According to the column, by Arthur C. Brooks, the president of the American Enterprise Institute:
Many conservatives favor an explanation focusing on lifestyle differences, such as marriage and faith. They note that most conservatives are married; most liberals are not....
The story on religion is much the same. According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, conservatives who practice a faith outnumber religious liberals in America nearly four to one....
An explanation for the happiness gap more congenial to liberals is that conservatives are simply inattentive to the misery of others. If they recognized the injustice in the world, they wouldn’t be so cheerful....
People at the extremes are happier than political moderates. Correcting for income, education, age, race, family situation and religion, the happiest Americans are those who say they are either “extremely conservative” (48 percent very happy) or “extremely liberal” (35 percent). Everyone else is less happy, with the nadir at dead-center “moderate” (26 percent).
What explains this odd pattern? One possibility is that extremists have the whole world figured out, and sorted into good guys and bad guys. They have the security of knowing what’s wrong, and whom to fight. They are the happy warriors.
Posts
403 comments:
1 – 200 of 403 Newer› Newest»I don't know, but this is a welcome relief from studies that try to show that conservatism is a mental illness.
My first guess, without reading on in the article is that they mind their own business. They think taking care of their own work and family is enough, and liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing.
This describes me in a probably unhealthy way. I've been thinking every day about the Georgia prisoners that are on hunger strike and it's upsetting me.
Liberals tend to put motive above action, conservatives tend to put action above motive. The latter requires less worrying--if you act like an ass, you are an ass.
@Andy R: This describes me in a probably unhealthy way. I've been thinking every day about the Georgia prisoners that are on hunger strike and it's upsetting me.
Nary a thought for the prisoner's victims, eh? In your mind they're all in the joint for smoking a joint.
"it's upsetting me."
But why? They voluntarily chose this course of action.
Ownership.
But why? They voluntarily chose this course of action.
They are on hunger strike because of the mistreatment they are facing, which they did not choose.
Happiness can variously mean self-actualization, dream fulfillment, or bliss.
Bliss is best achieved by staying ignorant of world affairs, never blogging, watching TV or reading a newspaper.
Dream fulfillment can best be achieved through your offspring.
Self-actualization is way different from bliss, and the un-examined life is not worth living.
The great men that I respect--Socrates, Jesus, Martin Luther, Spinoza, Einstein--were men "of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
They think taking care of their own work and family is enough, and liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing.
This doesnt add up with the fact that principled lefties are happier than their squishy liberal cousins, does it? The far left is certainly more worried about the quality of other peoples lifes than Democrat moderates.
The passive guys in the middle of the political issues are the ones afraid of offending others
There is a wisdom in never discussing religion or politics because what is said is likely to offends one side or the other.
But the ones at the ends of the spectrum are confident from being offensive at times and surviving the crudity of having expressed one's own opinions in public. Part of that is belonging to group of the like minded who will support you or at least respect your courage.
Judeo-Christian Religious traditions also seem to help people's self image. If God is for us than who can be against us.
conservatives who practice a faith outnumber religious liberals in America nearly four to one....
Not true. Liberalism is its own religion. As we've seen here - Althouse getting blasted for "blasphemy", for being a "heretic", etc.
The reasons liberals are less happy also explain why they are attracted to liberalism. Take Andy: a self-loathing bigot who is distraught over convicts he's never met... simply because it makes him FEEL better about himself. Its not about compassion, its about a religious Indulgence: "caring" about strangers lets him justify being an intolerant bigoted asshat.
Ann is partly right in saying the Lefties worry about everybody else, but here's the difference:
the Lefties want everybody to do it their way, because they're sure it's not only the right way in terms of correctness, but also the right way in terms of virtue and they get angry when most people want to do their own thing.
Witness how angry Hatman is most of the time.
(for once, I'm not taking a shot at him; just noting an awful lot of rage there)
Andy feels their pain. I don't know anything about this prison. But, I know MUCH more about prisons, having worked @ Leavenworth and visited too many to count. This kid Andy is an arrogant prick who would get eaten alive by guys he feels sorry for. US prisons are well monitored. Maybe these guys have a legit point, maybe not. I don't know, and I'm sure as shit Mr. Smug doesn't either!
"They are on hunger strike because of the mistreatment they are facing"
So they say. Well, you and your Occupy buddies go bleed your little hearts out over them, Andy. And you should take some solace in knowing that you managed to get a tiny smidgen of additional publicity for their stunt.
"liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing."
Nope. They have to worry about how to run everyone else's life, which they know because they know everything better than anyone else, unless, of course, everyone else is liberal and agrees with them.
"liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing."
Nope. They have to worry about how to run everyone else's life, which they know because they know everything better than anyone else, unless, of course, everyone else is liberal and agrees with them.
"They note that most conservatives are married; most liberals are not...."
Who is "they?"
And how do "they" know "most liberals are not (married)?"
Andy, a typical Bolshevik, loves humanity; it's people he cannot stand.
Prisoners on a hunger strike? their murdered victims are on a permanent hunger strike. Seems to me they should be grateful for avoiding impalement or being burned alive.
I will eat an extra burger tomorrow while laughing at them.
Now I'm curious about how "conservatives" respond to stories about people suffering.
Today I read this article about how Florida hushed up a TB outbreak while they were shutting down their only dedicated TB hospital. This part jumped out at me:
Tuberculosis is a lung disease more associated with the 18th century than the 21st, referred to as “consumption” in Dickensian times because its victims would grow gaunt and wan as their lungs disintigrated and they slowly died. The CDC investigator described a similar fate for 10 of the 13 people who died in Jacksonville.
They wasted away before ever getting treatment, or were too far gone by the time it began. Most of the sick were poor black men.
How upset am I supposed to be about this? After I read the article, should I go back to being my normal cheery self? Can I be upset that whatever minimal inconsequential effort I'm making to encourage governments to spend more money on poor sick people that need it, it's obviously not enough?
I guess it was time for a liberal bashing party, all the conservatives already dancing on the tables in their underwear donning a lampshade, that was quick! Oh those crazy conservatives, they know how to have fun!
Andy R, if you feel so strongly, you should sell all your possesions, quit your day job, and go help them. Asking others to pay for their treatment is the less charitable thing to do.
They think taking care of their own work and family is enough, and liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing.
That's what makes liberals such busybodies, too, trying to dictate what you can eat and where you can live.
Andy R. said...
Now I'm curious about how "conservatives" respond to stories about people suffering.
Conservatives give more to charity than the Lefties, who expect government to handle it all.
The Lefties make a big show of "concern", but somebody in government is supposed to be the vehicle for that concern.
AllieOop said...
I guess it was time for a liberal bashing party, all the conservatives already dancing on the tables in their underwear donning a lampshade, that was quick!
I see Oop has ditched her "Can we all get along" pose again.
I don't think the answer is any more complicated than this:
Cognitive dissonance actually "hurts".
And if you are an active Progressive, the condition is chronic.
Oh Edutcher, you are so predictable, I just KNEW you would be the first commenter after my comment. Put your pants back on, ya old fool! Yer wife the blond is looking PO'd.
Here's my theory: Conservatives are more willing to make themselves happy by force of will for the benefit of those around them. You're as happy as you make yourself.
Leftists are more likely to feel entitled to a better station in life than they hold, they're more likely to blame others for their lot in life, and they'll indulge in envy, hatred, and depression -- because they're arrested adolescents.
That's the sort of person who is attracted to Marxism and Che shirts and fight-the-power-because-I-have-daddy-issues: Teens. Some grow out of it, some never do. And like teens, leftists are moody, self-indulgent little shits.
Conservatives give more to charity than the Lefties, who expect government to handle it all.
The Lefties make a big show of "concern", but somebody in government is supposed to be the vehicle for that concern.
Is a private charity going to open a TB hospital in Florida to deal with the recent outbreak?
Andy, You abandoned those poor bastards in prison pretty quickly. Is this the ugly cousin of speed dating, called speed compassion.
I will give one positive to you, @ least your "compassion" is about people and not animals. Or are you a PETA lover also.
Allie, Andy started the jumping on the table about inmates and now has thrown them under the bus. Pick your heroes carefully.
I have to say that my admittedly anecdotal evidence just simply doesn't jive with this study, viz. I've find that political extremists are the nastiest folks on the planet, and I can't believe they're "happy". The lefties are worse than the righties, but it's close, especially when you've got an old racist rightie (and I knew many in my Alabama childhood). It's tough not to want to cross the street to get away from them when you see them coming.
The same, but less so, for the "religious". There are some religious people who really seem to carry a divine peace within them, and it shows in everything they do. Have you ever seen the faces of cloistered nuns? Many of them are half as old as God, and there's not a wrinkle on their faces. But many religious lay people just use their faith as yet another social pole-up-the-ass -- rigid, close-minded, and so sure they've got life's answers that they long ago forgot about life's questions.
They are on hunger strike because of the mistreatment they are facing, which they did not choose.
Chris Rock's "How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police" should be required viewing in all American schools.
How upset am I supposed to be about this? After I read the article, should I go back to being my normal cheery self? Can I be upset that whatever minimal inconsequential effort I'm making to encourage governments to spend more money on poor sick people that need it, it's obviously not enough?
"People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them."
-Epictetus
Andy, You abandoned those poor bastards in prison pretty quickly.
Well, I was considering responding to this comment: Well, you and your Occupy buddies go bleed your little hearts out over them, Andy. And you should take some solace in knowing that you managed to get a tiny smidgen of additional publicity for their stunt.
But I didn't want to talk about what I've been up to in Atlanta regarding this issue because it feels so silly and inconsequential when compared to what is actually happening with prisoners in this country.
There was a protest about this issue this morning that some other Occupy people went to that got mentioned in the newspaper.
"Can I be upset that whatever minimal inconsequential effort I'm making to encourage governments to spend more money on poor sick people that need it, it's obviously not enough?"
1. Maybe if you spent more of your own money on poor sick people, you would feel more of a sense of accomplishment.
2. Is "being upset" going to make those people less poor, less sick? No. So do what you can and stop screeching about your compassion from the rooftops.
No. Chris Rock is piece of shit, you retard.
You say hunger strike, Andy, and I hear diet.
Your comments could have been written by my 13 year old niece. You're proving my theory about arrested adolescence with each over-wrought word you achingly emote.
Ann Sez:
They [conservatives] think taking care of their own work and family is enough
The article echos this toxic liberal meme:
An explanation for the happiness gap more congenial to liberals is that conservatives are simply inattentive to the misery of others. If they recognized the injustice in the world, they wouldn’t be so cheerful....
Classic. Conservatives give more to charitable causes than do liberals. This was proven by a study performed by Arthur C. Brooks, and it is not, as some leftists would have you believe, on account of religious affiliation and giving.
http://reason.com/archives/2006/12/19/the-giving-gap
Here is my view. The government has arrogated charitable giving, and has caused massive dysfunction in society because of it, robbing people of one of the basic functions of humans, caring for others.
Is a private charity going to open a TB hospital in Florida to deal with the recent outbreak?
Probably not, since running an entire hospital to a problem that small is the kind of dumb you normally only see in government behavior.
A better question might be "why did this TB outbreak happen despite the hospital's existence", but that's a question anyone who has worked with the government can answer. :)
"They think taking care of their own work and family is enough, and liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing."
Liberals don't give a damn about how everyone else is doing. They protest they do but it's a lie, including to themselves and each other. They worry about gaining, keeping and exercising power. That is all they care about. They want obeisance.
Example A: Hat Bitch wants to hijack the thread to a subject of her choosing, pretending concern for what is actually grandstanding by bad actors agitating for pathological altruism by others, with a view to themselves, the bad actors, as beneficiaries.
Andy R. said...
Conservatives give more to charity than the Lefties, who expect government to handle it all.
The Lefties make a big show of "concern", but somebody in government is supposed to be the vehicle for that concern.
Is a private charity going to open a TB hospital in Florida to deal with the recent outbreak?
I'll bet there are private hospitals endowed by charities (many sponsored by all those religions Hatman hates so much) dealing with it right now.
More to the point, does Hatman think ObamaTax will save them?
AllieOop said...
Oh Edutcher, you are so predictable, I just KNEW you would be the first commenter after my comment. Put your pants back on, ya old fool! Yer wife the blond is looking PO'd.
Shows how much Oop knows. I'm the moderate in the family.
Simple: those who are offended by the nanny state are those who have outgrown the need for a nanny.
PS How much does Hatman think his pals in the Occupation are going to do?
Aside from occupying some hospital and trashing it?
2. Is "being upset" going to make those people less poor, less sick? No. So do what you can and stop screeching about your compassion from the rooftops.
Well put. Sentiment is not a substitute, either morally or practically, for taking personal responsibility. Ask yourself: this thing that is upsetting me, what am I personally prepared to do about it? Volunteer some hard work? Pony up some hard assets? No matter what excuses you make, if the answer to this is "no," then you are not really concerned about it. In which case, your overwrought emotionalism is either (a) a charade, a public performance meant to appeal to the base emotions of other people, or (b) a legitimate psychological dysfunction.
I call bullshit on this whole premise. None of you conservatives actually look happy, you're all just dancing on the tables with a grimace, come on, no smiles? Just one, I know you can do it, just raise the corners of your lips, it's easy!
"Is a private charity going to open a TB hospital in Florida to deal with the recent outbreak?"
You never know. Maybe some of those stupid religious people might do something.
Allie -
One does not need to smile to be happy.
"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will."
-Epictetus
Is a private charity going to open a TB hospital in Florida to deal with the recent outbreak?
Sounds like an excellent opportunity for someone like Warren Buffet to step to the plate and make a real charitable contribution, instead of just funneling money to politicians through their pet causes.
Andy,
You can be as upset as YOU want to be about the TB deaths. But simply saying "There were 13 tragic deaths due to a disease" doesn't mean anything. There are tragic deaths all the time. My recommendation is rather than feeling upset about it, DO something about it yourself. Here is what one organization did given human suffering:
There was a church in some poor decaying blue state city, I forget which, which put together 2000 dental chairs, a volunteer staff of dentists, etc., and they took two or three days taking care of people's problems with their teeth.
You could set up something like that. You might even reach people who care enough to provide some money to help out.
But it all depends on how upset you really are, and how compassionate you really are.
Alternatively, if you want to find misery with others complaining about how callous people are, while not doing anything, you can become a liberal, and demand the government must do something. And that something usually means forcing people to make decisions they might not otherwise make, and often at much less efficiency, and with lesser overall impact. Or borrowing compassion from future generations, by taxing the productivity of their future labor.
In my view, only one of these things is compassionate.
So Andy, correct me if I'm wrong, but your response to an avoidable bureaucratic screw up is to give the government more of other people's money. This will produce a different result because...?
Allie, I'm a pretty happy guy. I tend not to smile much when I dance, but that's only because I don't like dancing. I only do it to make my wife happy from time to time.
Being what I consider to be a libertarian conservative (that is I am big on freedom and at the same time a pay-as-you-go person) I feel more at ease with the world.
Yea I'm married (over 20 years!), Catholic, on the right of John Wayne politically, worked most of my life (and still do, never been on welfare), and yep... house paid off, cars paid off, some good retirements, kids married and gone, and generally I'm ok with the world.
Sure we have problems but being a realist I know the world ALWAYS has had problems and ALWAYS will.
And I do know a secret Ann....
TINSTAAFL
Google it Ann. And think about it for days, weeks, and you will see the true meaning for there really IS no such thing as a free lunch.
The Liberals and Democrats and Socialist and Communist just don't see that.
Andy: It may indeed be better to close ONE hospital that held ALL the TB victims in the state who were "remanded to custody" for being non-compliant with their medication. It's entirely possible that it's cheaper for the state of Florida to pay local hospitals for the care of individual patients than it is to move them all to the one hospital (AC Holley? I read the article but don't remember for sure.) It's definitely possible that if the patients have family connections, those are more easily maintained with local isolation precautions that a move to the state TB hospital.
Unfortunately I was angered to read that the decision to close it was made without all of the most current information. The Florida Health Department seemingly hid the extent of the TB problem from the politicians involved on both sides of the aisle. That's negligent, even if the State Legislature isn't making important funding decisions; I have a right to know if there is a TB outbreak *before* the infected patients start showing up in my ER as well as *before* I send my kid to work in the local soup kitchen with our church youth group. The public at large has a need to know that information. You don't have to tell us who the patients are, but we should know that there is an increased risk in our community.
Anywho...I do think the state made a mistake in speeding up the closure of the TB hospital, but I don't think that every TB patient the article spoke of was at that hospital and I don't know how much keeping it open would have helped. Honestly, you just CAN'T make every patient comply with treatment for any disease. Period. TB or strep, some people won't take antibiotics as instructed. Some diabetics won't follow a diet that improves their health OR take their insulin. Some folks won't even take their contraceptives as instructed and they ostensibly don't want to have children. Patients don't follow instructions and then they lie about not following instructions and when those patients have TB (or even just influenza) it can have major implications in community health. It's a never-ending battle and no amount of money will fix it. Some amount of money can help, but you can't eradicate the subset of the population that just doesn't care how its decisions affect other people.
(Yes, I'm a cynic. It's a side effect of my job. There's a certain subset of patients who won't comply with treatment and a certain subset who think they shouldn't have to pay even a copay to see their doctor and a decent-sized subset where the two overlap.)
Allie, I save my smiles for my family, my friends, and for the finer things in life that I enjoy. Political discussion I treat more like a contact sport; I may smile afterwards, but I'm all business when I'm playing.
I'm happiest messing around with fresh people. Really messing. Really fresh. Stale will not do.
Like a cartoon, as when ordering, "I'll will like your finest hamburger available, with cheese, rendered today, and I shall gladly repay you on twoozday."
¿
You can see why that sort of thing works best with new people all the time.
"I would like to trade these three priceless pieces of paper with tiny portraits on one side and tiny buildings in another tint on the other side with botanic scrolling with numbers all around both sides and teeny tiny Latin phrases hidden within them, for a pizza."
AllieOop said...
I call bullshit on this whole premise. None of you conservatives actually look happy, you're all just dancing on the tables with a grimace, come on, no smiles? Just one, I know you can do it, just raise the corners of your lips, it's easy!
Or, as Aesop put it, "Sour grapes!".
Most Lefties are driven, angry people; angry at the world for not meeting their standards, angry at the human race for not bowing down to worship them and do what they say.
Conservatives, OTOH, just TCB. They do as much as they can and rest in the knowledge at least they've done something.
Lefties want to rule it all.
Andy is a man after my own heart when he feels pain for the fatally suffering and the imprisoned men.
That is a traditional mercy that comes from the bowels of compassion of Judeo-Christianity believers.
Bean counters of the left or of the right that with out hesitation will write off 2/3rds of suffering mankind as not worth helping are not Conservatives at all. They are hoarders of Almighty Money just like the Marxists are.
Based on the received wisdom in their Facebook posts, my liberal friends are strangely concerned about what conservatives are up to. How miserable is that?
* * *
Irregardless of politics, the most miserable people I know are people who compare themselves to others. Or who compare themselves to their alternate selves, if only, if only, if only they had done something differently.
Well, I'm pretty sure Chip Ahoy is happy, how could a sad sack make all that delicious food?
@Andy R: This describes me in a probably unhealthy way. I've been thinking every day about the Georgia prisoners that are on hunger strike and it's upsetting me.
Under the assumption that the article is factually true, irrespective of the crimes the felons committed the actions of the state are beyond the pale. Which brings up the question of why isn't Holder's DoJ investigating this and again if true not preparing to prosecute?
Two things:
1) Action is rewarding, while feeling is frustrating. Conservatives seem to avoid wallowing. They either fix it, or move on.
2) Gratitude - Conservatives simply appreciate what they have more. That's the essence of conservatism.
Liberals as a generality are more 'concerned' with 'fairness' which is fundamentally related to envy. Envious people are rarely happy.
My conservative friends spend very little time telling me their problems, while my liberal ones seem to let that dominate their day. I assume that thinking about your issues would make a person miserable.
That and seeing the things you believe in turn to crap every day. Your principles just get thrashed by reality. That's got to wear you down.
That's why I try to talk them out of it just on the basis of feeling better and being happy if nothing else. I think this is the most likely route to change. Once you start feeling better, you can think straight. Really guys, just give it a spin.
leslyn said...
It must be that being mean, ugly, vicious and cruel to other people makes the conservative happy
Are you saying that the prisoners were conservatives before they were sent to prison?
Bagoh, huh? So are you on a mission to save liberals from themselves? What if they are already blissfully happy?
Happiness is a Warm Gun.
Support the 2nd amendment.
"liberals feel they must worry about how everyone else is doing" and how to make everyone else do what the liberals want them to do.
It must be that being mean, ugly, vicious and cruel to other people makes the conservative happy. At least, if this blog is any indicator.
As if calling a group of people ugly, or mean, or vicious, and cruel, isn't mean, vicious, ugly and cruel. Not to mention hypocritical and smug.
That is, to the extent this post is evidence of your thinking and personality.
The US divorce rate is at 50%. Given that so many more conservatives appear to be married than liberals, a goodly amount of that 50% must be conservatives.
So does getting divorced make a conservative happier than it does a liberal? There's a positive correlation there.
Only married people can get divorced. The bias of self-selection rears it ugly head again.
Think it through before posting snark.
leslyn said...
The US divorce rate is at 50%. Given that so many more conservatives appear to be married than liberals, a goodly amount of that 50% must be conservatives.
cf. Newt Gingrich. Also, I've never seen a raw divorce statistic which has been corrected for serial divorce. 2 to 3 serial divorces taints 1 or 2 happlily married "statistics."
"being mean, ugly, vicious and cruel to other people ... conservative"
Oh come now. Surely you're not trying to convince us that you're a 'conservative'.
When you even try to talk a liberal out of being miserable they get more angry. I can tell a conservative to just forget about it until you can do something, and they can do that. A liberal feels ripped of by that, and will assume you don't care enough. The misery is like chocolate or a smoke, to be savored. These are of course stereotypes like most - based in fact. They certainly aren't all like that.
I would classify myself as very happy. In my case that joy has come from knowing Christ. I don't know how that translates to the political aspect of this study.
My guess on the political divide is that conservatives are not as engaged in the business of trying to organize everyone into a collective. I think doing that would be extraordinarily frustrating because so many people won't cooperate.
I see the good in humanity, and that fuels my mood.
Sometimes, happiness is just a choice.
"What if they are already blissfully happy?"
Then they must have just seen some rich bastard slip on the ice.
Ignorance is bliss?
leslyn said...
It must be that being mean, ugly, vicious and cruel to other people makes the conservative happy.
Actually, it's what drives the Lefties. Anyone who dares disagree with them is a racist, sexist, baby killer, or exploiter of the masses.
People who take a stand against them are hounded at home by outfits like ACORN, anyone prominent who disagrees is driven from public life - as they tried to do to Sarah Palin.
Funny how people like sweet, little leslyn are always up front cheering when it happens.
The US divorce rate is at 50%. Given that so many more conservatives appear to be married than liberals, a goodly amount of that 50% must be conservatives.
And 90% of all first-time marriages succeed.
It's the 4, and 5, and 10 time losers that skew the statistic.
But the Lefties know that; they don't say anything about it because people who stay single seem to do a lot of things that get them into trouble.
Marriage has always been a stabilizing factor in society. But the Lefties can't get what they want in a stable society, so they've got to destabilize it as much as they can.
"Then they must have just seen some rich bastard slip on the ice."
OK, I admit that made me chuckle.
Without reading all of the comments....this is the difference
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen. "
Conservatives understand this and liberals laugh at it and find it quaint.
Happiness is not a goal but an outcome, of a life lived freely, of challenges met, of taking joys and sorrows as they come, blaming no one, using the gifts you have received for others, helping new life see the sun rise.
Life is inevitably a series of losses, yet pain endured with joy can make us happy. Do not chase happiness, it is but the horizon, and cannot be reached It is not the point of life, but a by-product of a life well-lived. Surrender indeed makes us victors.
What if they are already blissfully happy?
Because liberals force others to behave the way they want them to? Tell you what, you do what you want, but don't force me to do what you want, even if it makes you happy.
Pogo brought to mind another hypothesis. Hedonism, as the popular philosophy it is, does not deliver. You can't live for happiness and find it. You can't pursue self-fulfillment and get it. Life isn't about oneself or about being happy, but you usually find great personal happiness when you know those truths.
I'm guessing that moderates are the most likely to be living for happiness, and the ends of the spectrum are the most likely to be living for something else.
it' scalled the Society for the Perpetually Aggrieved for a resaon.
Off topic
Day 5 in HMH, wiht my major surgery. They took the drains out today, got a sponge bath, and still have not eaten a full meal.
I think what it really comes down to is that conservatives are happy because they are better lovers, snore less, and smell better.
Did the sponge bath feel good? Glad to hear you're on the mend Carnifex.
A good start Carnifex. I hate drains. Once I had six. I looked like meat Christmas tree. Good luck.
Can they fly?
"I've been thinking every day about the Georgia prisoners that are on hunger strike and it's upsetting me."
Those would be Miguel Jackson and Terrance Dean? Both convicted of armed robbery; Jackson for aggravated assault as well?
Terrance Dean? The one who got into a fight with a guard, then whined when the Response Team came to protect the guard?
Can you spare some sympathy for their victims?
However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce.
Why is Leslyn allowed to spout such homophobic rant without any blow-back?
AllieOop is a conundrum; a happy liberal, not an extremist.
Her concern for Carnifax is a clue.
Can they fly?"
Happily!
Leslyn, your liberal is showing.
The misery is like chocolate or a smoke, to be
banned?
savored.
Oh, like normal people react to chocolate or a smoke.
Leslyn-
You're peddling a lie, you stupid nasty bitch.
(Or would you rather I call you 'hon'?)
Ann is impishly throwing red meat out to us again. Why do I think she used to flip over her Ant Farm as a kid whenever she got bored?
:-P
I don't think this article is anymore enlightening than the lefty ones saying how much smarter liberals are than conservatives. Yawnnn.
That elephant must be full of helium.
You and YOUR Serenity Prayer. How dare you insult the vast number of people in the world who live by that prayer every day, sometimes hanging on by their fingernails, but staying alive and finding a better life.
You don't know anything about me, my family or my friends or who lives by that prayer...... so STFU.
YOU DON'T OWN IT. Which is a good thing, because it appears you'd be too selfish to give it away.
Of course I don't own it. No one does. The concept of acceptance of life and the ability to know where you can make a difference as opposed to tilting at windmills, has been known for thousand and thousands of years.
What is your problem?
Thanks Pogo, I've always aspired to conundrumty.
Do conservatives define happiness in the same way as liberals?
What does 'very happy' mean, anyway?
leslyn,
A start on your journey of discovery re: divorce and religion (and conservatives)
I like the start: Studies show and the story is all about Social Science research.
Now, when the average conservative blogster talks about Social Sciences in general, scorn rules. Now here's a study that shows "conservatives" (however that is defined) in a positive light and it is to be believed?
I think cynics are happiest.
See there? You cannot be outdone. You must pile it on.
You're quote is the same as blaming the weatherman for observing the weather.
"Your," not "you're."
And no, it's not the same, unless your weatherman generalizes his forecast to the entire planet based on his view of the weather from outside his window and labels anyone who questions his weekend forecasts, "psychopaths."
I think cynics are happiest.
No, not cynics. Stoics.
"In the life of the individual man, virtue is the sole good; such things as health, happiness, possessions, are of no account. Since virtue resides in the will, everything really good or bad in a man’s life depends only upon himself. He may become poor, but what of it? He can still be virtuous. A tyrant may put him in prison, but he can still persevere in living in harmony with Nature. He may be sentenced to death, but he can die nobly, like Socrates. Therefore every man has perfect freedom, provided he emancipates himself from mundane desires."
-Bertrand Russel
However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher.
You're not making the point you think you are. It does not say "about 40 to 50 percent of FIRST marriages end in divorce." It simply repeats the same overall percentage (50ish) and notes that if you've divorced once, you're more likely to divorce again.
Paco has provided you with the correct information on this subject. I hope you're glad to now be better informed. As a big believer in marriage, I was very happy myself to learn the correct context for those oft-repeated marriage statistics.
So does getting divorced make a conservative happier than it does a liberal?
Speaking just of my own, it made me realize that I had spent the by-far best years of my life as an integral component of something bigger and greater than myself, and I would be spending the rest of my life as an amputated piece of that.
I felt like I'd been cut in half. I felt like one of those dogs that sits by its owner's grave because it doesn't know what else to do.
I wanted to be Jacob Marley for all my married friends and warn them not to do...whatever I had done. For months I'd turn on a bedroom light several hours before bedtime a couple times a week, so I'd forget I'd done it. That way I'd have half a second to think "She's up - something's bothering her - I can listen and help her feel better", before I remembered I had turned on the light. Best part of my day. Anymore I just stay up until 3 so I can be sure to fall asleep right away.
But I don't really know any divorced lefties. They might feel worse.
It must be that being mean, ugly, vicious and cruel to other people makes the conservative happy.
Hell of a punch line, leslyn.
"Tuberculosis is a lung disease more associated with the 18th century than the 21st, referred to as “consumption” in Dickensian times because its victims would grow gaunt and wan as their lungs disintigrated and they slowly died. The CDC investigator described a similar fate for 10 of the 13 people who died in Jacksonville.
They wasted away before ever getting treatment, or were too far gone by the time it began. Most of the sick were poor black men.
How upset am I supposed to be about this? After I read the article, should I go back to being my normal cheery self? Can I be upset that whatever minimal inconsequential effort I'm making to encourage governments to spend more money on poor sick people that need it, it's obviously not enough?"
The answer is that the ACLU and your ideological allies shut the state mental hospitals in the 60s. That began the "homeless" problem and now it is spreading into the general population as the homeless mentally ill (60% of the total) is a reservoir for the disease.
If these people could be institutionalized, as their families are begging, they would receive good medical care and tb would not have a reservoir.
Your worries, and $1.50, will get you a cup of coffee.
The election of Barack Hussein Obama certainly made many die hard conservatives unhappy to the point of incoherent gibberish.
But I repeat myself ...
"However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher."
That is a myth. The 50% includes all divorces and all marriages, even the fifth ones.
Shiloh, the results of the election of Obama is what made conservatives unhappy. That fact that we predicted the results is not the source. The fact that you describe "gibberish" suggest a hearing problem.
leslyn said...
"DBQ,
You and YOUR Serenity Prayer. How dare you insult the vast number of people in the world who live by that prayer every day, sometimes hanging on by their fingernails, but staying alive and finding a better life.
YOU DON'T OWN IT. Which is a good thing, because it appears you'd be too selfish to give it away.
Take your "quaint" and go away to be with all the other people as special as you. The Serenity Prayer is a humility prayer."
Why so bitter?
She never said she owned it.
As for her comment, "...and liberals laugh at it and find it quaint" I think she merely acknowledges the reality of the faith-gap between conservatives and liberals.
Surely you know this is true?
Is that her fault?
MK's gibberish er parsing of words notwithstanding ...
Election:
1) A formal and organized process of electing or being elected, esp. of members of a political body: "the 1860 presidential election".
2) The act or an instance of electing or of being elected: "his election to the House of Representatives".
>
And Althouse ad nauseam conservative whining re: said Obama election the past (4) years suggests incessant unhappiness.
btw, no hearing needed, just reading comprehension required.
take care, blessings
The bitterness quotient is strong on Left tonight.
Lol.
Leslyn,
What happens with a lot of liberals, is they think it is OK to let out their lesser natures because of their righteous cause. So, Leslyn, do tell us your righteous cause, and how it is therefore OK for you to act like such a rude little self righteous bitch.
And I do mean besides the self satisfaction you seem to derive from calling a bunch of people who you disagree with cruel, mean, ugly, blah blah blah.
I think the difference between conservatives and liberals is more in tune with "A Conflict of Visions" (Dr. Thomas Sowell) for a foundational a priori philosophy about the world we live in.
On a less esoteric note, I frequently (almost daily) tell my children to be happy with what they have and not worry about what they don't have. I grew up lower middle class and was always taught to be grateful for everything I had. My parents never complained about what others had ---- they were happy for others who had more. Envy was never an issue. I would absolutely say I am filled with inner joy and happiness. I believe it stems from gratitude for what I do have, and a belief that envy is the tool of the devil (yup, I'm a believer in the unearned grace of God to everyone who wants it). I am also grateful for the gift of living in the United States where a girl/female can be successful, a kid from a blue collar family can get an education, and any immigrant family is Not destined to stay in one economic level for life (legal or illegal). Where else can this happen? Latin America? Africa? India? The Middle East? Would any one prefer having TB in another country? Or to be a prisoner in any of the repressive countries in these geographical areas? A 15 day hunger strike should be addressed but is a comparative "freedom of speech" blessing---in other countries you would already be tortured and dead.
I actually do believe in prison reform. One of my relatives has been working with juveniles for over 30 years. Another relative works with the FBI to incarcerate sexual predators. One cousin was a doctor in Faludja, and another cousin worked with "doctors without borders" for years. My point is that they do what they can based on the skills and talents they posses (skills I do not posses) --- they don't worry excessively about the things they can't accomplish (or about the things other people are "not" doing). If you are always worrying about what you can't do (or what others aren't doing), you will never effectively accomplish what you can do.
Choose Not to be offended, Choose Not to envy, Choose to always do what you personally can based on the skills and talents you posses (only worry if you are not doing what you know you can), and quit worrying about what other people are doing or not doing. If you have the skills and talents to encourage and lead others to do more, then use these skills for positive results rather than empty insults. These are the keys that lead to inner peace and happiness.
"And Althouse ad nauseam conservative whining re: said Obama election the past (4) years suggests incessant unhappiness."
Hmmmm.
You clearly misread the situation.
Althouse, for whatever reason, writes about Obama quite a bit.
That writing invites commentary.
He is, in fact, a failure.
That isn't a surprise, given the fact he was the least qualified person ever nominated by a major political party for president.
That 53% of the electorate was dumb enough to buy the con is, in fact, quite distressing.
The ongoing success of American democracy, as well as the nation's future, depends, in large measure, on an educated electorate behaving rationally and with some foresight. That this hangs in the balance because stupid now outnumbers smart is distressing.
And, like the many Americans who lost approximately 40% of net worth since Obama became president, I too have been financially compromised.
But in many important ways, none of that really matters.
I'm quite happy with everything else in my life that does not concern Obama, or that he (or others like him - like you) can't touch. Because, so far, I've minimized my need for public services, so government's ability to fuck up my life is quite minimal.
Soon enough I'll be eligible for Medicare, and I'm pretty sure my unhappiness will increase.
"The election of Barack Hussein Obama certainly made many die hard conservatives unhappy to the point of incoherent gibberish."
I think they are pretty happy about it right now. He's the perfect messenger for the vacuity that is the modern liberal ideology. He's a crystal clear Trojan donkey. Enjoy your gift.
You clearly misread the situation.
No, you did ie Althouse = her conservative flock, whereas it is true Althouse herself tends to lead the whining. Again, a self-fulfilling prophecy of constant conservative whining from the top on down.
Ah, consistency ...
But it's nice she provides her lemmings an outlet to moan and be bitter. Don't want any teabaggers goin' postal! :-P
DrudgeReport.com is in black-and-white.
I am surprised that Althouse hasn't commented on this yet...
I mean... we all know that she, despite her legal Professorship and #1 blawg ranking and $200+K salary at the expense of the State of Wisconsin, is nonetheless a Drudge FANBOI...
And this black-and-white'ness is an open invitation to the fanbois to take notice...
But I am not impressed! I want my Drudge in color, thank you very much! No monochrome, no Kodachrome (whatever the fuck that was....)
GIVE ME COLOR OR GIVE ME DEATH!
Instead of asking why (or if) conservatives are "happier" than liberals, or vice versa, we might ask how it is possible for the poor and downtrodden to ever be happy?
And yet, if you go to the most miserable places, you will find people who are able to laugh and be joyous. Even in the midst of horror and devastation, as after a natural disaster, there is rejoicing.
How can this be? What is the source of such happiness?
Why did the Whos sing after finding that Christmas had been stolen?
GIVE ME COLOR OR GIVE ME DEATH!
Feel free to die at any time lol ~ not a problem.
@shiloh -
Ain't you a Liberal? You ought not to invite me to koo-boo-key, dear friend! Lest there be absolutely no one left to prevent the takeover of the new authoritarian...
AllieOop wrote:
Thanks Pogo, I've always aspired to conundrumty.
Better that than lexicography.
True Leslyn, it's doubtful that the author of the Serenity Prayer thought that it would resonate only with conservatives. I understand your anger.
..that the author of the Serenity Prayer...
I heard it just bottles up the anger and then you blow... Serenity now, insanity later!
Besides that, I realize now that there's more to life than making shallow, fairly obvious observations.... certainly about Liberals or Conservatives...
Ah God, you are so wise and all knowing, you aren't much of an A-hole tonight, well maybe you did get overly excited about the color issue on Drudge, but that doesn't make you an A-hole.
As for the Serenity Prayer, sorry to have to disagree with DBQ, but my observation has been that it is more of a progressive, New Age kind of thing, a leftover hippie relic of the 70s, and the prayer itself is not really something said by conservatives, even if they understand and practice the virtues and spiritual works of mercy of patience and humility and forgiveness.
Man, there's a lot of deadwood commenters clogging up this place lately.
...that doesn't make you an A-hole...
Well, thank you, AllieOop!
Your support is... well... frankly... leading me to want to smite' you with holy fire and brimstone.
Alas, I insist on going it alone. You are either against me, or I will make you against me.
Or we will get together in my Pacific Street place and I will fuck you like you never been fucked before.
Rather than getting my rocks off, however, I'd much rather find out what happened to dat clucker, mi Royal amigo. Where he at, these days?
Hmmmmm.......YOU choose. The Royal Clucker is where he's always been.
What does 'very happy' mean, anyway?
"Very happy", to me, is an overflowing bank account, a surfeit of good ideas for my work, several cases of good wine and good gin, good health, cold weather, a big dick within easy reach and to be left alone by anyone boring, threatening or despicable.
How upset am I supposed to be about this? After I read the article, should I go back to being my normal cheery self? Can I be upset that whatever minimal inconsequential effort I'm making to encourage governments to spend more money on poor sick people that need it, it's obviously not enough?
Sure, go ahead and be upset. No one is stopping you. But why the need to first make a point about how conservatives might react? Does it make you feel like you're better than us or morally superior to us? Strange how this, and bemoaning government, are your first reactions, as opposed to tracking down a charity that helps TB sufferers or research.
Later then, babe... After Labor Day... Me, I've got some things to set into place in the meantime, and my divine presence is required in Copenhagen for the next few weeks... Serenity Now blah blah blah...
But after that, my quixotic Vista sweetheart, we can meet at the Pier and see what happens...
BTW: Tell that clucker that his comments were the best here! If he has renamed himself, I haven't gotten it yet... but if he is sitting it out... well, then his presence is sorely missed!
God, you got my number. Happy travels, bless Copenhagen.
Palladian --
Each of those things could be gone in an instant, and then where would your happiness be?
Can you really say that you would be "very happy" with those things knowing that they are fleeting and might be lost? Would you not be worried about losing them, and would not that anxiety detract from your happiness?
Would it not be better to be able to lose it all and still be happy?
Yes, leslyn, I know that the prayer is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. But even though it might have been written by him circa 1930s-40s, it is still one of those kinds of things that was popular in the New Age, spiritual-not-religious, 1970s.
deadwood commenters clogging
lol, if not for deadwood, Althouse would have to close up shop.
Regardless, all Althouse cares about is blog hits and her lemmings buying "Althouse stuff".
Bottom line, it's a win/win for her in Nov. whoever wins the election. :D
The modern liberal is a totalitarian who is unable to rest knowing that everyone does not agree with him/her/himher
"An explanation for the happiness gap more congenial to liberals is that conservatives are simply inattentive to the misery of others. If they recognized the injustice in the world, they wouldn’t be so cheerful...."
Most of that misery is caused by, enabled by, or perpetuated by the left.
Bender, you confuse happiness with grace.
I have had, and lost, all of those things. But life continues, and it is not happiness that sustains it.
Conservatives mind their own business? How does that square with the fact that they are the group that is frequently against gay rights? or a woman's right to choose? Or drug legalization?
Also this idea of liberalism as a totalitarian cult of some kind is laughable. Both the right and left have a vicious, unhinged minority that is quick to attack anyone who disagrees with them. If you think this is a peculiarly liberal thing, you have your head in the sand.
Being excrutiatinglyoderate, I am happy with your explanation
I think the difference in happiness is partly explained by the differences between the sexes. Note that men are generally more conservative than women.
Women are more emotional and tend to be motivated by their emotions. Was this not the reason that women were for so long disenfranchised? Look what our feminized society has done to men: made them more emotional, more liberal, and more unhappy.
The 90% figure for first-time marriage success comes from the US Census, about as absolute a statistic as you can get.
Pogo said...
AllieOop is a conundrum; a happy liberal, not an extremist.
No, he/she/it is a moby, and a pretty obvious one.
PS I see shiloh's back. The Lefties must be getting desperate.
How does that square with the fact that they are the group that is frequently against gay rights? or a woman's right to choose? Or drug legalization?
He means "mind their own business" relatively speaking. For example, the Left believes that you are ultimately the property of the state. In comparison to that, being anti-abortion is kind of trivial.
This topic is so charged it just leads to threads clogged with crapola.
I prefer to make my peace with liberals one at a time and in person. They actually can be nice people when they drop their strident politics.
"I cited a good source. Instead of returning the favor reasonably, you call me "you stupid nasty bitch.""
Just for the record - if you spent even a few minutes Googling about the topic, you'd realize what you cited, repeatedly, was a simplistic falsehood; thus "stupid". And you have been demostrably both nasty and bitchy to people on this thread with no provocation; thus "nasty bitch".
You're very eager to dish it out, hon. You can't take it worth shit.
I would love to see a statistical analysis of the relationships between types of Althouse blog topics and the numbers, types, and sources (including new entrants) of comments on them.
Conservatives are happier because they think more and laugh more.
"To feeling man life is a tragedy. To a thinking man life is a comedy."
I do a lot of laughin'
TB was all but eradicated in this country due to antibiotics. We used to have TB sanitariums. Antibiotic resistant strains were brought here by undocumented aliens.
"For example, the Left believes that you are ultimately the property of the state."
You can't be serious. Even the most die-hard take-no-prisoners-hate-every-conservative liberal doesn't believe this.
Of course they believe it, Minzo. Otherwise they wouldn't regulate and tax like they do. It's what they preach, that we are all serfs, pack animals for the nation.
Well, except our elite leaders, and other parasites.
Example: the Obamacare head tax. You are alive, so you must pay the tax. The State owns you.
If they did not believe it, they would be conservatives. And they would be free, and happy.
So selfish pricks who don't give a shit about anyone but themselves are happier? Who knew!
Enders Ghost: your "selfish pricks" aspersion notwithstanding, I think you fail to understand conservatives. They care about family; they care about the organizations to which they belong; they care about their churches. Your criticism is stereotypically vapid, but may be a liberal. You might want to read Toqueville's "Demoracy in America" which is, IMO, valid today as it was in the 1830s.
"...selfish pricks who don't give a shit about anyone but themselves..."
The US school system socialist propaganda was quite successful in this one!
Here, free your mind a little:
"Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy.
The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that."
So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the free-enterprise system.”
― Milton Friedman
Minzo said...
Conservatives mind their own business? How does that square with the fact that they are the group that is frequently against gay rights? or a woman's right to choose? Or drug legalization?
Um, fighting against a radical gay movement who picked a fight with the rest of America is not the greatest example of not "Minding your own business"
Using your stupid example, if Nazi's took over I suppose conservatives should just let them throw people in the oven.
The drug legalization movement has gained the most traction on the libertarian right.
Murdering a baby, again, see above.
You're failing.
Ender's Ghost said...
So selfish pricks who don't give a shit about anyone but themselves are happier?
Conservatives give more money to charity than liberals do.
You silly, ignorant hypocrite.
Iowahawk says it's because they're not around liberals.
Minzo said...
Also this idea of liberalism as a totalitarian cult of some kind is laughable. Both the right and left have a vicious, unhinged minority that is quick to attack anyone who disagrees with them. If you think this is a peculiarly liberal thing, you have your head in the sand.
Modern leftism is nothing but a bunch of lies you tell yourself in order to feel comfort.
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
DBQ, didn't have time to get through all of the responses this morning but this is the first thing I thought of. If you tried to care about every individual in the world who is suffering or making bad choices or hurt or everything in your life that isn't perfect, you could not function. You pick a few things you care about, do your best to fix them or donate funds to help out, and then move on.
Jay loses the thread by referring to Nazis first!
"Um, fighting against a radical gay movement who picked a fight with the rest of America is not the greatest example of not "Minding your own business"
Using your stupid example, if Nazi's took over I suppose conservatives should just let them throw people in the oven.
The drug legalization movement has gained the most traction on the libertarian right.
Murdering a baby, again, see above.
You're failing."
Jesus....radical gay movement who picked a fight with the rest of America? That's really how you see things? If they weren't denied such fundamental rights, do you think they would be 'picking a fight'? And the 'fight' is merely to be treated like others. And then tossing in Nazi holocaust references in a debate about gay rights.....words fail me.
The drug liberalization movement gaining traction mainly on the right is not something I buy. At least no Nazi references from you there.
We can discuss the morality issues around abortion, but that's a separate issue- my point wasn't even to discuss the moral merits of that and the other two points. It was to show that Anne's idea that conservatives are happier because they 'mind their own business' is false.
The lefties I know are convinced that "The Man" is always screwing them over, and they need to get more free stuff. They see a boogieman everywhere.
Conservatives I know tend to focus more on their lives and families, even if said life is kind of menial and not all that great.
It's true. "Conservatives" are happier...
If they can be happy while sabotaging the U.S. economy simply to win elections, then they have no soul to interfere with their happiness...
This bubble proves the alternate reality enabling their happiness...
Also look at volunteer work. Consevatives I know volunteer at their church, historical societies, that sort of thing. Many liberals do also.
But also many liberals focus their volunteer work around their politics. They are angry about something and want to force some action on somebody.
My guess is Madison's own Atheist hate groups aren't very happy people.
"Of course they believe it, Minzo. Otherwise they wouldn't regulate and tax like they do. It's what they preach, that we are all serfs, pack animals for the nation."
Most liberal advocates of high taxes usually only want taxes on the rich. You could argue that is wrong, but they are certainly not motivated by worshiping the state. Considering Reagan raised taxes more than pretty much every post-war president, does that make him a liberal?
And as noted before, liberals (I'm referring to mainstream liberal thought here,obviously no group can achieve unanimity on any point) believe that the state/federal governments unfairly abridge a woman's right to choose,unfairly restrict usage of drugs like marijuana, unfairly discriminate against same-sex couples to name a few. Those are not minor points of disagreement.
Seems to me there are a few cartoonish views of what a typical leftie is like on here. And strangely enough y'all were the same bunch of people who were pissed off at how the tea party was portrayed in such simplistic you-are-all-the-same terms.
Happiness is more about attitude than circumstances. Liberals try to control circumstances (and are doomed to fail). Conservatives look within and succeed.
Minzo, actually the so-called Reagan tax hikes where just a partial rollback of his big tax cut from a year or two earlier.
Abortion...what do you think about 60% of all African-American babies in NYC being aborted?
"unfairly abridge a woman's right to choose"
To choose what? A poor woman's right to send her child to a private school?
To choose to own and carry a gun?
To own a business but not give free birth control to her employees?
To own a mini gold course?
Minzo, I'd really like an exposition of this statement: "Reagan raised taxes more than pretty much every post-war president".
Lefties these days are playing around with "facts" a lot. Obama created >4m jobs; the electorate likes lefty policies more than austerity; gay marriage is a winning issue.
Lefties seem blind to truth lately, more than ever in my lifetime. This is why I predict that if Romney wins, there will be an incredible explosion of anger, denial, abuse, and riot.
"...there are a few cartoonish views..."
But not from you, Minzo.
The study reverses cause and effect. Perpetually unhappy people want to become happy. Since they can't do it on their own (or else they would be happy people) they blame external forces that must change. Just one more change in society and they will be happy. So they believe.
Happy people just want to leave things as they are - conservative.
Social Sciences in general, scorn rules. Now here's a study that shows "conservatives" (however that is defined) in a positive light and it is to be believed?
Printed in the New York Times no less!
Obama gets his Obamacare tax and then says give me the Bush tax cuts too.
Nobody is paying attention anymore.
There is satisfaction in the knowledge that what one possesses has been earned. Satisfaction in accomplishment. Liberals try to buy their sense of moral superiority with other people's money. There's no satisfaction in that.
I have had, and lost, all of those things.
Surely not the good gin!
Confession: I've been drinking whiskey lately -- even though the summer has been spot-on perfect for gin and tonics.
I just want to comment here that the commenterss here have been commenting here with great aplomb.
Actually, I'm just trying to get in before the 200 Comments Cliff.
You really want 200?
Can I help?
Or would you rather do it by yourself?
Oh let's all help, like good liberals who are empathetic to a fault.
Here is why I am a happy conservative: i care twice as much about the prisoners in Georgia and the poor and wretched than Andy R or Leslyn. And I also know more about the Oxford Group than either. That is another reason i am happy.
I can explain why conservatives THINK they are happier: Ignorance is bliss.
The idea that conservatives "...mind their own business." is LOL FUNNY!
Conservatives worry about who should love who, who should benefit from marriage rights, who should control a woman's body, who worships the right (or any) God. Who should be bombed. Who should not eat, who should not be allowed health care, what language their neighbors should speak... Shall I go on?
MadisonMan and AllieOop, we're almost there! Just keep going a little more...just keep going.
Blast. There goes my shot at public office.
200!!
Damn.
Pogo, try harder!
So what's so good about comments over 200? Less scroll?
200!
Crap.
What's the big deal about 200 comments?
If only the Government mandated that all althouse comment threads exceed 200. That would solve things.
Dammit!
Wait, I got it! Suck it, other commenters!
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!
Thank you, thank you. I would like to especially acknowledge MadisonMan, Garage, AllieOop, and most particularly and especially with great appreciation, myself. It was a difficult road to travel and a big balloon to burst, but I did it, no thanks to you lefties, who are all loons, including Allie.
I retroactively and in my mind deleted the comments after #199, so I won.
If it weren't for captcha, I would have won. Effing regulations!
Well you are not welcome, all that with no coffee since I'm having fasting bloodwork done. Gratitude from a conservative, bah, calls ya a loon.
+200, congratulations to all who cared.
Who should not eat, who should not be allowed health care,
Everyone should be 'allowed' to eat, health care...all the questions are about who should pay for it.
I think there are a few authoritarians on both sides of the aisle, they kind of meet up together on the busybody side of the scale.
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