George Will on Sad Sack Democrats
George Will has written a ridiculous but entertaining column on the finding that Republicans are happier then Democrats.
Nevertheless, normal conservatives — never mind the gladiators of talk radio; they are professionally angry — are less angry than liberals. Liberals have made this the era of surly automobile bumpers, millions of them, still defiantly adorned with Kerry-Edwards and even Gore-Lieberman bumper stickers, faded and frayed like flags preserved as relics of failed crusades. To preserve these mementos of dashed dreams, many liberals may be forgoing the pleasures of buying new cars — another delight sacrificed on the altar of liberalism.
I think that the content of the ideology has a small effect. And very few Democrats are raging, Nation-subscribing leftists (just ask the subscription department at the Nation.) I think there are likely some personality traits that predict both voting Republican and reporting higher life satisfaction.
And, hey! headline writer! The biconditional is utterly inapproriate.
3 Comments so far
Leave a reply
A key ingredient in happiness soup is stupidity — the less you think critically about your world, the more likely you are to be a happy-go-lucky person. And stupidity , thoughtlessness, and ignorance are inextricably linked. It is no wonder that the red states are so damned happy with a role model like George W. Bush.
Keep up the deep thinking GW, you are really on to something.
Of course Conservatives are happier than Liberals. As the old saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss.”
Well, you two, thanks for putting that “grim and scolding” line to rest.