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Greed and envy, entitlement, and guilt
Many human conflicts arise from asymmetries in our views of one another. The rich often feel entitled to what they have and resent the poor for stealing from them, while the poor often resent the rich for being greedy and feel entitled to steal from them. And the rich may feel guilt for not sharing what they have with the poor, while the poor may feel guilt for envying the rich and stealing from them.
That’s an oversimplification, of course. There many degrees of poor and rich. Not all poor people steal, and many rich people share what they have. And almost all of us know, or know of, people richer and poorer than ourselves. So we can almost all feel entitlement and resentment, envy and guilt from both sides.
And the asymmetry extends to other animals. I resent raccoons for attempting to create shelter for themselves in and around our house, breaking into our garbage for food, and messing up our property with their wastes, and I also feel guilty about that resentment. They seem to envy and resent us for having a warm, safe place to shelter and plenty to eat, though I doubt that they feel much guilt.
The same asymmetries apply to groups as well and, in my view, are at the root of the long simmering and currently acute and tragic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
— Robert Burns, “To A Louse”
