Always interested in breaking down the dueling political dichotomies, I recently stumbled onto an old article from Life Science entitled, “Conservatives Happier Than Liberals”. Having spent a lot of time reading the left, even I was surprised at the blatant bias and backward reasoning the article attempted. The very first sentence gave me a glimpse into the Live Science Senior Writer’s mind; “Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities.” She’s attempting to prove that Conservatives on average are happier than Democrats due to their ability to overlook and/or rationalize inequality. Her view, along with many of the article’s commenter’s articulate an important point that still needs to be understood; Conservatives think Liberals are misguided or wrong, Liberals think Conservatives are bad or evil.
The article chooses to overlook the real reasons for Conservative happiness, instead focusing on the idea that, “Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization, which gauge a person’s tendency to justify, or explain away, inequalities.” Totally overlooking the fact that inequality is subjective, it also used the term “supposedly” when referring to the idea that people can increase their social status through hard work and good performance, and that Conservative beliefs “justify gaps in status.” She cites a comment from Psychological Science saying, “…liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light.” So, Conservatives are only happy at the expense of others. Unbelievable. It ends on the note that women who highly value equality are less happy on average because, “… they are more troubled by disparities in domestic labor.”
The article simply reiterates decades of surveys that all say Conservative minded folks, on average, are more likely to be happy with their own lives or that they enjoy “greater life satisfaction and well-being.” You wouldn’t know that however, if you read the New York Times or watch MSNBC. There you find smugness and what I call misguided indignation, the tactic of reflexively assigning irreverence onto others in lieu of facing the real issue at hand. Rationalizing their own unhappiness or weak positions by blaming others, choosing to belittle or disparage instead of defending their own ideas. A clear example of this was the left’s reaction to the Justice Department’s decision to try the 9-11 terrorists in a Manhattan civilian court. We here at ThreeConservativeBros, along with millions of other Americans loudly voiced concerns at such a nonsensical idea. In turn everyone from liberal bloggers to Democratic Senators decided not to defend the decision but to demonize the Concerned as hypocrites, proponents of torture, and unpatriotic cowards. We see how this has played out as New Yorkers rightly revolted, and now the Administration as well as former liberal proponents are backing off the civilian terror trials.
These days, nearly all left-wing pundits tend to conjure up the stereotype of the angry, bitter American who’s traditional and “bigoted” views allow them to enjoy injustices perpetrated against the downtrodden. Remember President Obama’s claim about bitter Americans clinging to their guns and religion from the campaign trail? Have you seen any of the Tea Party coverage over the past 9 months? 
There are many reasons why Conservatives are happier than Liberals. None of the reasons have to do with glee over inequality or discrimination, but they all have to do with values. Conservatives are overwhelmingly God fearing people who champion individual responsibility and limited government. They have a strong love of traditional family, fellowship and community, charitable giving, and adherence to the principles that our country was founded on. They believe that anyone in this country can make it through hard work and that equality of opportunity (not equality of results) is of vital importance to lasting happiness. In essence you have the ability to control you own destiny through hard work, family, and faith, instead of relying on outside entities and bureaucracies to manufacture it for you. As Dennis Prager puts it, “Liberals tend to put the onus of your success on society and conservatives on you and your family.”
Obviously no party or type of individual has a monopoly on happiness. But some inward reflection and critical thinking on the part of our unhappy liberal friends is desperately needed. The more you rely on yourself through the support of strong family and faith as opposed to that of faceless bureaucrats and childish pursuits of utopia, the more likely and closer you are to controlling your own version of happiness. Viewing yourself as a victim of an unfair world only manifests a lasting resentment towards others, a phenomenon of sad irony, especially considering the freedom and opportunity our fellow citizens of American enjoy today.
3conservativebros
MacGregor
Johnny M
Timmy K
Im glad you highlight that there is a lot of broad stereotyping in this article, and therefore can only be responded to with more broad stereotyping!
But yes, although the article is old, I still think it is practical in looking at the two schools of thought. Even when things are good for the libs, so many are still picking at each other and can never be satisfied.
Haha yeah i know stereotypes dont always apply, but in this case i think there are direct correlations between mindsets/political ideology and overall happiness. I do think they have more to do with perceived inequality and grievances than actual inequality though.
For instance, every since the 60’s and the Feminist movement, women have become increasingly less happy.
Liberals aparently right this off to their inability to overlook apparent inequality, but i think the issue is much deeper than that and has more to do with the strong values they may or may not hold.
I agree with everything you said. However I think this article isn’t as biased or tied into all the reasoning you stated. Rather it just highlights one point and you hit it on the head… “Conservatives are evil, Liberals are misguided”
These ideologies will always clash here. Both are content in their own reasoning and justification. The difference is conservatives accept reality and can “rationalize” situations. Where liberals often “rationalize” how reality should be, leaving them searching for answers. Like you said and like the research proves, rationalizing reality often leads to a happier more fulfilling life.
Although the left often claims that talk radio is nothing but angry rants it is actually this rationalization that makes it easy to listen. Without that rational, Air America or any other progressive radio programs will struggle to keep listeners.
Good points Tim. I think this quote pretty much sums up how many liberals view the world..
“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
~Robert F. Kennedy
A good article from Townhall on the topic of happiness…
http://townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2010/04/13/the_left_squashes_lifes_little_pleasures?page=1
It doesnt seem like any of you really “get it”
The thing is, It’s ALL ridiculous. Its not that being a Muslim is ridiculous but being a Jew isn’t. Being a Christian is ridiculous, being a catholic is ridiculous, being a Buddhist is ridiculous, being a liberal or a conservative is ridiculous, being an ANYTHING is ridiculous. You’re a fuckin human being and if you attach yourself and your mind to any ideology, you’re going to be on a road, and that road may or may not lead you in a good direction, but you’re going to stay on that fuckin road if you’re attached to an ideology, and it could be a terrible road, it can be a road of circumcising your daughters clitoris because that’s a fuckin tradition, I mean these crazy bitches in Africa who cut holes in their lips and stretch them out to put plates in them, why is that? Because they got on a fuckin road and they stuck with that road, regardless of rational thinking, they didn’t use rational thinking at all, they just adapted a predetermined pattern of behavior that makes life so much simpler. And that’s what every fuckin religion and government is, the problem is NO ONE knows. You CANNOT know. You can have your own beautiful personal experiences, but when you start yelling and ranting that other people should follow your lead, or the fuckin worlds going to end and Christians are going to be taken away, I know you’re full of shit, I know you’re full of shit and you know you’re full of shit. And the real problem is, is that we cant say it because everyone’s got this “freedom of religion, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the freedom to express yourself” even if you’re expressing yourself with nonsense, nonsense that helps scared lonely sad people lock onto that nonsense so they feel like they are a part of something, I mean that’s what it is, it preys on people whose lives fuckin suck. So its ALL nuts, it’s not like your shits cool and my shits not, and its not that yoga is the answer or fuckin mushrooms are the answer, there ARE NO ANSWERS. There are just QUESTIONS, and until we’re honest about that, we are never going to evolve. The human race is stuck in a giant quagmire when it comes to our behavior and our thinking of our behavior. For a lot of people, religion or politics can give you some inspiration, but there comes a certain time where you need to pop the training wheels off, and you need to realize that all this morality and ideals you’ve developed is good because it’s good to treat other people good. Its good to treat other people the way that you would like to be treated yourself, it’s a fuckin Golden Rule, and there is a reason for it, and that reason is that we’re connected in some strange way that we don’t totally understand, and unless you are good to other people around you, unless you are kind and friendly and warm and loving, you’re not going to enjoy this life, you’re just not. You’re going to have problems everywhere you go, you need to figure out a way to enjoy this fuckin life. Its not because of Jesus, its not because of Moses, its not because of anybody that may or may not have ever existed, its because that’s how you fit in better in the world, that’s how you stay positive and it doesn’t have to be some shit that was written 5000 years ago on fuckin animal skins, that’s doesn’t have to be the golden rule because its old, that’s dumb. We need to figure out like now, today, what is the best way to live your life. There has got to be ways where you can be putting forward the most positive energy. I mean we know objectively what’s causing pollution, we know objectively what’s causing birth defects, are we taking in too many chemicals and not enough vitamins?, we know objectively all this stuff. We know how to organize our world and yet we don’t do it, we know how to organize our health and yet very few people do it, we know all these things. The right path to being a happy healthy person is to do all the shit that we already know you’re supposed to do. Take care of your body, take care of your health, take care of your mind and stress, meditate, be kind to people, we all know that, I mean you ask anybody, they know how to get by and be the most evolved version of you that you can be. It’s not like a magical checklist, if you talked to people about it and said, ok if you have a person and you want to improve them, what are the things that you’re going to do to them. Ok well if I was their life coach the first thing I would say is, ok this guy has to get on a diet that makes him healthy, I don’t mean a diet to lose weight, I mean just healthy foods in your body. Many different vegetables, a lot of good quality protein, a lot of water, stop the sodas, stop the bullshit, start working out your body and get a better sense of how this machine feels when it’s moving, its flowing better, there’s less tension in it, your mind feels relaxed and you enjoy every single moment of the day better. Step 1, everybody knows that step right? What’s Step 2? Be cool to people, be nice to as many people as you can, smile at as many people as you can, have them smile back at you, tip well when you go to restaurants, just do the most you can, be as nice as you can and still manage to not have people walk all over you. What else? Do what you want to do with your life, right? Don’t be doing something you don’t enjoy. Don’t get locked into a car you can’t afford or locked into something you hate just because you need the money. Do what the fuck is it that you really want to do, because if someone else is doing it, you can do it. You know? I mean everybody makes their own path through this world, but a lot of people don’t really follow that path that they really feel pulled to.
Joe Rogan appreciates the citation.
Kaylon,
Thanks for visiting.
That was an impressive and shockingly coherent rant. Unfortunately it all had little to do with this topic and did little if anything to answer any of the realities of living in the real world. People don’t know what people are supposed to do just because you think common sense tells them to.
My last two sentences read, “The more you rely on yourself through the support of strong family and faith as opposed to that of faceless bureaucrats and childish pursuits of utopia, the more likely and closer you are to controlling your own version of happiness. Viewing yourself as a victim of an unfair world only manifests a lasting resentment towards others, a phenomenon of sad irony, especially considering the freedom and opportunity our fellow citizens of American enjoy today.”
The foresight of our founding fathers, understanding the inherently flawed nature of man, was integral in creating a SOCIETY where people like yourself could dream up ideas of what is, what isn’t, and what should be. Most individuals in this world today are struggling for survival and yearning for freedom and the ability to pursue happiness. If we don’t fight for the values that have given you the ability to impressively rant about a fairy-tale world that will never exist, the real world of man’s human nature will inevitably take over.
Just wanted to clarify that Kaylon’s rant was not his own. Although it’s beautiful, it’s Joe Rogan’s. You can listen to it here.
Wiley,
Thanks for clearing that up! There was always something about Joe Rogan that seemed annoying but I could never put my finger on it, now I know what it is. =)
Yeah, hmmm, fascists were happier than Jews in Nazi Germany, go figure.
Maybe the reason that surveys find that Conservatives are more happy than Liberals is that Conservatives are less honest than Liberals about their own level of happiness. Conservative respondents portray themselves as they WANT to be and as they want OTHERS to perceive them. Liberals, on the other hand, are less afraid to face their own reality…less afraid to admit that, yes, I get depressed from time to time. Or admit that the reality of their lives isn’t some perfect ideal drenched in happiness. Liberals are more secure with the reality of their lives while Conservatives, being more insecure, are reluctant to admit that all is not peachy.
Do any of you think that Conservatives are happier in regard to the size of government, the tax rates, the demographic trends, the trends in religiosity, the direction of culture, the current state of morality, or the direction of America? I find the determination that Conservatives are happier to be odd when, from everything I see, Conservatism is based in anger, outrage, cynicism, negativeness, hostility, and pessimism. Themes of ‘everything is going wrong’ / ‘Liberals ruined America’ / ‘woe, we Conservatives are so persecuted’ / ‘armageddon is impending so you better stock up on guns and canned food!’. I didn’t see much happiness from Conservatives at the health care reform town halls. I didn’t see much happiness from Conservatives at Tea Party rallies. I didn’t see much happiness from the Conservatives angrily protesting against the NYC Muslim community center. I don’t see much happiness from Conservative hosts or Conservative guests on Fox News. I don’t see much happiness from the worried and fearful Conservatives stocking up on firearms in preparation for a race war.
So Conservatives are more happy than Liberals…yet Conservative websites and comments to news articles from Conservatives are characterized by rage, anger, hostility, pessimism, contempt for American government, contempt for American culture, and contempt for a majority of American people…people Conservatives label as ‘vermin’ and ‘parasites’ stealing from the persecuted and continually wronged Conservative who is having his Liberty and Freedom trampled.
Yeah, Mark Levin is a happy individual. Ann Coulter is a bundle of joy. Sneering Michele Malkin and scowling Brent Bozelle are beaming with contented cheer. Charles Krauthammer is a happy man…it’s just that no one has ever happened to capture a photo of him smiling.