The Difference Between Left-Wing and Right-Wing Envy

In Finland, a humorous anecdote is occasionally shared, in which the ethnicity of the characters change. One version goes as follows.

When a person from Kainuu sees that his neighbor is becoming wealthy, he becomes envious and immediately starts to think about how to bring the neighbor back to being as poor as he is. However, if someone becomes rich in South Ostrobothnia, the neighbor also becomes envious but instead starts feverishly thinking about how he could achieve the same success.

The anecdote is said to illustrate well the cultural differences between the populations of these two Finnish regions. The same story is also often told with the Kainuu resident replaced by a Finn and the Southern Ostrobothnian by an American. In this version, the story is said to depict the cultural differences between the inhabitants of the two countries.

In reality, the story best illustrates the difference between the political right and left. A socialist always aims to equalize income differences, so they naturally start thinking about how to tax the income and wealth of the rich as effectively as possible. In contrast, an economic liberal sees successful people as role models, whose achievements he should aspire to emulate.

This applies both to economically poor Kainuu and to the stronghold of Finland's political right in Southern Ostrobothnia. And it applies just as well to largely social-democratic Finland as to the United States, which thrives on market economy principles.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Freudian slip, 9-year-old girl and cultural appropriation
Traditional beliefs turned out to be wisdom
Current status of mankind and its culture