Continuing through this summary of Robert Greene’s Laws of Human Nature, this post covers a recap of the Law of Envy.

The catchphrase is: Beware the fragile ego.

Envy is the most tricky and elusive of all human emotions. To decode envy, you must become a master of human nature. You will need to learn to distinguish passive envy from active envy before you can understand its nuances. We all suffer from envy from time to time as we subconsciously observe the people around us. The need to compare can cause some of us to excel. If people are trying to actively sabotage your career, projects, or relationships, then you’re dealing with a dangerously envious person.

Signs of Envy
It’s difficult to detect subtle signs of envy, but you can detect them if you pay attention.

Microexpressions  
The eyes are the most telling, and often it’s the first impression you should pay most attention to. The envious person’s first impression may be disdain or hostility.  

The Schopenhauer method for eliciting envy is: “Tell suspected enviers some good news about yourself- a promotion, a new and exciting love interest. You’ll notice a very quick expression of disappointment. Their tone of voice as the congratulate you will betray some tension and strain. Equally, tell them some misfortune of yours and notice the uncontrollable microexpression of joy in your pain, what is commonly known as schadenfreude (pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune).  

Poisonous Praise
Beware of people who give confusing and paradoxical praise. They’ll give you praise, but find ways to mix in sarcasm and offhand remarks designed to make you uncomfortable and doubt your ability.

Back-Biting
Gossip is often a cover for envy. It’s driven by frustration.

Push and Pull
Those closest to you are in the best place to act on envy. Enviers will often use friendship and intimacy as the best way to wound the people they envy.  

Envier Types
Here are five common types of enviers, how they disguise themselves, and how they attack.  

1) The Leveler
They’re always on the lookout for injustice and unfairness in the world. While they’re good at putting others down, they don’t easily take jokes at their own expense. Their goal is to bring every one down to their level of mediocrity. They are unable to identify or value excellence in anyone.  

2) The Self-Entitled Slacker
People feel entitled to success and a good life, but recognize they’ll need to work hard and sacrifice their time. Self-entitled slackers feel they too deserve success, but are plagued by narcissism and insecurities about their own abilities to get what they want. Be aware of those willing to maintain their position through charisma rather than hard work.

3) The Status Fiend
Humans are very sensitive to their rank or position within social groups. For some people, status is how they define their value. They may want to know how much you earn, or other markers of status, but they may occasionally play the opposite way- pretending to be much more humble than they really are. If you find yourself around this type of person, downplay things that might trigger envy.  

4) The Attacher
These types are attracted to the successful or powerful. They want to get a piece of the success of the high-achiever without putting in the hard work.  

5) The Insecure Master
For some people, having a higher position increases their insecurity. They fear subordinates that have more talent than them. They may fire people for strange reasons, or discredit your outstanding projects.  

Envy Triggers
While some personality types are more prone to envy than others, be aware certain situations can trigger envy in just about anyone.  

Older people and people whose professions are fading tend to have fragile egos.  

When a woman achieves a high level of success, other women, and men, can feel inadequate. In order to deflect envy, it becomes even more important for successful women to play the humble card.  

The best way to deal with an envy attack is to control your emotions. Social media makes it easier for envy to pop up and we can all be triggered by these things to some degree.

Beyond Envy
Envy thrives in environments where people see each other every day. Our brains can’t stop comparing, so we need to redirect this mechanism into something constructive and creative.  

Celebrate Human Greatness
Admiration is the opposite of envy. Acknowledge people’s accomplishments and celebrate them without feeling insecure.  

Downward Comparisons
Gratitude is the best antidote to envy. While comparing ourselves with people above us can make us envious, likewise comparing ourselves with people below us can help us be grateful.  

Schadenfreude v Mitfreude
Schadenfreude is taking joy in someone’s troubles, mitfreude is finding joy ‘with’ that person in their blessing. Try to identify what it must feel like for them in their moment of success.  

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My notes:
As a conservative, I often feel like much of the left’s politics is the politics of envy. While socialism is supposedly built on redistribution for more equality, I believe the heart of it is envy. We see people that have more, we think that somehow it’s not fair; the fact that they have it and we don’t means they must have stolen from us, and by god, we’re gonna take those sons of #%*@ down!

Of course, there ARE people who cheat others and take undue amounts for themselves. But there are plenty of others who have more because they earned it.

I have no problem with someone earning more than me. It doesn’t make any bit of difference to me. I’m under no conviction that if Jeff Bezos hadn’t created Amazon.com, somehow, I would have gotten some of that money. I don’t care if some people are richer than I am. I’m happy and content in my life, and their success doesn’t do anything for or against me.  
That said, the law of envy isn’t something to be ignored, because it tells us something true in general about humans- they are envious. IF you have more than others, you’d best beware of it.  
IF you’re someone in a high position, then for your own sake- share the wealth. If you’ve been blessed with abnormal success, don’t leave those that helped you get it in normal circumstances. Bring them up too, it’s fair, it’s decent, and selfishly… it may protect you in the long run from the innate envy of those around you.

On the other hand, if you haven’t done anything of note, haven’t been helpful at bringing someone else up…. then what gives you the right to expect anything? Don’t look at what someone else has and think that they’re having that thing is only because they stole it. That’s just envy, and all it does is tear down. It has no power to build up. And if you’re the type of person who only tears things down rather than builds things up, then you probably deserve to have less because you aren’t building anything up.