Ineresting counter-point to the commonly held (liberal) belief that conservatism is a direct symptom of internal misery. [www.salon.com]

Well yeah, that's why I posted it, for the insanely biased response. That article is so thick with non-sensical rebuttals it looks like it could have been culled from The Onion.

A+ analysis!

Thanks!

This is better - -

The Study says: Authoritarians are Happy.

So "a research team led by psychologist Cara MacInnis of the University of Toronto and Michael Busseri of Brock University" interpret the Study to mean: Authoritarians are Happy, Extreme Conservatives are Authoritarians, so therefore Extreme Conservatives are Happy.

That article is textbook propaganda. A response article would be fun reading. Too bad it costs to read the study. I'd be curious to see how much of that they fudged.

KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks!

When I was looking up Liberals Eating Their Own, I ran across an analysis of a survey which found that Conservatives are more happy than Liberals.

Liberal Vs. Liberal: Top 10 Reasons Why Liberals Are Eating Their Own -

[www.addictinginfo.org]

"9. Liberals aren’t happy enough, at least they’re not as happy as conservatives: A Pew Study done a few years ago discovered that, by and large, liberals are less happy than conservatives. This was extrapolated from research that discovered that “a conservative belief acts as a psychological buffer in a world of increasing inequality. The idea is that conservatives tend to rationalize inequality as the result of a fair process in a meritocracy, whereas liberals tend to see inequality as inherently unjust.” While there’s something to admire about being more unhappy due to injustice and inequality, that status can also lead to a general sense of dissatisfaction, anxiety, impatience and frustration. People in those states of mind tend to snap more easily, fight more readily, and find fault more vociferously."

************

Here's the original article from Scientific American -

Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals

[www.scientificamerican.com]

"Conservatives are happier than liberals. This according to a 2006 Pew Research Center survey cited in a paper published this month in Psychological Science.

But New York University researchers set out to isolate the reasons why right-wingers would have greater subjective well-being than left-wingers.

They collected data from nearly 1,200 people from the 2000 American National Election Study and found that above the effects of gender, marital status, income, religion and age, the reason for this happiness disparity can be distilled to the separate ideologies of liberals and conservatives.

The authors argue that a conservative belief acts as a psychological buffer in a world of increasing inequality. The idea is that conservatives tend to rationalize inequality as the result of a fair process in a meritocracy, whereas liberals tend to see inequality as inherently unjust.

Analyses with data from 9,000 people across 10 countries uncovered the pattern that, not only do right-wingers report greater life satisfaction across cultures, but the gap widens in those countries where quality of life is low.

Finally, the authors looked at U.S. data spanning the past 30 years, and found that increasing economic inequality is associated with the decrease in the nation’s overall happiness. But noted they found that liberals’ self-reported happiness decreased more steeply than that of conservatives."

*************

They're saying that Liberals are less happy because they're more concerned with the Injustice and Inequality, unlike Conservatives who view Inequality as being 'fair'

A republican found a magic genie's lamp and rubbed it. The genie said : "I will grant you one wish." He said : "I wish I were smarter". So the genie made him smarter. The next day he became a Democrat.

(Actual quote) John Stuart Mill
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."

Q: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, a Compassionate Conservative and a Mean Conservative are walking down the street. They see a $100 bill lying on the ground. Who gets it?

A: The Mean Conservative, naturally. The other three are fictional.

"The Ten Commandments - Republican-Style"


I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them.

II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies.

III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty.

IV. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, and put guns in the hands of school
children.

V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil
liberties.

VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest
above those of your corporate contributors.

VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children
and babies behind.

VIII. Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and
demonize them.

IX. Thou shalt run on a moderate platform, then enact right-wing policies as
soon as possible.

X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media
is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda

"The idea is that conservatives tend to rationalize inequality as the result of a fair process in a meritocracy, whereas liberals tend to see inequality as inherently unjust.” While there’s something to admire about being more unhappy due to injustice and inequality, that status can also lead to a general sense of dissatisfaction, anxiety, impatience and frustration. People in those states of mind tend to snap more easily, fight more readily, and find fault more vociferously."

This is interesting to me because Buddhists say that contentedness comes from the ability to live in the moment, to appreciate what we have and to break out of the habit of saying, "I'll finally be happy when I have more money" or whatever material we think we need to be happy. The key is to find contentedness wherever you are and not worry about others and the often superficial standards of happiness dictated by this society. Look within yourself and what's already there to find an abundance of happiness. If the Buddhists are correct in this and Conservatives are typically more content with their position in life, it could be argued that Conservatives are more happy from a standard Buddhist perspective.

KidRaw's comments of July 26th are great. The article is pure Frankfurt School garbage.