Yes, the only reason envy is related to this is that it's playing a substitute role for actual harm. Here in India, you can actually say "look, starving childr

Yes, the only reason envy is related to this is that it's playing a substitute role for actual harm. Here in India, you can actually say "look, starving children." "Look, these people need water." "These people need power." If I hadn't been stuck in a hospital for the past week or so, I'd have seen several people each day for whom empathy is a natural reaction. But it's pretty hard to inspire empathy for Indians or Africans. In the US, it's far harder to find such people. No one would consider me a deprived person or particularly deserving of empathy (ignoring a temporary medical condition), yet I have far fewer goods and services than even most of the poorest Americans. This poses a conundrum for those who want to appeal to empathy. That's where envy comes in. Don't feel bad for people because they have too little, feel bad because others have more.