Intrigued by Envy

A little known statement from Mitt Romney way back in January or February this year has been at the forefront of my mind over the past few days/weeks as the presidential campaign centers on class and workers rights, etc.  Romney claimed that the president divides us with the "bitter politics of envy," which led to an astute op-ed piece in The New York Times. 

I just keep wondering what the heck Romney is talking about!  Is he suggesting that those of us who are not wealthy business owners or the like are envious of his situation?  This just seems so un-American to me.  For a country that sells the trope of the American Dream and pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, it sure seems strange to suggest that people are envious rather than, oh I don't know, say that we have the right to pursue those dreams?  The fact is, as most of us liberal types know, people are bitter because those tropes are not true and they are not true in part because the business practices of the elite and their greedy business decisions have a disproportionate effect on the rest of us by making it extremely difficult to take part in the American Dream while -- in the same breath -- celebrating their own success as a clear example of the reality of the American Dream.

Romney and his privileged rhetoric really gets under my skin.  Calling the majority of the American public envious is such an enormously condescending concept.  The OED defines Envy as: 

1) Malignant or hostile feeling; ill-will, malice enmity 
2) Unwillingness, reluctance 
3) The feeling of mortification and ill-will occasioned by the contemplation of superior advantages possessed by another 

Woah.  Is this really what Romney thinks or is he just saying things that he is accustomed to saying like, "oh that person just envies me"?  Either way, it seems like a pretty myopic view, especially for a presidential candidate.  I just keep thinking of the things my parents used to tell me to ward off my frenemies at school with words of advice indicating that someone is just envious or jealous of what you have.  Well, it's one thing to say that at home to comfort your kid and that might have one ounce of truth when it is about interpersonal relationships.  But it is an entirely other thing to suggest that at least half of Americans are just haters who are angry because someone has more than we have. 

The argument is huge and there are many points to be made, but one of them is that what I know I feel is nothing like envy when I think of Romney or any other person of extreme privilege like him, and I'm quite sure I'm not the only one.  I'm angry, but I'm not angry when I contemplate his superior advantages.  I'm angry about how he has used that superior advantage to the detriment of others.  And it makes me sad to see him garnering support from other so-called "leaders" -- both business and political.