So apparently, ignorance truly is bliss...
Full article here.WHO is happier about life — liberals or conservatives? The answer might seem straightforward. After all, there is an entire academic literature in the social sciences dedicated to showing conservatives as naturally authoritarian, dogmatic, intolerant of ambiguity, fearful of threat and loss, low in self-esteem and uncomfortable with complex modes of thinking. And it was the candidate Barack Obama in 2008 who infamously labeled blue-collar voters “bitter,” as they “cling to guns or religion.” Obviously, liberals must be happier, right?
Wrong. Scholars on both the left and right have studied this question extensively, and have reached a consensus that it is conservatives who possess the happiness edge. Many data sets show this. For example, the Pew Research Center in 2006 reported that conservative Republicans were 68 percent more likely than liberal Democrats to say they were “very happy” about their lives. This pattern has persisted for decades. The question isn’t whether this is true, but why.
Anyone who lives off the fruits of their own labor, like most conservatives do, are more happy.
I can't understand how some who lives in a single wide driving a beat up old falcon and living off government assistance could possible be happy with themselves in the long run. But it seems as long as the government money is coming in......
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I WILL NOT INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE BUT YOUR LACK OF INTELLECT IS FAIR GAME
Remember the axiom of big government bureaucrats: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. When, finally, under the crushing weight of taxes and regulation, it stops moving, subsidize it. Going Postal
If I told you, your head would explode.This pattern has persisted for decades. The question isn’t whether this is true, but why.
When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man? [Henry David Thoreau]
Actually, I'm pretty fucking pissed off right now. I don't think happy would describe me.
GanjaFreebird (07-09-2012)
I can believe that conservatives are happier than liberals. I'm not going to into why, but there is truth to Zordar's opening line.
Reality is brutal. This doesn't surprise me at all.
GanjaFreebird (07-09-2012)
I was being an ass, but yeah, I think the well-documented conservative ability to compartmentalize and live in a neat, orderly mental world helps a lot.Originally Posted by Hyperbully
More anecdotal than the above example, but something I believe it is true: conservatives are less likely to cross the line from empathy (understanding) to sympathy (feeling bad for) when it comes to the plights of other people. In other words, if Bob the conservative and Mary the liberal on their way to dinner together, and they see a charity billboard with a gut-wrenching picture of a starving child or beaten housewife, their reactions would be very different.
Bob says "Wow, that sucks." and takes a mental note to check out the organization later, to see if they're a worthy charity. Maybe even donate some money. Then, he goes right on to enjoy his meal with a big smile on his face. He comments on the deliciousness of the crabbed-stuffed mushroom appetizer, wondering aloud if the main course could possibly top it...
Mary, on the other hand, has a more visceral reaction, literally feeling the pain child/battered wife on an emotional level. She picks at her dinner like a bird, almost guiltily, as she feels like she just has to do something to stop the suffering she saw on that billboard. When Bob suggests looking at the dessert tray, she chastises chastising Bob for being so nonchalant: how can you think about eating so decadently after seeing something like that?
Freedom&Liberty (07-09-2012)
I think issues of moral ambiguity are probably what primarily distress self-identifying liberals/leftists.I was being an ass, but yeah, I think the well-documented conservative ability to compartmentalize and live in a neat, orderly mental world helps a lot.
More anecdotal than the above example, but something I believe it is true: conservatives are less likely to cross the line from empathy (understanding) to sympathy (feeling bad for) when it comes to the plights of other people. In other words, if Bob the conservative and Mary the liberal on their way to dinner together, and they see a charity billboard with a gut-wrenching picture of a starving child or beaten housewife, their reactions would be very different.
Bob says "Wow, that sucks." and takes a mental note to check out the organization later, to see if they're a worthy charity. Maybe even donate some money. Then, he goes right on to enjoy his meal with a big smile on his face. He comments on the deliciousness of the crabbed-stuffed mushroom appetizer, wondering aloud if the main course could possibly top it...
Mary, on the other hand, has a more visceral reaction, literally feeling the pain child/battered wife on an emotional level. She picks at her dinner like a bird, almost guiltily, as she feels like she just has to do something to stop the suffering she saw on that billboard. When Bob suggests looking at the dessert tray, she chastises chastising Bob for being so nonchalant: how can you think about eating so decadently after seeing something like that?
When I was a conservative I saw everything as a great moral battle against good hard-working, god-fearing conservative people vs the Bad Guys (Democrats, pornographers, gays, et al.) I remember actually thinking Mussolini was ok because at least he wasn't a leftist!
Nuance is not really comforting or fun or easy. It's counterintuitive and difficult and vaguely depressing.
Hi kellyb. Reality has to be dealt with in a calm and orderly fashion and liberals simply aren't capable. Liberals are just too emotional to be happy.
Last edited by Freedom&Liberty; 07-09-2012 at 01:22 PM.
When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man? [Henry David Thoreau]
antiquity (07-09-2012)
That makes sense. And I can definitely identify with the distress and dissatisfaction that comes with seeing shades of gray, with holding a hodge-podge of beliefs that don't really align with any one system.I think issues of moral ambiguity are probably what primarily distress self-identifying liberals/leftists.
You post would also help explain why the far left is so much happier than the mainstream left -- everything as a great, moral battle.
If it's true, it can be explained by conservative extremism.
"New Study: ‘People At The Extremes Are Happier Than Political Moderates’"
http://www.mediaite.com/columnists/n...cal-moderates/
Since conservatives represent political extremism in our society and liberals are more mainstream, this gives some credence to the Pew survey.
BooRadley (07-09-2012)
Well, you are definitely a reality-based conservative with an internally coherent worldview, so in your case, you might be right. You're one of the only intellectually honest conservatives I've met, though. Unless the rest are just lying, which is possible but unlikely, I suspect.
If you define far left as the people who sit around reading Marx and happily waiting for capitalism to destroy itself so the golden age of utopian socialism can finally arrive as the workers rise up and take over the machines, yeah.That makes sense. And I can definitely identify with the distress and dissatisfaction that comes with seeing shades of gray, with holding a hodge-podge of beliefs that don't really align with any one system.
You post would also help explain why the far left is so much happier than the mainstream left -- everything as a great, moral battle.
Most far leftists that I know of are a lot more distressed, though. (I'm thinking of the Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, etc far left here. Although Chomsky somehow seems weirdly calm most the time.)
Well said, Zordar.
I believe that empathy and sympathy are essential to genuine understanding of most topics on a human level. The ability to ignore the plight of others for convenience or self-gratification is bordering on sociopathy.
It's true that many great writers, artists, and philosophers tend to struggle with depression.
Chachma v'Oz (07-09-2012)
From the far-lefties I've known and read, I would think there's a high level of distress as well, not the satisfaction and happiness that was reported... but then again, I was also pretty surprised to read that the tea partiers were happy, as well -- they always seem really freaking pissed off!
Seems like the article/study has a weird way of measuring happiness...
Just living in a world where you're high on hate, religion, conspiracy theories, self-rightousness and AM radio groupthink is a different sort of happiness, I think. lol.From the far-lefties I've known and read, I would think there's a high level of distress as well, not the satisfaction and happiness that was reported... but then again, I was also pretty surprised to read that the tea partiers were happy, as well -- they always seem really freaking pissed off!
Seems like the article/study has a weird way of measuring happiness...
Also, seeing yourself as happy is a not-so-unspoken mandate of fundamentalist Christianity. ("I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!") So, that probably helps with the self-reporting stats.
BooRadley (07-09-2012)
Maybe they confused "happiness" with "obsession".
Perhaps, Chachma!
Though most of my obsessions have made me happy. Well, except for that one.
Well, and then there are conservatives like F&L, who doesn't mind looking at human suffering and just advocating that the strong stomp on a human face just for the fun of it, since it's simply the way of things that predators eat prey and the strong rule the weak. Whether or not that's sociopathic is considered irrelevant from that POV.
I know, I'm an ass.
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