Recently, I've laid eyes on a vehicle that would bring pause to any environmentalist. A matte black Lamborghini. Parked within a pitching wedge of our offices.
One need not be an auto enthusiast to notice the aesthetic and engineering efforts that accompany such design. Were Leonardo da Vinci alive, his sketch book would be filled with the imagery of matte black Lamborghinis, among other sophisticated engineering marvels.
The machine's owner? A mystery. I remain intrigued. Perhaps, even a bit envious. Not for his having come by such a possession. But by the taste, energy and means such a machine exudes.

Upon his eventual identification, I look forward to congratulating him on his good fortune. To share the narrative that has played out in the part of my frontal lobe that regulates envy, greed and pain. Of course, he might be a pompous ass. In which case I'll bite my lip. And silently pray that he might back his Lambo into a phone pole.
Pleasure in other's pain.
Linguists and logophiles have long appreciated the twisted delight conveyed by the term "schadenfreude." Specifically, the delight taken in the misfortune of others. Recently, as my wife and I watched last season's finale of Game of Thrones, schadenfreude was the word that came to mind.
In the episode, the loathsome Cersei Lannister -- incestuous mother of tyrants -- was called to task for her crimes. Forced to parade naked through King's Landing. The townspeople given chance to shout, demean, spit upon and revel in her terrible twist of fate. It was not her vulnerability, tears or demoralization that struck me. But the townspeople's hatred. The abject pleasure they took in seeing her demeaned. Tortured. And laid low.
Upon the show's conclusion, you couldn't help but consider the modern corollaries. Today's frequent morality plays in which some character of noble birth or position is brought down by his sins. Forced to publicly repent for the grievous actions of which he's been accused. Be he a disgraced politician. A scandalized celebrity. Or some business titan whose misdeeds bring him crashing down.
Psychologists will tell you that envy is less morally reprehensible than schadenfreude. For it is one thing to gaze upon the misfortune of others. Entirely different is the desire to actually watch them suffer.
Artists have long recognized this complex human condition. As Gore Vidal said, "It is not enough to succeed; others must fail."
It seems, however, that today's America harbors a different emotional phenomenon. One not satiated by the celebrity's fall from grace. But, conversely, angrily stirred by his continuing success.
This nation once admired, even emulated, the feats of its most successful. Today? Such success stories are often pronounced guilty by association. Castigated for having reached the pinnacle of some endeavor. Politicians and the media cast dirty allusions upon the wealthy industrialist. Create conspiracies about the media mogul. Or simply blame the rich for all that ails us. As if, were it not for the nation's wealthiest, all of our social ills would have long ago been resolved.
Our politicians stoke the fires. Waging class warfare. Even as many of them achieve vast wealth. Then, when the cultural kettle boils over, entrepreneurs and merchants often end up on the receiving end of a societal beat down.
During the tragic events in Ferguson and Baltimore, the public watched as protesters cum criminals vandalized and broke into the community's businesses. Looting inventory. And celebrating the behavior of others as they did the same.
The emotions usually displayed in today's coverage is not schadenfreude, but its antitheses. An illicit feeling for which a name has also been coined. "Gluckshmerz," another German portmanteau, is the linguistic descendant of schadenfreude. Its definition? Experiencing pain from another's pleasure. From the subtle discomfort of seeing a rival procure a coveted position, to the gut-wrenching pain that accompanies the discovery of a lover's infidelity.
Truly, a lid for every pot.
Be it the green-eyed monster of envy, or the gut-wrenching pain of loss. Both feelings emanate from the same area of the brain's frontal lobe. Yet, gluckschmerz strikes me as even more dangerous than schadenfreude. The former springs from a twisted pleasure, but it usually signifies an emotional culmination. The latter, however, only serves to stoke the host's unfettered rage. For the more successful those we despise become, the more anguish we feel. In a perverse, incessant cycle. Until emotions boil over.
The real irony?
Americans have collectively become better off these last few years. Regardless of how one feels about the inequality of wealth and incomes. Fact remains that the U.S. economy continues to create massive amounts of wealth that benefit everyone. Household net worth sits at record highs. In nominal, real and per capita terms. Household debt has significantly declined. The Fed reports that the net worth of U.S. households rose $1.63 trillion in Q1 2015. Reaching an all-time high of $84.9 trillion. After adjusting for inflation and population growth, real per capita net worth reached a new all-time high of $261k. That's 3.3 times what it was 50 years ago.
Even if most of this staggering increase was contained within the accounts of a select few, it would remain the ultimate source of jobs and national prosperity. The ultimate driver for greater standards of living. As our economy produces so much, so efficiently, the fruits of our labors become available to virtually everyone.
Today's billionaires, as well as today's median-wage earners, both have ready access to abundant food sources, clean domiciles, inexpensive travel, cheap entertainment, excellent healthcare, and the ability to communicate with nearly anyone, at any time, worldwide.
Yes, we recognize the advantages extreme wealth holds. Private air travel. Access to today's best medical technologies and pharmaceutical regimens. Still, all Americans have become infinitely better off than we were a few decades ago.
Aside from the nation's most impoverished (a global shortcoming), the rest of society has become vastly wealthier and healthier than it's ever been. The deficiencies of unbalanced wealth accumulation --- often unsolvable contrivances created by those seeking to self-servingly pit one facet of society against one another -- remain as much myth as fact. For while tax-payer funded government programs often lack historical evidence of treating the root of most problems, the charities supported by the generosity of America's middle and affluent classes continue to lift the nation's neediest off of the mats.
Of course, this goes unreported.
A quick study of our nation's alleged leadership leaves no doubt as to the source of our young people's tainted regard for the nation's wealthiest. Class warfare has become part of the nation's political vernacular. So conferring upon America's youth the odious trait of gluckschmerz.
Our politicians regularly insinuate that the nation's most financially accomplished serve as the root of all evil. Cultural outlets bombard our youth with the lessons of gluckschmerz. Musical acts. Magazines. Even their college professors spill regular venom towards society's upper crust. This, as opposed to exhorting our kids to study, learn from and emulate those of the highest virtue, character and capability. Some of whom are wealthy. Some of whom are not. Because such character traits tend to be the perfect cocktail for society's most notable achievements.
It is incumbent that we teach our young people that life, even at its best, is often a struggle. That a great deal of our growth comes when we put our shoulders into what's painful. When we are forced to step beyond the bounds of our past experience and commit to something difficult and new. To master a skill. Build an enterprise. Pursue a worthwhile endeavor. We must first confront pain, hardship and fear. Success is a gift granted not to those defeated by hardship, but to those who are sharpened by it.
So that, eventually, every young American realizes that even under life's harshest conditions, we can struggle valiantly. And through that struggle we may, someday, reach new heights of nobility, wisdom and virtue.