Mindset. Each person is either an individual, or Borg.

The latter have no hope.

OldEnglish on May 6, 2008 at 9:59 AM

Sweet! Thank you!

The litmus test? Ask a Dem what’s more important: liberty, or equality. They’ll say “both,” and you’ll say it’s impossible to have both, choose one. If they choose liberty, they’re more conservative than they think they are.

Remind me to never move to San Fran where 35+ kids in every classroom are all drugged up.

The Food Banks? Just think, if all the libs would take one item, the banks would be ready to feed the masses for a year. Their possible response: “Oh, but, that is not convenient for me to do right now. Isn’t that the government’s job?”.

The latter have no hope.

a4g on May 6, 2008 at 12:21 AM

You have a remarkable perspective.

I think conservatives are happy because we realize that negative consequences are what makes progress possible, both at a personal and societal level. Until something happens to shake you out of your apathy you have little reason to better the world or yourself. Of course profits also make those advances possible, too bad leftists don’t realize this…

When I was in my late teens and full of leftist ideology, I was miserably depressed. Especially during the first Gulf War, which I thought was just horribly wrong at the time.

My viewpoints are far different now, and the understanding that I’m responsible for my own happiness and welfare has made me, well, pretty happy.

What he said.

The study attributes half the differences to demographics, such as marriage and religion. But these demographics don’t fall from the sky–they are a reflection of the values held by those individuals. To simply call them “demographics”–a category that also includes race, sex, and age–is to treat them as though they are less a choice than a hopeful orientation. This is a rhetorical sleight-of-hand which downplays the fact that happiness is both a choice and a result of our choices.

DrMagnolias on May 6, 2008 at 6:01 AM

Excellent.

It has to do with religion and marriage,

Guns, don’t forget the guns.

a4g on May 6, 2008 at 12:21 AM

Bless your son and your family.

The study attributes half the differences to demographics, such as marriage and religion. But these demographics don’t fall from the sky–they are a reflection of the values held by those individuals. To simply call them “demographics”–a category that also includes race, sex, and age–is to treat them as though they are less a choice than a hopeful orientation. This is a rhetorical sleight-of-hand which downplays the fact that happiness is both a choice and a result of our choices.

Iron_Chef on May 5, 2008 at 11:25 PM

We have somewhat similar stories. I was born and raised in a blue state Democrat family.

I am much happier now, but they are still as miserable as ever.

People who take their spiritual life seriously are dramatically happier than people who don’t.

That’s some painful data.

deesine on May 5, 2008 at 11:06 PM

lol.

People who drink seriously are usually dramatically happier too. At least until they sober up.

MB4 on May 5, 2008 at 11:24 PM

Getting drunk != being happy

Sadly, getting drunk frequently is a sign of a very UNhappy person. And when they sober up, they are more unhappy than when they started. There is a hole in your heart that only God can fill, and trying to use alcohol to fill that hole will only make you more miserable.

Selah.

Indy Conservative on May 6, 2008 at 5:03 AM

True. In addition, if someone else put you in a hole, you need their permission and their assistance to get out of it. If, on the other hand, you realize that your own actions have put you in a hole, you can change your actions and get yourself out of the hole.

The first thought process is mental slavery. The second thought process is mental freedom.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

You think 50′s fun? Wait’ll you hit 60! I’m having the time of my life!

Very few things were discovered or invented by satisfied (happy) people.

Murphy9 on May 6, 2008 at 3:36 AM

You assume satisfied=happy.

But being happy doesn’t imply being satisfied. Very often, the pursuit of a worthwhile goal increases your level of happiness. Our founders were very wise when they wrote:
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the move “The Pursuit of Happyness”, go rent it. It’s totally relevant to the topic of this post.

conservatives overwhelmingly believe if you go around and work hard and persevere, you’re going to get ahead, as opposed to you are a victim of circumstance or oppression and you are screwed in life.

It has to do with one word I didn’t read in that article:

Hope: There is always light at the end of the tunnel.

True believers in God, do not succumb to unfortunate circumstances, rather, they rebound, move on and fight back their road to success.

I love his reference to the Democratic Party as “a coalition of the oppressed”. Has Dennis the Peasant written all over it.

thirtypundit on May 5, 2008 at 11:50 PM

:-) Dennis :-)

Us – no matter what, get our ars out of bed, and do something. Enjoy the fruit of your labor. Share, if you can. Help the really needy. Teach others how to fish. Be left alone, and leave others be.

Look in the comments on the article. The liberal is miserable because vets are committing suicide. Conservatives are upset when a vet commits suicide too, but this liberal commenter has internalized the issue. He has made it about himself and how bad he feels, rather than about the vets. He then has gone on to use that to make a point.

He feels bad for the vets and that makes him a thoughtful and good person. And since feeling bad makes the liberal feel like a good person they are going to look for the bad in everything.

A conservative, on the other hand, would feel just as bad but wouldn’t internalize the problem. The liberal would see this as hard-hearted and insensitive. Meanwhile, the conservative (since he doesn’t spend his day thinking about himself), would go and fix the problem; and, since his focus is not on himself, but on the problem at hand, would fix it in a way that actually takes care of things, instead of just making himself feel better.

Knowing that such problems are likely to be intractable is the black crepe around this self-appointed millstone.

The infinitely-concerned and paradoxically thin-skinned “extreme leftist” will always have a new problem to concern themselves with, so their possibility of happiness is an always-receding rainbow.

The “conservative” knows that people are often buggers, but you have to do the best you can of the material at hand, and cut the fantasies of utopia, and just built the damned adequate shelters that’ll keep people dry and alive.

The perfect-being-the-enemy-of-the-good is the curse of the “liberal” mindset.

The aw-hell-that’s-decent-enough, and break-out-the-beer-and-who-has-a-dobro-guitar? is the recuperation of the “conservative”.

To try to be practical in solving what actually exists keeps you from getting overwhelmed with an avalanche of dwarf owls and race horses and rice prices and carbon feetprint, and allows a sense of irony and humorous relaxation.

The always-defensive-because-they-are-always-crusading-for-Absolute Justice mentality will be constantly marching toward an Elusive Possibility and overlooking all the Luscious Actuality lying all around them.

The Endless Revolution is corrosive. And a drag.

You end up like Rachel Corrie or Rosie O’Donnell.

Screaming or sputtering inanities into the grave.