Joe said that Communism has a way of breeding envy.
Which I thought...
Well, envy seems to be a common human condition.
Not only in countries that have communism.
In fact,
Brene Brown describes in detail the difference between envy and jealousy...
Which I deeply enjoyed -due to the fact that I’ve had it all wrong for years.
Having grown up exposed to dogmatic religion,
Knowing also the movie “7”-
Envy is one of the deadly sins.
Recognizable as: Not ideal.
Yet so often, our culture embraces “jealousy”- using terms such as “I am so jelly”...to indicate liking someone’s’ outfit or new hair cut....
But the difference between envy and jealousy was summed up so nicely by Brene:
Envy is “I want what you have”.
Jealousy is “I’m feeling a loss of attention, time or resources”.
Envy = 2. “Me and whatever I want (person, place or thing)
Jealousy = 3. “Me, You, and whatever or whoever is getting in the way of us.”
Joe:
“I was thinking about why it is that communism produces envy”
“Communism denies property. Property plus ambition produces progress through competency.”
...hmmm...
Private property is anything of belonging to one-
One’s own person, thoughts or needful things, are private property.
Most cultures or communities “agree” to respect private property.
The foundation of most spiritual or ethical practices begin with, or support; respecting private property.
Yet, communism is about nothing being private property-
All things are communal,
-no one has any personal belongings, but rather “belong” to the whole.
No one:
-Has different.
-Is different.
-Thinks or knows different.
All for “one” and “one” for all....
That’s why, in the majority of pure communistic run countries, the “state” assumes control and dominion over all property, business and communal need.
I’ve mentioned before that the ideology of true “Communism” is lost the moment there is one person or power controlling all.
It absolutely negates the idea of equal and shared communion....in the strictest sense of the matter.
Joe continued after my “that’s deep” remark...
Which always means that I’m struggling to grasp the total picture of what is being said....
“Ambition without property is equal to ambition with hopelessness...”
Mic drop...
Our current culture goes about speaking to “privilege”.
“White privilege” being the most commonly understood and thrown around.
Yet, privilege itself, simply defines an opportunity, situation or circumstance that provides the individual with “more than” a comparable target.
A Cuban with access to regular food and water is “privileged” when the vast majority must wait in long lines and go days without access to those same basic needs.
In first world countries, privilege is more defined around the opportunity and access to things way higher up on the Maslow’s hierarchy....
Which reminded me about how countries of privilege have higher rates of suicide due to the simple fact that the struggle to survive is not a daily experience they have.
Internet access is taken so for granted, that the idea of it being a privilege is lost...even to those who do not benefit from the current “white privilege” rhetoric.
As Canadians we might decide to “not pay for games”...
Yet the idea that a Cuban COULD or WOULD pay for games is a bizarre anomaly.
Can you imagine that $16 for a month game pass is two and a half months wage for most Cubans....
Then consider...
Before internet access, closed off countries and communities had NO IDEA what they were missing.
So once we can begin to compare apples to apples-
“Less privileged” and “More privileged” ends up being a global thing;
Instead of simply looking at the guy down the street....!
Joe:
“Envy is ambition + hopelessness”
I had never once, in my life...considered envy being related to hopelessness...
Ambition + Hopelessness = Envy
So, an “underprivileged” individual, might be in an endless spiral of envy..
Simply due to the fact that what they are ambitious about ..has no hope of producing any results.
How could you have hope of running a business one day...when there are no businesses to run outside of the state..
And even if you COULD run a business,
There is no way to profit or get ahead from it, since the state will simply absorb that business once it begins to profit in the slightest.
...Sort of how I felt when I look at professionals who had access to the funding and choices that led them to University degrees.
That isn’t jealousy...as I once thought.
I never had it to lose...
But envy,
Because the “hope” of earning that University degree was so far out of reach for me.
I had no college fund, and made choices that lead me directly into early parenthood and continual poverty.
Although I, myself, have been accused of white privilege..
I ALWAYS argued that.
“I have had to work for everything I have!!” WAS my war cry.
I recall having a great debate over the accusation of privilege, with the strong opinion that privilege is defined by the person deciding “who” had opportunities that they wish they had....
If you compare “UP”- you will always be underprivileged.
If you compare “DOWN” - you will always be overprivileged.
That is an absolute fact.
Comparison can only be weighed from the point of bias that is judging it.
Going to Cuba and learning about their life behind the facade from Joe...shut my mouth and deadened that war cry.
There is no comparison.
Yes...
I am privileged, by the simple act of being born in Canada.
I am privileged,
Undeniably, unequivocally- to anyone within the country of Cuba who is not part of the dictatorship on the highest level.
There is no comparison.
Trying to compare privilege of one country to another is an endless spiral into madness.
Canadians might have more privilege than Cuba,
But Cuba has more than Haiti....
On and on...until you get to North Korea.
That sucker stands alone currently.
The other day, I stumbled across a posting about a Cuban man, recently immigrated to Canada.
He was proclaiming how amazing it was that Canada had free vaccines in a clean and friendly hospital.
His whole family was able to get fully vaccinated without using the black market to acquire the supplies he would need, or spend hours in a dimly lit, filthy and overrun hospital that would likely give him an infection.
He didn’t need to spend his $7USD a month wage, to secure hope for his child.
That blew my mind.
Imagine that ....
In fact....
Just the simple act of being able to WRITE this, without fear of legal ramifications... is a privilege.
Some countries make it illegal to have an opinion.
So if communism breeds envy..
I wonder what other mysteries it holds in its' tickle trunk....
I think that envy is a human thing-
...and as I wrote this:
I came to realization that there are areas of the world that have a higher rate of envy happening.
Perhaps it is even privilege that someone can say “I don’t do envy”.
Which sort of speaks to how -envy- may be a real and live issue that all people deal with,
Like opinion and humanity...
Yet certain environments and situations might highlight the living and breathing act of envy far beyond being “jelly” over someone’s haircut or access to university.
Take good care.