of envy as a sign of “social poverty of experience”. It prevents a fruitful discussion on the question of social justice. Envy is, however, by its transformation into "ambition or sense of justice" quite beneficial for a society. The “social envy” that occurs between different social classes according to popular belief would be overestimated. Envy between “closely related groups” plays a far greater role. In his article, the sociologist Michael Hartmann called education and other privileges in the course book “social envy” as mere chimera . This is a blanket term with the critic of the “envious society” trying to defame the need for a debate about social justice. In the sociological specialist literature, however, “social envy” does not play a role; from a sociological point of view, envy arises primarily among representatives of comparable social conditions.

In 2008, the psychologist Rolf Haubl and his colleagues carried out a behavioral study of envy and coping with envy in Germany , which came to the conclusion that more than half of Germans perceive a "society of envy", with East Germans more inclined to this statement and correspondingly "outrageous- jealous ”reacted. However, he expected an approximation of the West Germans as a result of the financial crisis , the majority of whom had so far felt more of an "ambitious, stimulating" envy.

The French evolutionary biologist and psychiatrist François Lelord advocates the thesis that the envy factor tends to be high in democracies : “In the classy, ​​old society, the peasant was not jealous of the king or the noblewoman, it was simply forbidden, it wasn't at all It is conceivable that he could get there. ”In a democracy, envy is“ of course an important drive for many people ”. It is the essence of democracy, since there is “open competition for access to power”, but also the prospect of prosperity. Envy encourages the ambition to draw level with the 'envied' through one's own efforts and success "

In his speech on the Swiss national holiday on August 1, 2004, the former Swiss Federal President Joseph Deiss used the expression "envy cooperative", which was already in use in Switzerland at the time, as a play on the term Confederation .

The writer Hartmut El Kurdi has his own perspective: In the decades from 1990 to 2020, the “social envy of the villa districts” was politically effective in Germany. Because if you look at the decline of the public sector and the simultaneous increase in private wealth since the nineties, it becomes clear "why the libraries and district baths had to be closed: Because the" high earners "could not bear that there were a few things that belonged not only to them, but to everyone. "

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Envious eyes are insatiable". November 9, 2007, accessed May 25, 2020 .
  2. ^ Society of envy. on: duden.de , accessed on March 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ Georg W. Oesterdiekhoff (Ed.): Lexicon of sociological works. Springer, 2001, p. 602.
  4. ↑ Do we live in a society of envy? on: faz.net , May 25, 2001.
  5. ↑ Germany - Where envy blooms strange. In: Welt Online . September 11, 2009.
  6. ↑ resentment instead of admiration. Deutschlandradio Kultur from January 16, 2010.
  7. ↑ Hartmut El Kurdi: Column in taz.de May 27, 2020 [1]