Those on the political right often claim that leftists are driven by a politics of resentment. This is patently untrue - to bring about social emanicpation is anything but resentful - to see the project of History move in the direction of progress, rather than regression, is anything but resentful. This claim: that there is a political affect driven by resentment, is a deflection which points us away from the actual resentment that drives much of right wing politics. Their resentment is not of what they do not have - Nor is it of what they will not have - Their resentment is driven by the fact that their politics does not progress, it is trapped in the past even as it tries to make a future. This is an unavoidable resentment generated by conservative politics in as much as conservativism is conservative. As good marxists, we will understand this resentment in order show how it practically drives certain aspects of conservative and liberal politics.
It is important to understand that when we speak about History, and in particular progress, we are not speaking about what will happen; rather what we are speaking of that intuitive fact: that historical moments, found through struggle overcome in social organization, have direction. Reason brings us to the idea of universal emancipation and brings direction to political conflict as we bring reason into history. The conservative is well aware of this - the heart of conservative politics is not that we are headed in the wrong direction but rather that to "head" at all is to head wrong. They understand that the only possibilities for them are to re-enforce social hierarchy as it exists, and to struggle against all reason to bring back those social hierarchies that have existed before. It is not an impossible politics, unfortunately, but it is a politics of destruction and annhilation. All conservative politics lay somewhere on this spetrum, from the neoconservative who wants to preserve as much as they can through incessant war and religious faith, to the outright fascists who resolve their resentments by seeking to equate progress with annhilation and elimination its entirety.
While the average liberal has no such resentment, a curious relative of this political affect appears in the minds and writings of many liberal pundits and politicians. Their unique position often leads them to conceieve of themselves as "thought leaders", as people who determine the direction of politics. Of course, History, as concretely-represented by political reason, is what determines the direction of politics. Pundits and politicians often respond to such facts by resentments of their own. They become resentful of their inability to choose which politics are considered emancipatory. Even pundits that agree with the direction of politics express such resentment - often in frustration that they were never given the agency to willingly choose which politics to follow. Every column that claims we need to bring some manner of ratiocination back to politics, that we need to allow for more questioning and debate, falls exactly into this type of frustration. And it is a resentment that drives the thinking of many of the liberal politicians that have power.
Armed with this conceptual framework, you may see such resentments drive much of the rhetoric you are subjected to on a daily basis. If you have see any interesting patterns or examples, or just want to chat, do feel free to reach out to me.