Schoeck_2010_EnvyATheoryOfSocialBehaviour.pdf

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THE ENVY-BARRIER OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
qualities, which show a positive attitude towards one's fellow men typical
of Americans, are effective enough in their country of origin. Since
1949, however, they have contributed largely to encouraging American
optimism in regard to the so-called developing countries, where the
existing cultures make it difficult for the natives to comprehend them.
The development-aid politicians could have learned a great deal by
reading studies such as those referred to here:
Doing favors for others is rare and creates suspicion. Favors are generally
associated with people de cultura who, it is said, do favors to get favors.
When young people or children show kindness or pity to outsiders they
are frequently 'corrected' by their mothers. Children are scolded for giving
things to their friends or for being trusting and generous in lending articles
to persons outside the family. 8
In the early fifties the husband-and-wife team, Gerardo and Alicia
Reichel-Dolmatoff, spent more than a year doing field work in the
mestizo village of Aritama in North Colombia. In this culture, too, they
found the envy-motive, fear of mutual envy being a determining factor.
The individual performance of magical practices intended to be harmful
to other people is one of the most dominant aspects of supernatural beliefs
in Aritama. Every individual lives in constant fear of the magical aggression
of others, and the general social atmosphere in the village is one of mutual
suspicion, of latent danger, and hidden hostility, which pervade every
aspect of life. The most immediate reason for magical aggression is envy.
Anything that might be interpreted as a personal advantage over others is
envied: good health, economic assets, and so on. All these and other
aspects imply prestige, and with it power and physical appearance, popularity,
a harmonious family life, a new dress, authority over others. Aggressive
magic is, therefore, intended to prevent or to destroy this power and
to act as a leveling force. As a system of social control, Black Magic is of
tremendous importance, because it governs all interpersonal relationships. 9
8 Op. cit., p. 297.
9 G. and A. Reichel-Dolmatoff, The People of Aritama. The Cultural Personality of a
Colombian Mestizo Village, Chicago, 1961, p. 396.