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Resentment Against Achievement: synopsis
Robert Sheaffer
Box 35683
Monte Sereno, CA 95030
November, 1987
A Note to the Libertarian Community
I have recently signed a contract with Prometheus Books, of
Buffalo, New York, to publish my new book, titled "Resentment
Against Achievement". It is scheduled for publication in the
Spring of 1988. This book will make a considerable splash among
Libertarians, Humanists, Neo-Conservatives, and in related
circles, because it opens up an entirely new perspective of
Libertarian thought, one which cannot help but represent a
tremendous advantage to those who strive to promote human
liberty. It discusses the consequences of the powerful
RESENTMENTS harbored by life's angry failures against the success
of those who have disciplined themselves to succeed. It examines
the consequences of widespread and deep-seated resentments
against successful achievers, indeed, against the very
characteristics which are preconditions for success.
The book contains a principled defense of Capitalism, as well as
a powerful denunciation of all forms of Socialism, but it does so
from a perspective for which Socialism has no ready-made answers
or excuses. Indeed, it is a philosophical attack from a
perspective which, once understood, ALLOWS no credible refutation
or counter-attack, for it shows how Socialism is a manifestation
of RESENTMENT AGAINST ACHEIVEMENT, a value system grounded in the
envy and anger of those who have failed in open economic
competition. As you can surely imagine, the very unexpectedness
of such an attack, and the near-impossibility of devising a
credible defense against it, can be expected to strike the
proponents of Socialism a devastating blow.
Attached is a brief synopsis of "Resentment Against Achievement".
Once the perspective it seeks to establish comes into view, a
number of seemingly-unrelated and previously-unexplainable social
phenomena can be understood. Even more importantly, we begin to
get a notion of what must be done to keep resentment held in
check. The political position which is arrived at differs little
from Ayn Rand's Objectivism, but the means of getting there is
RADICALLY different. Also, many of the criticisms which have been
hurled at Rand and her followers do not apply to "Resentment
gainst Achievement".
The cover story of the October, 1987 issue of REASON Magazine -
"Asian Success vs. Black Frustration" - provides a PERFECT
illustration of the concept of "Resentment Against Achievement".
The indisciplined and the unproductive, whose value system is
grounded in the morality of resentment and hence scornful of
those characteristics which are necessary for success, are
infuriated by seeing the increasing prosperity of hard-working,
achievement-oriented persons. The result is a simmering brew of
ill-concealed envy and seething anger, frequently erupting into
violence.
You may share this note, and the attached synopsis, with fellow
Libertarians, if you would like. I hope that this book will
prove useful in our struggle to promote the cause of liberty.
A Synopsis of "Resentment Against Achievement"
(To be published by Prometheus Books, Spring, 1988)
This book seeks to redefine some of the major terms of
contemporary political debates. It argues that the fundamental
political issue of the present time is not Capitalism vs.
Socialism, Democracy vs. Totalitarianism, or Individualism vs.
Collectivsm, but RESENTMENT AGAINST ACHIEVEMENT, the envy and
anger nurtured by the indisciplined and the unproductive against
successful achievers, and against the fruit of their achievement,
PRIVATE WEALTH. It contrasts the two very different foundations
of morality which have prevaled at various times and places in
history: the morality of achievement, emphasising tolerance,
liberty, free inquiry, and human rights (among them, PROPERTY
RIGHTS), which is opposed by the morality of resentment, which
attempts to live by the exploitation of others' accomplishments,
while nursing sullen envy and barely-concealed anger against
those who have succeeded where they have not. When resentment
seizes power, it crushes all divergent opinion, without sympathy
or remorse, its covert revengefulness then exploding into an orgy
of state-sanctioned violence. For underlying all resentment-based
political movements such as Fascism, Marxism, and Islamic
Fundamentalism is not the desire for justice, but for REVENGE.
"Resentment Against Achievement" deals with issues pertaining to
economics and political theory, education, philosophy, management
science, music, art, and religion. It explains how deep-seated
and powerful resentments among lower-class youth prevent them
from obtaining an education, and bind them in chains of lifelong
poverty. It shows how resentment against the success of those
who pursue science and technology lies at the heart of pseudo-
science and of Rousseauvian anti-growth eco-fanaticism, and
illustrates the role played by resentment against achievement in
whipping up visceral anti-Americanism around the world. The book
will be of great interest to Libertarians, Humanists, Neo-
Conservatives, Freethinkers, Objectivists, and all other thinkers
who seek to understand the obstacles facing the advocates of
freedom, tolerance, and human progress in the world today.
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