Conservatives or Liberals: who are happier?

Who do you think are generally happier: conservatives or liberals?

They all can be fucked up.

Nystyle709 wrote:They all can be fucked up.

Yeah, I've met some liberal activists who are just as frothy-mouth rabid as some fundamentalist religious conservatives.

Opa Shale wrote:

Yeah, I've met some liberal activists who are just as frothy-mouth rabid as some fundamentalist religious conservatives.

I definitely agree with that.

Both/neither.

Either/or. Both can be miserable fuckheads.

Can't say either is really happier on general. Conservatives see the country falling apart by the liberals so I guess that makes them less happy. Liberals just generally tend to find stuff to biotch about (ie stuff they feel they should be getting that they aren't) and that makes them less happy.

If I had to pick, I'd say conservatives. I think they at least have the potential to be really happy if they don't let liberals get them down. Liberals I think will typically have a harder time being happy, though I imagine some are.

But yeah, can't really say any one is happier than the other.

Forgiveness Man wrote:Can't say either is really happier on general. Conservatives see the country falling apart by the liberals so I guess that makes them less happy. Liberals just generally tend to find stuff to biotch about (ie stuff they feel they should be getting that they aren't) and that makes them less happy.

If I had to pick, I'd say conservatives. I think they at least have the potential to be really happy if they don't let liberals get them down. Liberals I think will typically have a harder time being happy, though I imagine some are.

But yeah, can't really say any one is happier than the other.

Well if that's the game you wanna play...

Liberals see the way conservatives are trying to take away & deny basic human rights to people & the profound effect it has on them so that makes them less happy. Conservatives just generally tend to try to force their religious doctrine on people (ie believe the bible trumps the Constitution when it doesn't) and that makes them less happy.

If I had to pick, I'd say liberals. I think they are less sexually repressed so they at least have the potential to be happy & have something to look forward to. Conservatives I think will typically have a harder time being happy with so many religious rules to follow, though I imagine some are.

But I do agree that we can't really say any one is happier than the other.

^^^^Actually YOU are the one who wanted to play the game. (By copying me, which is actually flattering that you liked my format so much. ) And the liberals say that conservatives don't know how to take opposition. lol Them ole pots!

Forgiveness Man wrote:^^^^Actually YOU are the one who wanted to play the game. (By copying me, which is actually flattering that you liked my format so much. ) And the liberals say that conservatives don't know how to take opposition. lol Them ole pots!

Uh, no actually it was YOU who wanted to play the game since you STARTED IT and all.

My answer to this question is this: As a generalization as to who is happier, that depends on where they happen to be living at the time and what kind of support system they have. In other words, it has less to do with where they are on the political compass and moreso whether or not they are living in a conservative region or a liberal region and surrounded by people who share their ideologies. A conservative trying to make a living in Liberal New York or Liberal San Francisco is going to be less happy than if they were living in conservative, rural Utah or Alabama (unless of course they are rich). Similarly, a liberal minded person who happens to exist in conservative Oklahoma or Arizona is probably less happy than if they were in Los Angeles or Philadelphia. Conservatives (who are generally white, Christian, heterosexuals -- or RICH) tend not to want to be surrounded by blacks, mexicans, arabs, and queers. Similarly, liberals tend not to want to be surrounded by racist, homophobic, bible thumpers or billionaires that enjoy tax breaks while the government cuts social programs that benefit the poor so that said billionares can pay less to fly their corporate jets around!

If we were to look outside the United States however, and look at the core of what "liberalism" and "conservativism" really are, then there is not doubt that liberals are MUCH happier worldwide than conservatives. Nations that embrace liberal ideas and programs like Universal health care, strong union membership, high taxes, extensive social programs, limited religious influences in the government, and equal civil liberties tend to have a much higher quality of life than countries without these things. That is proven in study after study, year after year. The top 5 "happiest" countries in the world (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Norway) are also among the most "liberal" countries in the world. Coincidence? I think not. The US is number 12 BTW. Conversely, the most miserable countries that have any kind of organized government, are generally the ones that are the MOST conservative nations where religion is forced onto people, "civil liberties" falls under the comedy section, social programs are non-existent, and health care when used together in the same sentence becomes an oxymoron (ie: Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc).

^^^^Wrong again buddy. Making a contrary template of my post was the game.(Kind of like a little kid who starts copying everything you do.) Apparently you want to play too! I know how you love to spend time with ole FM!


I don't think there are any real conservative nations left to make your comparison even remotely plausible. lol I also don't think you can quantify happiness. So any survey which asks people how happy they are is propaganda garbage. That's probably the problem with this entire thread. You can't quantify happiness. Bryce will see happiness under his leftist bias and will always see the things he believes to be true as the things which make people happy in the world. People with opposing views will think his argument is a contrived mess and believe that the things that they believe in make the world happy. (And they will find their own "studies after studies" that show that. ) Happiness simply cannot be accurately quantified. So asking whether liberals or conservatives are more happy is frankly pointless. Bryce is a liberal, so he'll naturally come up with reasons why liberalism makes people happy. Conservatives will come up with reasons why conservatism makes people happy. Neither side will really buy the other's arguments. And at the end of the day, all we get is a soapbox. Gosh, it almost makes you wonder if being unhappy is what makes people happy anymore. lol

People either believe themselves to be happy or believe their enemies are responsible for their unhappiness. Liberals, conservatives, doesn't matter. It'll be funny for to see if my mental predictions pan out. But ultimately, this is a fruitless thread.

Forgiveness Man wrote:^^^^Wrong again buddy. Making a contrary template of my post was the game.(Kind of like a little kid who starts copying everything you do.)

The game STARTS when one poster's initial comment is designed to intentionally goad other people (in this case everyone else on here besides you) into providing an "alternative opinion" based on the inflammatory, one-sided, biased responses that you tend to generate. In other words, the game has historically started with YOU...

...buddy

Forgiveness Man wrote:Apparently you want to play too! I know how you love to spend time with ole FM!

I LOVE playing with you. It's so easy and fun.

Forgiveness Man wrote:I don't think there are any real conservative nations left to make your comparison even remotely plausible. lol I also don't think you can quantify happiness. So any survey which asks people how happy they are is propaganda garbage. That's probably the problem with this entire thread. You can't quantify happiness.

What is and what isn't considered a "conservative nation" is relative. There are nations more conservative than the US and nations less conservative than the US. But nobody was asking anyone to "quantify" happiness. Its a simple question: ARE YOU GENERALLY HAPPY IN LIFE? When most people in a particular nation reply YES, and most people in a different nation reply NO, the answers speak for themselves. It's not rocket science, it's simple logic.

Forgiveness Man wrote:People with opposing views will think his argument is a contrived mess and believe that the things that they believe in make the world happy. (And they will find their own "studies after studies" that show that. )

If you say so. But until one of these increasingly hypothetical "people" actually find one (a study) that supports whatever they "believe" to be true, your asking us to take that on your word alone. If it was really as easy as your suggesting, these "people" could easily produce the study that backs up their claim. Alas, that isn't likely to happen, thus we can conclude that this is a typical FM talking point of very little substance.

Forgiveness Man wrote:Bryce is a liberal, so he'll naturally come up with reasons why liberalism makes people happy.

I am not "a liberal". I don't subscribe to those political labels because liberal is a relative term. That is something that only partisan extremists do. I'm liberal on some issues and conservative on others. In any case, I didn't come up with anything on my own. 24/7 Wall St. did when they conducted the objective study.

It'll be funny for to see if my mental predictions pan out. But ultimately, this is a fruitless thread.

Oh I don't know know, I think it's actually quite fruitfull (depending on what you as an individual get out of it). And I think that anyone whose taken the time to actually respond on this thread (particularly if they've responded multiple times) probably found it quite fruitfull too for obvious reasons.

We always see the other side as unhappy. The left sees the right as angry, the right sees the left as angry. Happiness is just another of the many exploitations in political doublespeak. There are a thousand different ways to spin happiness or unhappiness. Maybe that dizziness explains why people are so grumpy. lol

captainbryce wrote: ... My answer to this question is this: As a generalization as to who is happier, that depends on where they happen to be living at the time and what kind of support system they have. In other words, it has less to do with where they are on the political compass and moreso whether or not they are living in a conservative region or a liberal region and surrounded by people who share their ideologies. A conservative trying to make a living in Liberal New York or Liberal San Francisco is going to be less happy than if they were living in conservative, rural Utah or Alabama (unless of course they are rich). Similarly, a liberal minded person who happens to exist in conservative Oklahoma or Arizona is probably less happy than if they were in Los Angeles or Philadelphia. Conservatives (who are generally white, Christian, heterosexuals -- or RICH) tend not to want to be surrounded by blacks, mexicans, arabs, and queers. Similarly, liberals tend not to want to be surrounded by racist, homophobic, bible thumpers or billionaires that enjoy tax breaks while the government cuts social programs that benefit the poor so that said billionares can pay less to fly their corporate jets around!

...

This really answers the question.

Forgiveness Man wrote:We always see the other side as unhappy. The left sees the right as angry, the right sees the left as angry. Happiness is just another of the many exploitations in political doublespeak. There are a thousand different ways to spin happiness or unhappiness. Maybe that dizziness explains why people are so grumpy. lol

I see "happiness" in terms of how people classify themselves as to whether or not they are happy. I don't determine for them "what happiness means", I merely leave it for them to decide whether or not they are happy (whatever they consider that to be). And if more of them from one society says yes and that happiness seems to stem from the quality of life they enjoy in said society, then I conclude that they are more happy living in their society than people living in other societies. I don't particularly view the right as "angry" so much as either delusional or greedy. I think the left is generally more "angry" than the right (particularly at this moment in time when they thought they were getting a "left" President, yet every decision that's being made in Washington seems to benefit the right). But outside of politics, people living in liberal societies are happier (according to how they rate themselves) than people living in the most conservative societies. The only people who are really "happy" amongst conservatives are the top 1 percent (but they only represent fiscal conservatives and not necessarily social conservatives so that's really not saying much).

Conservatives are no less happy than liberals are. And since conservative and liberal are largely political terms, there's no applying the labels "outside of politics." lol Liberals or conservatives in general are not "happier" than the other. The fallacious attempts to spin it one way are funny though. lol

Forgiveness Man wrote:And since conservative and liberal are largely political terms, there's no applying the labels "outside of politics."

"Largely" does not equal "soley". There are other usages of the terms liberal and conservative OUTSIDE of politics. The terms refer more to belief systems and ideologies than specifically to political affiliations. Republican and Democrat on the other hand are strictly terms used regarding political affiliation. Not every person with liberal beliefs is a democrat just like not every person of conservative beliefs is a republican. In fact, one can be either liberal or conservative without being into politics at all. Jehovahs Witnesses for example don't believe in participating in politics at all or voting, yet clearly many of them would consider themselves conservative or ally with traditional "conservative values" as many evangelical Christians do. Also when it comes to evaluating "happiness" (particularly when examining nations outside the US), politics is hardly a factor at all. The political structure of most other nations are very different from each other and that of the US. That said, the political system of any respective nation tends to mirror the ideologies of that nations citizens, so parallels can be made and conclusions can be drawn. To pretend that there are no links between the two would be disingenuous to say the least.