The Sin of Envy in America
“Communist lives matter” is a slogan we never hear out of China, Russia, Cuba, or Venezuela because we know that communism is just another socio-economic system where one group has power over other groups. Communism is totalitarianism, which means competition to those in power is removed. This usually happens by death or imprisonment of competitors.
Communist environments are not competitive. They are oppressive. The rule is that if someone is gaining an advantage, you must put him down. Of course, in absolute power situations there are the elite untouchables. These are the people who live and work above the rules. The untouchable elite typically do not have a problem with this inconsistency, and if anyone else does have a problem, he does not live long.
Fear and intimidation is the primary motive in an absolute power system. Consequences for disrupting the system are as severe as possible. Hope is killed and change is practically impossible. People try to escape corrupt socio-political situations. The reasons are obvious. They hear about better systems in other places and they move there if they can, even at the risk of death. Unfortunately, they often bring their limited ideologies with them and tend to ruin the place of their migration. Utopia on earth has not been found, nor has it been created.
Racism is a ploy of Satan to turn his enemies in upon themselves to do his work for him. Racism is devoid of appreciation for divinely created diversity. People are different, and people are made in the image of God. God is a Triune community with a culture of love and creativity, operating within a set of rules. People, therefore, create culture. Culture consists of everything touching our lives. It is architecture, food, language, clothing, furniture, transportation, etc. Culture also produces ideas.
Communism was an idea put upon the world by Karl Marx. It produced many things. Not near as many things as free market capitalism has created, but we must agree “life is not just stuff.” But ideas have consequences. “He who has the most stuff at the end…wins!” is a fight slogan. When one person begins to gain advantage, the mob either lets him continue in freedom, or it devises schemes to destroy him. The latter idea is that no one gets ahead.
Racism is as much a lie as white male privilege. Consider two “no white male privilege zones” for example. The NBA and the NFL are dominated by highly competitive black men. Even college basketball and football only have a smattering of white and brown skinned men left in their ranks. As a white male, I might claim this needs to be remedied under the “white lives matter” sports mantra. If I do, then I am a racist communist. Therefore, I do not object because I see these men as successful examples of the free market sports economy. They excel and I appreciate the excellence they bring to their sports.
Claims of “systemic oppression” are ludicrous. Endless government handouts of free stuff and claims of victimhood do not jive. Taxpayer lives matter, too. Do you want freedom or slavery? Freedom is competitive, and slavery is oppression. You must choose which diegetic narrative you will immerse yourself. Black slaves were freed in America 160 years ago. It is time to get in the game. The game has rules. Everyone must play by the rules. Some are already thriving because they chose to play.
The black community in America thrives in diverse industries. They thrive with God-given talents, hard work, and opportunities provided by free markets that reward them. If sports and entertainment is the field of choice, then we must acknowledge the prowess of these competitors. If the field is education or politics, then we readily confess the mountain is moving. Was President Obama considered “mulatto privileged” because he secured the highest job in the land? None of this is about race. It is about playing fair on a free and competitive field.
Everyone is different and every field is different. We must be personally responsible for the field of competition we choose to work in. The free market does not care about your claims to being an oppressed victim. There is no white male privilege society. You are simply demonizing one group in the mix of competitors. Your desire is to gain a competitive edge. That is understandable in a free market, but here is where your evil is exposed. You must play by the rules. Here are some rules to help us all understand the game, so we may all fair better.
Rule #1: America is about freedom for everyone. Government regulation and control of everything is not freedom. We are slaves to the federal, state, and local governments when we cannot make responsible competitive choices. Government regulation stifles choice and makes everything more expensive. Who wants to watch an SEC football game where each team has a win-loss record of 6 and 6? That would be southeastern communism, and nobody wants it. Choose freedom.
Rule #2: Freedom is competitive. Cooperation is a far more noble concept, but it is usually rather elusive in a competitive environment. Still, teamwork is about lifting the position of the whole team in light of a larger competitive environment. Team members compete within the group for the privilege to play, but all will cooperate on game day for the benefit of the whole. Competitors want to win, and they will cooperate with one another for group victory. Join the team and do your best to contribute positively.
Rule #3: Competition favors those who work hard. Communism stifles incentive, and without incentive, humans do not work. Mob victim mentality turns to robbing and stealing from the so-called “privileged” people who work hard. In a competitive environment there is no such thing as a “working class.” Everyone works, and everyone is rewarded for the work he does. Dr. Lawrence Reed once taught me, “There is no such thing as ‘the lazy rich.’”
Harvard University has developed a system to find the absolute crème of intelligentsia, and then Silicon Valley sends its spies to Cambridge to steal them away to California in their freshman year. Harvard has a lot of money, but Silicon Valley has more money. Money is the answer to everything. Harvard must creatively work to keep their students in school, in the face of high-tech kidnappers. It is crazy competitive, and I am sure the professors complain about being systematically oppressed and deprived of their students. You can read more about that phenomenon on your iPhone, which was a cooperative team effort by those who defected to the west coast for your benefit. So be creative and work hard.
Rule #4: Working hard is the way of those who play by the rules. Human rules are always changing. What is ideal tends to vary in peoples’ minds; therefore, rules are dictated by the ideal currently in play. The communist ideal works for the elite powerbrokers, but it hardly benefits the people. The free market ideal works for the savvy, shrewd, and sometimes lucky. Money and power are always the quest in both of these systems. The free market keeps Bernie Sanders, Michael Moore, Joel Osteen, Oprah, Al Gore, and the Gordon Gekko-types in the game.
As much as I loathe each of these American entrepreneurial types, living in their magnanimous mansions, I want them in the game, too. Opportunists operate just within the fringe of the rules. They, with the help of their lawyers, find a niche to operate and profit off of the ignorant. It is not ideal, but it is a free market, competitive, and they work hard. They do create things which add to the diversity of our glorious crazy culture.
The American Constitution is the oldest in the world. America is one of the youngest countries in the world. That tells you something about the game. Our constitution is the foundation rules of our republic. With changing demographics, Democrats are now trying to change these rules. Yes, that is legal in a free market. Is it beneficial? Nobody really knows until things change and later generations forget “the glory days.”
The temperance movement of the early 20th century proved to be a debacle, but can you think of even one name attached to the changing of the U.S. Constitution to make Prohibition law? We call that zero accountability. It is what power politics is all about. The bottom line is that man can never create ideal rules, and we know he does not universally abide by any of them. If only there were some ideal rules, for man to live at peace with his neighbor! There are…
Rule #5: The rules are set by Almighty God. Jesus Christ gave His disciples a rule, actually two rules to live by. Love the Lord your God with your whole, heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:34–40). These two rules are a concise summary of the moral Law of God, which is also called, “the Ten Commandments.” These ten rules are actually ten broad categories with numerous subsets. The competition hates the Ten Commandments because of how productive and efficient America would be if we could find a way to know them and live by them.
In every situation a test can be run, “Was this done in love?” Love must constrain us (2 Cor 5:14). Love must motivate us. Love works hard. Love plays by the rules.
Rule #6: Almighty God is a just judge of the rules He gives us. The Bible is filled with stories of winners and sinners. Christians must learn for themselves about God’s omniscience, with regard to every human heart. His claim to justice is stated in His Word. He has made us, and we did not make ourselves. He has given us a set of rules to live by, and we suffer when we neglect the rules instead of working hard to love one another.
Rule #7: Envy is breaking the rules. Mobs of victims in a free market, with a rule of law, are unhelpful at best and dangerous at worst. They work to destroy the environment of rules, law, and justice. They are anarchists who ruin the culture by the sin of envy. Envy is the act of hating winners. The envious operate ignorant of God’s providence. God has ordered all things. We find only two groups sifted in His providential judgment of humanity. It is not white and black. It is not rich and poor. It is not privileged and victim. It is not male and female. It is obedient and disobedient, righteous and unrighteous.
Ultimately, insurrection against order is insurrection against God. This is clear from Romans 13, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation against themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil (Rom 13:1–3).”
In summary, we see a number of social systems, political systems, and economic systems in the world. Man is ever working his schemes. The United States was founded on principles it crafted in relationship with other worlds systems. We have rules, and the rule of law is our guideline for operation. Much of America has turned from the rule of God, and we all suffer when this happens. Fear motivates us to hate. We join the prosecution team of the accuser. We divide ranks. We see love for our neighbor, our brothers and sisters, grow cold. We are victims of the systemic oppression of our own ignorance. We must learn to love again.
In conclusion, someone needs to step up and teach the people to play by the rules of love, to work hard at loving one another, and according to the only love constituted to last for eternity…the law of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Stop with the envy; and show us, some love.
David E. Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 1, 2021
