My response to a truly execrable NY Times Op-Ed by Arthur Brooks . . .

[markpkessinger]

. . . head of the American Enterprise Institute.

Here is the text of my comment:

Mark Kessinger [font color="gray"]New York, NY 2 hours ago[/font]

The suggestion that most middle- and working-class folks are 'envious' of the very wealthy is an outrageous insult. Nobody is begrudging anybody's success, nor do they covet what the very wealthy have. But many of the very wealthy seem to have lost sight of the fact that nobody succeeds alone. What people want is the ability to make a decent living for themselves and their families. They want a real chance to get ahead. They want job security. And when the businesses who employ them enjoy large increases in profitability, they want their contribution to that increased profitability to be fairly reflected in their wages or salaries.

In any case, the prevailing emotion is not 'envy,' but rather bitter resentment. People resent that this tiny percentage of folks who have succeeded so spectacularly have used the fruits of that success to undermine the formerly robust commons this country once enjoyed. They resent that they use that money to lobby legislators to tear away at the social safety net and to block a long-overdue and very modest rise in the minimum wage.

An economic system must work for everyone. A system that enables a relative handful to hoard ever larger sums of wealth while everybody else is left to divvy up an ever declining remainder is unsustainable.

Finally, if anything is feeding this resentment, it is the smug, self-satisfied pronouncements of the 1% about what is "healthy" for society as a whole!

And here is an excerpt of Brooks' Op-Ed:

[font size=4]The Downside of Inciting Envy[/font]

[font size=3]Arthur C. Brooks[/font]

< . . . . >

Unsurprisingly, psychologists have found that envy pushes down life satisfaction and depresses well-being. Envy is positively correlated with depression and neuroticism, and the hostility it breeds may actually make us sick. Recent work suggests that envy can help explain our complicated relationship with social media: it often leads to destructive “social comparison,” which decreases happiness. To understand this, just picture yourself scrolling through your ex’s wedding photos.

My own data analysis confirms a strong link between economic envy and unhappiness. In 2008, Gallup asked a large sample of Americans whether they were “angry that others have more than they deserve.” People who strongly disagreed with that statement — who were not envious, in other words — were almost five times more likely to say they were “very happy” about their lives than people who strongly agreed. Even after I controlled for income, education, age, family status, religion and politics, this pattern persisted.

It’s safe to conclude that a national shift toward envy would be toxic for American culture.

< . . . . >

. . . [W]e must recognize that fomenting bitterness over income differences may be powerful politics, but it injures our nation. We need aspirational leaders willing to do the hard work of uniting Americans around an optimistic vision in which anyone can earn his or her success. This will never happen when we vilify the rich or give up on the poor.

< . . . . >

[marew]

1. Could not agree more!

I would say the uber wealthy are the ones vilifying us. Simply because they wish to have millions or whatever, they incorrectly project their skewed values on us.

I never wanted to live in a mansion. I never wanted to drive a new luxury car every year. I am a retired social worker/educator. I own a modest home in a middle class neighborhood and drive a 5 year old car. I am fortunate to have more than I need. I owe virtually nothing to anyone. I pretty much do anything I want- including two trips to Europe in the past 3 years.

I remember a few years ago someone wanted Suzi Orman's approval to spend an insane amount of money he really could not afford on a fancy vehicle. Suzi asked why he wanted to do that. His reply was that when he drove down the street, he wanted people to look at him and say something like "Wow! Look at that car. That guy must be really cool!" You can imagine how Suzi reacted. She took the wind right out of his sails. You want to go into extreme debt to attempt to impress people you do not even know?

I was lucky. I was in the right place at the right time in my career. But I see people almost every day who work every bit as hard as I ever did who are struggling to survive. They all deserve a minimum living wage.

It is the arrogance of the uber wealthy I find so offensive. The vast majority do believe they did it all by themselves without a scintilla of recognition that they gained their wealth under a system skewed very much in their favor.

I am not a religious person- not at all. But I firmly believe in compassion and I believe I AM my brother's keeper. I believe very strongly and deeply that I am ethically bound to share what I have with others and do it anonymously whenever possible. That alone is infinitely more rewarding than owning any material possession that exists.

[snort]

16. Your post brought Robinson Crusoe to mind.

I agree with his Dad. Like you, I have enough.

You need to be a sociopath to hoard money like the 1%.

[whathehell]

26. +10 n/t

[scarletwoman]

2. Your comment is excellent! Thank you for not letting that garbage editorial go unchallenged!

[AceWheeler]

3. Who envies wealth?

I would expect that wealthy people have a high desire to be wealthy, which is part of why and how they became wealthy. If this is true (at least to some degree), the probability that they assume nonwealthy people envy them is not that much of a leap. In psychology, this is called "projection," in this case projecting their desire for wealth on everyone else. Hence, they falsely assume nonwealthy people "envy" them, just as Brooks does. Some, no doubt do, but not necessarily that many.

As a self-employed person, I consciously decided NOT to seek wealth (the opportunities were there and I knew and associated with several who did), but preferred a comfortable middle class existence.

I like your response a lot and offer my thoughts as an adjunct.

[markpkessinger]

5. Thank you for that adjunct! n/t

[jsr]

4. Thank you.

[Voice for Peace]

6. kick!! nt

[lunatica]

7. Thanks!

Excellent points!

Every time we let the 1% and their boot lickers choose to speak for us we lose.

[brett_jv]

8. K&R very well said, thanks for doing that (n/t)

[senseandsensibility]

9. Thank you for your clear-headed, logical response.

I have lost my patience and sense of optimism that used to allow me to do the same. I rarely respond to even the most disgusting corporate shill pieces now. Obviously, the author of the "article" is beyond reach, but I hope that others will read your response.

[MrScorpio]

10. The uber-wealthy regard the lack of worship by the masses as a mortal insult

[McCamy Taylor]

11. Well said. Here are my two cents worth.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251355629

[markpkessinger]

12. Your post is excellent! n/t

[zeemike]

13. Nice response.

Wish I could have said it that well.

[markpkessinger]

14. Brooks seems to think . . .

. . . that the fundamental problem is that too few among those in the lower and middle economic strata " believe that hard work brings success." I would argue that one of the major problems we face is that too many still believe it!

[Curmudgeoness]

15. You did us all proud with that rebuttal.

I am many things, but I am not envious of the 1%. I also am quite content with my life, even if I wish that I had "a little more" money so that I could feel more secure. But I don't even want the lifestyle of the wealthy, nor do I want to have to live their lives.

I found that comment about the link between economic envy and unhappiness to be laughable. You can certainly come up with all kinds of reasons for the data you amass. Ask me if I am angry that others have MORE THAN THEY DESERVE, and I will have to answer "yes, I am"...but that is not because I envy them, it is because fairness is more important to me than anything else. Ask me the question am I "angry that others have more than me", and you will get a much different response.

You did good.

[No Vested Interest]

17. Thank you for speaking up.

We need more people to do just that, so that others will know they are not alone.

[stage left]

18. A very good clear response.

I tried to read the whole article but IE wouldn't let me. You expressed exactly what I feel about the obscenely rich much better than I could have expressed it. They would like to have us believe it is envy we feel for them, not the bitter resentment that it really is. Their heads would lie easier on their satin pillows at night if we would only believe it's just envy we feel.

[JDPriestly]

19. It isn't just a matter of envy. And envy is understandable on the part of the impoverished.

As Clinton used to say, most Americans believe that if you play by the rules, you should be able to make a decent living through your work and skill.

Too many of the 1%ers of today either inherited their wealth from some individual who made a fortune climbing the ladder while kicking honest, working people in the butt (think Rockefeller, Morgan, nearly all the 19th century moguls), breaking ethical rules and the law and corruption (the history of the corruption of the 19th century moguls is astounding) or made their money by kicking honest, working people in the butt (think Rockefeller, Morgan, nearly all the 19th century moguls), breaking ethical rules and the law and corruption (the history of the corruption of the 19th century moguls is astounding). This goes for all the takeover crowd who bought viable American businesses or factories, sold the guts of the factories to China or some other third world country and are now reveling in their wealth.

A few of the hedge fund managers and Wall Street brokers and some of our bankers come to mind. They buy their way out of criminal convictions with "campaign donations" to politicians. (That used to be called corruption, but today we call that corporate free speech.)

Take a guy who is in his late 50s, early 60s, has worked all his life in a respected trade and now finds himself out of a job. He never cheated. He never shirked. He is impoverished. And Congress won't even vote to continue his meager unemployment check. It's a bit late to invest in a new career, especially when jobs in almost any career other than those that require a youthful, strong back and legs are non-existent for the over-50s crowd.

The problem is not the envy. The problem is the greed on the part of those who so need to blame their victims. The victims of the greed of the wealthy have no control. They have no representation in government. Most of them don't even have a union.

This talk about envy is a useless attempt to justify extreme greed and hubris.

Things will change. They always do. Whether they change so as to preserve some of the privileges that the wealthy now enjoy is entirely up to those wealthy people who are now blaming their victims and who do not see their own faults.

Is it really so difficult to understand that a homeless mother of three has a right to be envious of a mother with three homes?

[NaturalHigh]

22. True, and I agree with President Clinton.

My favorite professor told our class once that the richest in societies always fear the middle class. Maybe that's why they've worked so hard to destroy it in the U.S.

[Enthusiast]

24. Great post, JD!

[stillwaiting]

20. Brooks was a blatant propagandist in that op-ed. So transparent. nt

[NaturalHigh]

21. I have never begrudged anybody being rich.

I do, however, begrudge anyone using his or her wealth to stick it to everybody else in order to get richer.

Also (and not everyone will agree), I truly believe that if you have too much money to spend, then you have too much money. A person only needs so many cars, big screen TVs, airplanes, boats, etc.

[Skittles]

23. OMG you nail it Mr. Kessinger

it's not envy - it's ANGER at the unfairness - the playing field is SO unequal

[Orrex]

25. My first thought was "Why is Nemo's dad such an asshole?"

Then I realized. Arthur Brooks. Whoops!


Excellent response piece. K/R.