Equality Envy And Expectation By Alain De Botton Analysis

Author Alain de Botton in his chapter "Equality, Envy, and Expectation," argues that the increase in everything from life expectancy to material goods in Western society subsequently caused an increase in status anxiety, the fear of not having or being enough when there is so much available to obtain. With this comes [something about reference groups], the urge to diminish inequality, and aspirations of success and the feelings of defeat that accompany that.
Status anxiety is typically caused by comparing oneself to a reference group, a group of people that are similar to an individual in age and class, that one grew up with or spends a great deal of time around, as a measure of their success. Additionally a reference group tends to consist of people with success one sees as achievable. "Given the vast inequalities we are daily confronted with, the most notable feature of envy may be that we manage not to envy everyone. There are people whose enormous blessings leave

Before the American revolution in 1776, social mobility was rare. Moreover, inequality was seen as inevitable up until the seventeenth century. One's class was defined at birth so whatever class they were born into was usually the class they lived in their entire lives. However, as time wore on and democracy progressed, people were granted opportunities for social mobility even if they did not receive it.
One of the most successful aspects of Western society is that is has enabled its citizens to have increased wealth.However, with wealth comes desire, which keeps people wanting more as their income increases. " A sharp decline in actual deprivation may, paradoxically, have been accompanied by an ongoing and even escalating sense of fear of deprivation ( Botton 25.) The desire for more never ends, and as such neither does the status anxiety it results