According to this Pew Research Study, Republicans are happier than Democrats. And the more conservative, the better, even amongst Democrats themselves.
True? Not true? Not sure. If this is true, I can think of a couple of reasons why, but I'll bite my tongue, metaphorically of course. I'd really love to hear from people on this one.
3 comments:
"Republicans are happier than democrats?" In other words, Ignorant people experience more bliss. That makes sense I suppose. (Relax, I'm just a joking).
Seriously, I don't really want to read the entire study (the reason will be forthcoming at the end of this rant), but it probably has something to do with the fact that republicans are in power right now and there seems to be this general stereotype that democrats are not much more than hippies in American clothing who's drug-induced opinions are *always* completely unfounded, irrational, and anti-american.
Now, absolutely, democrats also have less-than-flattering opinions of Republicans. But Republicans (in my opinion of course) seem to be much more blunt about it. They reduce the entire category of American citizens to the monosyllabism "Lib" with an extraordinarily negative connotation conjuring images of those acid-tripping hippies burning flags, holding large signs with peace symbols, spitting on physically and mentally mangled Vietnam war vetrans, and yelling at the Whitehouse that they deserve free money.
Needless to say, the flower-child era is defunct, and most Democrats are normal people who are genuinely concerned about the state of the nation. But anytime they open their mouth, they get an earful of "thats just liberal B.S." Yes, there are lots of dumb liberals out there saying dumb things. It's best to ignore them rather than use them as the icon for the entire political party.
It's infuriating when no one listens to you. Especially if you do have an argument or opinion that is in fact well-founded, yet is dismissed with a single word "Liberal". George Bush pulled this stunt on Kerry using the word "Flip-flopper," and the trend seems to continue. It furthers with the "Your with us or them." The president does seem to be a national role model, and Bush has been exceptionally terrible with that. I am about ready to defend (though not ready to assert) the argument that Bush is even worse than Clinton. (I feel like I have said this before).
Watching the election was, in retrospect, a complete farce. I now realize I wasn't watching to hear the opposing point of view, or to try to learn what I can do to understand my fellow Americans of the opposing political party. I was looking for an inkling of hope that Bush wouldn't get reelected. But the entire race had already been decided by sheer popularity. Republicans weren't listening to Democrats, Democrats weren't listening to republicans. Politics in America is not about reason or what is best for the nation. It is about your side winning, regardless of whether or not the "issues" of your representative leader has any content or quality.
I suppose the Democrats started it by reelecting Clinton. It's like, the Republicans were so enraged that they started shaking their fists yelling "You gave us 8 years of the worst president ever! We'll show you! We'll elect someone even worse and keep him in office for 8 years! That'll put you libs in your place!"
It's enough to make you want to leave the country :-/ Why did it have to be Bush! Fine, Republicans can have their turn to run the country, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But why did it have to be Bush? Anyone but him.
I'll admit, a lot of this is not more than a big rant left over from my extreme disappointment at the election, which unfortunately only adds a "fart" to windy Democratic party and furthers the stereotype that Liberals do nothing but whine. And I am in fact rather ignorant as I have stopped listening to the news. Mostly because I get so angry anytime I hear anything news that comes from the Whitehouse, or Iraq, or Iranian Evangelical-Islamic leaders. I am much happier not knowing what is going on. Ignorance is bliss for the sad outcast Liberal college student.
If my ranting is any indication, the results of this Pew-Research report would be explained simply that Democrats are disappointed and we feel like we are being completely ignored. And as important as politics is to the average American, thats enough to make anyone slightly less happy.
Ramin has spoken. All hail Ramin, the all-knowing and all-powerful but meek, week, and ignorant know-it-all.
PS. The report said those who worship are more happy. That is (not joking) an example of how ignorance is bliss. Many of the christian people I talk to *SAY* verbally that they "are not sure if they will go to heaven, all they can do is pray." But they say it simply because it is politically correct. Their actions are quite clear and betray what they are really thinking: "I am going to heaven and your not, and I am better than you." So of course they are more happy. No offense to my Aunt-in-law Amy who is a very good person who worships more-or-less regularly who doesn't think that way about other people.
FYI, I just read your review on Good Night, and Good Luck, so I assure you, when I wrote this comment on "29", nothing in the above comment realtes to your review of that movie. If it seems like I am commenting here on both of the afore mentioned posts, its just a coincidence.
Hello. I have never done this before, so just bear with me. (Yes, for those of you who will ever read this (nobody), I'm popping my cherry).
This is interesting. You learn something new every day. Apparently conservatives report being happier than liberals. But I would caution anyone who tries to make any kind of inferences whatsoever from this study.
I have read the details of this poll; the more conservative you are, the more happy you are, the more liberal you are, the less happy you are blah blah blah.
First I would like to comment on how this study was done. It was a poll that asked people to rate their happiness on a scale of "very happy", "pretty happy", or "not too happy". Quoted, "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days, would you say you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" Right off the bat, that seems pretty vague to me. What about if you're extremely unhappy? What if you're not happy but not unhappy either? I think that happiness is a spectrum much more vast than that, and it's kind of unfortunate that people were limited to such a constricting answer.
Another thing to notice is that in the article, they admit only a correlation. They even admit that correlation does not prove causation (if all drug dealers drink OJ in the morning, then you're a drug dealer by drinking OJ in the morning). Perhaps there is some underlying cause that has nothing to do with being a party member.
Something else to notice that I thought was interesting was that even the sample population of the highest percentage of "very happy" people, the conservative republican, is only 47%. For you non math-majors ;), that means that even in the population reporting the highest percentage of very happy, the majority (53%) are still not "very happy."
This I think brings up a very important point. I think it's also unfortunate that a poll was done with such narrow definitions on something as intangeable as happiness. What is happiness? I personally believe that people often confuse happiness with other things, when in fact they only appear to be happy. First, I think that the vast majority of people confuse happiness with contentment. I'm sure we'd all agree that we'd be content if we were assured financial security and safetiness from criminals for the rest of our lives. But does that make us happy? I'd be very reluctant to agree with that. I have spoken with two people about this. (I know that two is a very narrow selection, but I don't know that many people this extreme). They are my mother and father. My father is a conservative republican, and my mother a liberal democrat. They have been seperated for 8 years now, and my father has since remarried. My mother is still as in love with him as before... My father is a wealthy man, has a good job, and LOVES his new wife. My father is a man who values "getting ahead in life": good job, comfortable surroundings, security. I called him and asked him if he'd be happier with his life if he had to choose between two options. Option A: his same job, if not a better one, (more money, security..) only living without his new wife. Option B: living with her, making $20,000/year struggling to survive, living in a bad neighborhood paycheck to paycheck. (No financial security or safetiness). He said "I have to think about it." I imagine these are the values most conservative people hold, if I'm wrong then everything I'm saying is bullshit and stop reading this right now. (Please let me know if I'm wrong). I then asked my mom, (who now lives very poorly), the same question. Keep in mind that when she was married to my father, she was very well off, as I mentioned because my dad is wealthy. My mother instantly and without hesitation chose option B. I think this is powerful because even my father, who has been born and raised with these concrete values drilled so far into his brain that there is almost no hope of change in him, STILL has an inner conflict in his decision to either choose love or security. My mother is a different story. She is very irrational, and grew up with an abusive father. Above that she was raised in a family that heavily valued taking sides against eachother. For example, if her mother and father were fighting, you were either on mom's side or dad's side, no in between. So I don't know for sure if she was taught to value love or not, but it doesn't sound like it to me. But my mother loves my father, and I believe she was truly happy with him.
The point I'm trying to make with this argument, is that I believe that this unknown "X factor" in the study, the causation, has nothing to do with what party you're in or the ideology you hold. I believe that the only path to true happiness is through love, which doesn't relate at all to party affiliation. This I think explains why such a high percentage of people, ALWAYS the majority of people from any party, do not report being "very happy." They have confused true happiness with external circumstances, as love holds no boundaries, and to be honest, I'm not surprised the results are so grimm. As quoted in Mitch Albom's famous book TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, "love is the only rational act."
Tom Slife
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