ABSTRACT
Envy, greed, and jealousy are the negative constituents of character and culture. This chapter describes that there exists a positive side to malice, just as there can be a negative side to excessive goodness. It is essential to note, however, that the tragedy of human existence cannot always be explained by, or simply reduced to envy, greed, or jealousy. The concept of luck provides an altogether different means to minimise envy, greed, and jealousy. Luck removes the personal responsibility that contributes to feelings of inferiority and envy. Besides egalitarian practices such as equalising income, there exist alternative ways to curb the evil impulse and relieve human suffering. The proposed solutions encompass three basic strategies: annihilate malice; ignore malice; or overcome the life-subverting elements of malice by enhancing life-sustaining feelings. By giving the illusion of absolute equality, luck allows the envier to carry on without suffering a loss of status or becoming overwhelmed by hatred.
