Dear Revolutionary Paideia readers:

You would like to think that people who are claiming to be good people would not be envious of you and wouldn’t try to tear you down.  You cannot, however, let your guard down just because people claim to be good people.  Many of the most envious people are the ones you least expect.  Many of the people who are shaking your hand, patting you on the back, and giving sundry expressions of praise are people who secretly wish negative things for you.  It’s vital for you to open your natural and spirit eyes to see what people who are close and not close to you are attempting to do to you.  Listen to what they say about you, even when they’re using third person.

One tactic envious people employ is making an effort to attack you for having one or more things they desire.  They will attempt to use what you have that they want against you.  For example, if a person is envious of you because you’re more educated, he or she might claim that the reason you obtained the level of education you did was to have your ego stroked.  Trust me, most people (if not all) are not gaining high levels of academic training just to have their egos stroked.  After all, folks have to eat and they may have a longing to eat better than you do, which contributes to their efforts to pursue more academic training than you have.

Don’t be envious of people who are more educated than you are.  Listen to them and learn from them.  Don’t try to suggest negative things about them simply because you hate that you cannot speak with the great insight as they do, and don’t hate on them because people would rather listen to what they have to say than what you have to say.  Do your best—that’s all you can do.

Your energy can be better invested in things that are going to make you better rather than on things that attempt to distract and tear down someone you envy.  While it’s not good for young people to be controlled by an envious spirit, it’s even more ridiculous when you have people in their forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond being envious of people much younger than themselves.  You would like to think that people in the aforementioned age range would be more mature and have more wisdom than this.  If you’re in the aforementioned age range, you should be encouraging younger people to do well and to continue to do well—not discouraging them, tearing them down, and hating on them.

What can you do to respond to those who are envious of you and want to bring you down?  While it may be difficult to not respond to the negative things your envious critics have to say, resist the temptation to respond to them.  When you respond to them, you empower them by giving them the attention they want.  You elevate them to a level they don’t deserve to be elevated.  Continue to do the great work you’re doing and say nothing in response to them.  Trust me, envious people will stop trying to attack, distract, discredit, and derail you when you stop giving them any attention.  Defeat envious people with your continued success!

Again, keep doing the great work you’re doing.  Don’t be foolish enough to let any envious person halt your progress.

Sincerely,

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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