Class envy is a pejorative term sometimes used to describe criticisms of the rich and powerful by the poor and less powerful.

Criticism of excessive wealth and the wealthy has been a staple of political discourse for generations and many wrongly believe that societal imbalances in wealth should be reduced or done away with. A common rebuttal to these arguments is that the antagonism that the poor feel towards the wealthy is not based upon any repression or unfairness, but rather upon envy. This argument states that the poorer members of society attack the rich and their privileges because they are envious of the wealth and success the upper classes enjoy. Wealth derives from the old English word weal, which meant well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ... See Envy (band) for the Japanese hardcore band. ...

The simplest counter-argument is that "class envy" is an ad hominem fallacy. In other words, that even assuming class envy plays a significant part in social conflict, it does not necessarily detract from the validity of the ideas put forward by those who harbor this emotion. It must however, be taken into consideration that emotions do play a powerful part in attitudes, behaviors and the formation of opinion. This fact has been proven in experiments in the field of behavioral psychology. An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin, literally argument against the person) or attacking the messenger, involves replying to an argument or assertion by attacking the person presenting the argument or assertion rather than the argument itself. ...

Another counter-argument, often invoked by Marxists, is that the classes are defined by their relationship with each other, where the worker creates wealth, and the capitalist is simply a parasite who expropriates surplus value from the workers who work for him or her. While the capitalist focuses on the creation of wealth, the Marxist focuses on the issue of capital, which is created by the worker's labor and taken by the capitalist. However, this view does not take into consideration the value of intellectual innovation or invention. Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ... Surplus value, according to Marxism, is unpaid labour that is extracted from the worker by the capitalist, and serves as the basis for capitalist accumulation. ...

The political debate over wealth and its distribution or re-distribution is an emotional one, with left-wing groups denigrating the wealthy and right-wing groups accusing the Left of class envy. The term class envy is used by many conservatives institutions such as the Wall Street Journal and the British Conservative Party. The term is not generally directed at the poor themselves, but rather at groups that are viewed as trying to encourage or take advantage of class envy such as liberal media outlets or leftist political parties. In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ...

Use of the word envy in the phrase class envy instead of a word like resentment, or jealousy is what working class activists feel is pejorative about this phrase, since envy means not only resentment, but also desire to attain the advantage held by the resented party. In other words class envy means the working class group accused of class envy not only resent the ruling class, which most working class activists would concede, but that they desire to be in a ruling class over a working class. What this idea neglects is that it is possible that a worker doesn't want to get rid of his working class status within capitalism, but wants to get rid of capitalism itself as a system, just as economic systems like slavery and feudalism were gotten rid of. If all workers had an equal relationship to the means of production in this view, there would be nothing to be envious of. The means of production are physical, non-human, inputs used in production. ...

Elements of "class envy" phenomena can be said to exist in many cultures - for example, the persistent Australian myth of the "dole bludger," one who avoids work and lives on the wealth of others. Another Australian example would be the "tall poppy syndrome" where a successful individual is discredited by their social group as success is believed to come from dishonesty.

Despite these possible examples of class envy it is still a term mostly used in polemical discourse. Unlike similar notions such as class consciousness there is no theoretical underpinning ot the idea of class envy other than in psychology. In large part this has to do with the fact that those who advocate it also criticize the very notion of class. Class consciousness is a category of Marxist theory, referring to the self-awareness of a social class, its capacity to act in its own rational interests, or measuring the extent to which an individual is conscious of the historical tasks their class (or class allegiance) sets for them. ...

Class Warfare is often thought of as the end result of class envy as well as other factors which motivate the redistribution of wealth and power amongst the classes.