OK, so Mill had some reprehensible ideas. He also worshipped "genius," despised the
common herd (but thought it susceptible of improvement), thought the educated should
get more votes, and so forth. And so? --jks
In a message dated Thu, 31 Aug 2000 2:36:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Louis Proyect
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
<< "In proportion as success in life is seen or believed to be the fruit of
fatality or accident, and not of exertion, in that same ratio does envy
develop itself as a point of national character. The most envious of all
mankind are the Orientals. In Oriental moralists, in Oriental tales, the
envious man is remarkably prominent. In real life, he is the terror of all
who possess anything desirable, be it a palace, a handsome child, or even
good health and spirits: the supposed effect of his mere look constitutes
the all-pervading superstition of the evil eye. Next to Orientals in envy,
as in activity, are some of the Southern Europeans. The Spaniards pursued
all their great men with it, embittered their lives, and generally
succeeded in putting an early stop to their successes."
J.S. Mill *Considerations on Representative Government*, Chap. 3
http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/etext/m/m645r/repgov03.html
Louis Proyect
The Marxism mailing-list: http://www.marxmail.org
>>
