The happy party! Happy happy happy!

[luckystar112]

Republicans are happier than Democrats

I just found this interesting.

The pollsters were in the field asking about happiness this month, a period when economic news was gloomy for everybody and presidential campaign news seemed especially baleful for Republicans. Yet they found 37 percent of Republicans are "very happy," compared with 25 percent of Democrats; 51 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of Democrats are "pretty happy"; and 9 percent of Republicans are "not too happy," compared with 20 percent of Democrats.

...............

But seriously, says Lehane, if Republicans are more happy, it's because they care less. "The typical Republican is happy coming home to a 62-inch television, pulling out a fine bottle of cognac or Scotch, putting his feet on the table and enjoying the fruits of his labor, but not caring what's going on in the world outside their living room . . . and their gated community."

..............

What's the Republicans' secret to feeling groovy? "They have more money," Paul Taylor, director of the Pew Social & Demographic Trends project, writes in the new report. "They have more friends. They are more religious. They are healthier. They are more likely to be married. They like their communities better. They like their jobs more. They are more satisfied with their family life. They like the weather better."

..............

It turns out the happiness gap is not just an American phenomenon. In country after country, happiness studies find that "conservatives" are happier than "liberals." They seem to be two species, with differently encoded DNA. The unequal balance-of-joy conjures hoary stereotypes: The jolly conservative, self-satisfied in his success, a doer not a doubter. The angst-ridden liberal, guilty in his success, a searcher not a finder.

..............

Brooks says a lot hinges on the answer to this question: Do you believe that hard work and perseverance can overcome disadvantages? Conservatives are more likely to say yes. Pew found that Democrats are more likely to say that success in life is mostly determined by outside forces. Republicans lean toward thinking that success is determined by one's own efforts. The hypothesis: Those who think they can control their destinies are happier.

Happy happy happy!!!!

I'm sure there will be many negative comments only proving this study. LOL.

I'd like to find out more about how this study was done.

 

[Lauren8211]

Ohhh, Luckystar! You''re just asking for trouble, aren''t you??

I''m a little surprised that they claim more religion makes you happier? Or more money? Disagree.

I''m biting my tongue on the rest.

 

[starsapphire]

Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/24/2008 3:54:38 PM
Author: starsapphire
Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

I don't understand; I am not a liberal, but these threads don't make sense to me.

::heavy sigh::

I personally think there IS happiness and goodness in all types of people; I don't care which party they are in.

eta: We should be working together not against each other. just my 2 cents. also, I don't vote a straight ticket; I go with my own research. So does that make me half happy??? weird

I am not asking a question btw. . .

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 10/24/2008 4:09:57 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 10/24/2008 3:54:38 PM
Author: starsapphire
Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

I don''t understand; I am not a liberal, but these threads don''t make sense to me.

::heavy sign::

I personally think there IS happiness and goodness in all types of people; I don''t care which party they are in.

just my 2 cents.

Well said, Skippy.

I''m a liberal, and I find happiness in fighting for people who need it. The only thing that makes me sad is when people don''t care.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 10/24/2008 4:09:57 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 10/24/2008 3:54:38 PM

Author: starsapphire

Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

I don''t understand; I am not a liberal, but these threads don''t make sense to me.

::heavy sign::


I personally think there IS happiness and goodness in all types of people; I don''t care which party they are in.

just my 2 cents.

Skippy, I could not agree with you more!!! These types of threads don''t make sense to me.

 

[HollyS]

Well, I don''t now, nor have I ever, lived in a gated community. Or reached for my bottle of expensive Cognac after my gourmet meal. I don''t own a flat screen TV in an expensively outfitted ''media room''. I don''t have kids I send to private school, nor did I attend one. And there are no Ivy League alumni in my family tree; and nary a rich person. So why the hell am I so happy?

True, I''d be a little giddier if I won the MegaMillions lottery, but I wasn''t raised to believe that money bought happiness, or that it made you a better person. I was raised to be self-sufficient, hard-working, self-respecting, law-abiding, and savvy. Money has nothing to do with it.

Are there more wealthy Republicans than Democrats? Sure. Most Republicans know how to work, save, invest. They expect everyone else to do the same. You don''t see many Republicans with hands out, waiting for ''help'' from the government. (Even when I made minimum wage, and even when I lost my MW job, I had my own health insurance policy. I didn''t expect someone else to foot the bill if I became sick, which I did.) Gosh, what a bunch of jerks that makes us!

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 10/24/2008 4:26:00 PM
Author: HollyS
Well, I don''t now, nor have I ever, lived in a gated community. Or reached for my bottle of expensive Cognac after my gourmet meal. I don''t own a flat screen TV in an expensively outfitted ''media room''. I don''t have kids I send to private school, nor did I attend one. And there are no Ivy League alumni in my family tree; and nary a rich person. So why the hell am I so happy?

True, I''d be a little giddier if I won the MegaMillions lottery, but I wasn''t raised to believe that money bought happiness, or that it made you a better person. I was raised to be self-sufficient, hard-working, self-respecting, law-abiding, and savvy. Money has nothing to do with it.

Are there more wealthy Republicans than Democrats? Sure. Most Republicans know how to work, save, invest. They expect everyone else to do the same. You don''t see many Republicans with hands out, waiting for ''help'' from the government. (Even when I made minimum wage, and even when I lost my MW job, I had my own health insurance policy. I didn''t expect someone else to foot the bill if I became sick, which I did.) Gosh, what a bunch of jerks that makes us!

To be fair, I''m a liberal who''s paying for her own school, working 25 hours, taking 18 credit hours, and has no healthcare, and I don''t have my hand out either.

Just because we want to help others doesnt make us helpless.

 

[E B]

Let''s play ''How many stereotypes can one fit into a) an article and b) a response to an article!''

Wheeeeeeeee!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/24/2008 4:31:13 PM
Author: EBree
Let''s play ''How many stereotypes can one fit into a) an article and b) a response to an article!''


Wheeeeeeeee!

Lol. Well said!

And sad to say but research (well done research that is) says that money generally only makes people happier up to a certain point (which is somewhere in the $40,000-50,000 if I recall correctly...) and after that it doesn''t do a gosh darn thing to make people happier...

 

[beebrisk]

Date: 10/24/2008 4:26:00 PM
Author: HollyS
Well, I don''t now, nor have I ever, lived in a gated community. Or reached for my bottle of expensive Cognac after my gourmet meal. I don''t own a flat screen TV in an expensively outfitted ''media room''. I don''t have kids I send to private school, nor did I attend one. And there are no Ivy League alumni in my family tree; and nary a rich person. So why the hell am I so happy?


True, I''d be a little giddier if I won the MegaMillions lottery, but I wasn''t raised to believe that money bought happiness, or that it made you a better person. I was raised to be self-sufficient, hard-working, self-respecting, law-abiding, and savvy. Money has nothing to do with it.


Are there more wealthy Republicans than Democrats? Sure. Most Republicans know how to work, save, invest. They expect everyone else to do the same. You don''t see many Republicans with hands out, waiting for ''help'' from the government. (Even when I made minimum wage, and even when I lost my MW job, I had my own health insurance policy. I didn''t expect someone else to foot the bill if I became sick, which I did.) Gosh, what a bunch of jerks that makes us!

Everyone assumes Repubs have more money than Dems. I''m not so sure that''s factual.

Look at Hollywood. Tons o'' money there.

Look at the Kennedy''s, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and many other prominent Dems. Plenty of money there!

How bout Bill Gates? He''s famous for supporting Dem causes, and he''s what... the first or second richest guy in the world?.

I think Repubs being richer is a myth. I think it might be pretty darn close.

Now, are the Repubs happier? I dunno. But judging from this forum alone I might say "yes". It''s pretty apparent the bitterest, angriest posts do seem to come from those defending the Dem side.

And that''s not snarky..it''s just an observation.

 

[starsapphire]

Date: 10/24/2008 3:54:38 PM
Author: starsapphire
Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

It was a JOKE!!!!! I was KIDDING!!! Jeez, ya''ll are sooooo serious. Maybe that is why conservatives are supposedly happier....lol

Actually, conservatives are happier because they have their Guns and their God to cling too....

 

[E B]

Date: 10/24/2008 5:00:02 PM
Author: beebrisk

Now, are the Repubs happier? I dunno. But judging from this forum alone I might say 'yes'. It's pretty apparent the bitterest, angriest posts do seem to come from those defending the Dem side.

And that's not snarky..it's just an observation.

LOL.

Oh my. Thank you, AtW, for being endlessly entertaining.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 10/24/2008 5:11:38 PM
Author: starsapphire

Date: 10/24/2008 3:54:38 PM
Author: starsapphire
Liberals are never happy because the world is not liberal enough for them. They are the party of social injustice....fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, forgotten, the poor, the minorities. No wonder they are not happy!

It was a JOKE!!!!! I was KIDDING!!! Jeez, ya''ll are sooooo serious. Maybe that is why conservatives are supposedly happier....lol

Actually, conservatives are happier because they have their Guns and their God to cling too....

Not funny

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 10/24/2008 5:17:58 PM
Author: EBree

Date: 10/24/2008 5:00:02 PM
Author: beebrisk

Now, are the Repubs happier? I dunno. But judging from this forum alone I might say 'yes'. It's pretty apparent the bitterest, angriest posts do seem to come from those defending the Dem side.

And that's not snarky..it's just an observation.

LOL.

Oh my. Thank you, AtW, for being endlessly entertaining.

Very Funny

 

[Ellen]

Date: 10/24/2008 5:17:58 PM
Author: EBree

Date: 10/24/2008 5:00:02 PM
Author: beebrisk

Now, are the Repubs happier? I dunno. But judging from this forum alone I might say ''yes''. It''s pretty apparent the bitterest, angriest posts do seem to come from those defending the Dem side.

And that''s not snarky..it''s just an observation.

LOL.

Oh my. Thank you, AtW, for being endlessly entertaining.

x 2

 

[luckystar112]

The article says that there are happy people in each party. Sheesh. No one is trying to say that only Reps are happy and only Dems are unhappy.

And Elle, didn't you say that you're extremely liberal? The article says that they are the happiest.

Or wait...maybe it was Irish? Whoever said that in the RNC thread...

Of course, there is no doubt that Skippy is happy.

Holly, I laughed at that description of Republicans too...lol. The description of both parties is funny. And in response to "just because we want to help others doesn't make us helpless", republicans want to help others too (and they DO), they just don't want the government to decide how they help.

 

[E B]

Date: 10/24/2008 5:37:27 PM
Author: luckystar112
The article says that there are happy people in each party. Sheesh. No one is trying to say that only Reps are happy and only Dems are unhappy.

Oh, I know. I was referring to both D and R stereotypes.

These last few days leading to the election are always insane. Lots of (hilarious, ridiculous) weirdness comes from both sides.

 

[luckystar112]

I was just afraid that I made Skippy upset...which I would never do on purpose!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/24/2008 6:07:46 PM
Author: luckystar112
I was just afraid that I made Skippy upset...which I would never do on purpose!!!

No you didn''t upset me; I adore you Lucky. The article did; I mean there are lots of dumb article and I hope we don''t buy into it. I guess that is where my frustration comes from.

 

[partgypsy]

God this really wants me to go out and run some experiments that confirm prejudices/stereotypes about the 2 political parties. It would be fun plus maybe I can score some grants.

My main observations are that people on the ends of the spectrum resemble each other more than they would care to admit. If you are an angry person, you can be an angry Democrat, an angry Republican, an angry Libertarian. But maybe the stuff they are angry about is probably different.

Personally I would love to be more like Mr. Rogers. I''ve got some good sweaters, the rest is a work in progress

 

[vespergirl]

This made me think of another article that I read recently where there was a study done to see if money could truly make people happy. The study found out that once people made a certain amount of money, they were far happier than people without (duh). That''s because they didn''t have to wonder where money for their mortgage/rent, food, or healthcare were coming from every month. People are far more content when they are physically comfortable.

I also found this article personally interesting, because I''ve lived on both sides of the conservative and liberal fence. I found that when living in a conservative family environment (example: dad working at high-paying job, stay-at-home mom who does volunteer work, lives in a nice house in an upper-middle class community) I and my fellow family members are happier on a day-to-day basis - it''s true that life (in our family) is easier for everyone if we''re not fighting about money, or whose turn it is to shuttle the kids around to day care today, or to clean the bathroom. Even though I am socially liberal, I''m financially conservative, and I find that living in a "traditional" style family environment is a lot more fulfilling than my last marriage. In fact, many of my friends who are still working, wrangling kids and managing (often low-paying) jobs (e.g. social work, teaching) have expressed envy for my social/family situation. I didn''t fall into it by luck, though, after my first marriage I made a conscious effort to work in private industries, get a better paying job, and marry a man with a higher salary so that I could be a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years when my kids were small. I planned this life, and got it with determination.

Years ago, my lifestyle was more that of the typical "lliberal." I worked at a non-profit, and my ex-husband was a (barely-wroking) musician. We barely scraped together enough money to pay our mortgage every month, and fought over grocery money, house responsibilites, and whether we could ever afford to have children. XH was so obsessed with "finding happiness in his chosen career" of being a musician, that he actually dragged our family into misery, by not earning any money and lumping all the responsibility on me. Our marriage only lasted two years after he decided that he "never wanted the financial responsibility" of supporting the family, and I wanted a husband who would actually contribute to the household. So, for all of our liberal ideals that we could follow our dreams in low-paying jobs and have the wife support the household on a non-profit income and be happy, we actually just ended up really miserable.

I guess that the moral of the story is that maybe it''s more about social class - maybe upper-middle class people are happier that than lower-middle class people because they don''t have to worry about money as much?

 

[vespergirl]

Oh, but I forgot to add that even though I''m fiscally conservative, I''m still voting for Obama this time. I''m just a sucker for an intellectual elitist who''s actually smart enough to run this country

 

[Ellen]

Date: 10/25/2008 6:08:25 AM
Author: vespergirl
This made me think of another article that I read recently where there was a study done to see if money could truly make people happy. The study found out that once people made a certain amount of money, they were far happier than people without (duh). That''s because they didn''t have to wonder where money for their mortgage/rent, food, or healthcare were coming from every month. People are far more content when they are physically comfortable.

I guess that the moral of the story is that maybe it''s more about social class - maybe upper-middle class people are happier that than lower-middle class people because they don''t have to worry about money as much?

Exactly. Money can never buy true happiness, but it does afford one a certain peace of mind.