Schoeck argues that envy is caustic, and all functional societies learn to suppress it to some extent. Schoeck also argues that envy, as an emotion, doesn’t function the way class-conscious political organizers would like it to. Nussbaum argues that there are, and the ancient Greek tragedians understood this to be a part of the human condition. Reich’s work shows that the past was a far more interesting place than we realize, and that human history was one of frequent mixtures. I haven’t always been motivated to read many classic works of fiction, although I seldom regret reading them.