Dennis Prager has an article in the National Review Online about unhappy people and liberalism. From my perspective, I think he is right in making the observation that liberals tend to be angry, unhappy, or both. Being a victim tends to make one see the world through a bitter lens. Look at Al Sharpton, for example. Between him and Jesse Jackson, they keep racist victimhood alive, and their followers cannot see the great strides this country has made towards equality of the races. This sense of victimhood makes them feel better about themselves, because either (1) they care so much about others and empathize with their plight, or (2) they are victims and worthy of our pity and compassion. Either way, liberalism is a very self-centered ideology – but wait a minute, how can that be? Isn’t liberalism about how others feel??
But I believe Prager says it much better than I ever could:
Liberals respond this way: “If we’re unhappier, it’s because we are more upset than conservatives over the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves.”
But common sense and data suggest other explanations.
What other explanations could there be?
For one thing, conservatives on the same socioeconomic level as liberals give more charity and volunteer more time than do liberals. And as regards the suffering of non-Americans, for at least half a century conservatives have been far more willing to sacrifice American treasure and American blood (often their own) for other nations’ liberty.Both of these facts refute the liberals-are-more-concerned-about-others explanation for liberal unhappiness.
Ah, here comes the jist of it:
Perhaps we are posing the question backwards when we ask why liberals are less happy than conservatives. The question implies that liberalism causes unhappiness. And while this is true, it may be equally correct to say that unhappy people are more likely to adopt leftist positions.
Take black Americans, for example. It makes perfect sense that a black American who is essentially happy is going to be less attracted to the Left. Anyone who has interacted with black conservatives rarely encounters an angry, unhappy person.
Why?
Because the liberal view on race is that America is a racist society. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, a black American must abandon liberalism in order to be a happy individual. It is very hard, if not impossible, to be a happy person while believing that society is out to hurt you. So, the unhappy black person will gravitate to liberalism and liberalism will in turn make him more unhappy by reinforcing his view that he is a victim.
But is that all there is to their unhappiness?
The unhappy gravitate toward the Left for a second reason. Life is hard for liberals and life is hard for conservatives. But conservatives assume that life will always be hard. Liberals, on the other hand, have utopian dreams. At his brother Robert’s funeral, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy recalled his brother saying: “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’”
Utopians will always be less happy than those who know that suffering is inherent to human existence. The utopian compares America to utopia and finds it terribly wanting. The conservative compares America to every other civilization that has ever existed and walks around wondering how he got so lucky as to be born or naturalized an American.
There are more reasons, but you’ll just have to read the whole article. He ends with a marvelous suggestion:
There is an amazingly simple way to defeat the Left: Raise children who are grateful to be American, who don’t complain, who can handle losing, and who are guided by values, not feelings.
We have much to be thankful for, so have a fantabulous Thanksgiving to everyone – liberals and conservatives. But then, the conservatives will probably be happy and thankful anyway! 😀
Microsoft vs. Linux and Open Source
This will be interesting.
The TSA Screener anthem.
Or it could be this .
#38
HeadShaker — avatar looks like a secret agent man
#42 Dude
If 42 floats yer boat, could ye not be Dude42?
I’m jest askin’…
#33 Sarge
Cool photo of storm cloud!
Interesting variations on a theme.
Hungry, anyone?
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you (even that noggin waggin feller).
Cheers!
Edit: Woo hoo!!!! Claimed the highly coveted #42 spot!
Michael Phelps goes through TSA security?
WHOA – a Shakira sighting!
…………………calling the Earthquake Detection Center in the People’s Republic of Boulder…………………
Beware of Hollywood Star Whackers!
Tom DeLay guilty on 2 counts. Wow. Deguerin better give him a refund, I thought for sure he’d walk.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I had lunch with LD and Aggie Beau. It was quick, but it was nice to spend a little time with the both of them before he whisked her away. Then I stopped by the grocery store. After I stepped inside, I remembered why I usually avoid the stores on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. The number of oblivious people blocking… Read more »
Well, I’ve been real busy today but now I’m getting ready to fold up the tent. I just looked out in front or our building and 5 of my girls, (Does) are grazing in the front yard. 😉
Oletimer – A while back my mother bought me this book. It’s a pretty good history of cattle ranching in Florida.
#32. I’ve got a socialist sister-in-law from Argentina and my wife’s brother(both 3M supporters) that are coming to my home, sitting at my table and eating my food and they will hear it because I want my kids to hear it.
I’ve already printed a copy to read from and called my wife and told her to expect it.
Anybody wanna feel small?
Click this.
#27 – Glad I could share it SeenyoreCrusher!
Sadly enough it will only be heard by way too FEW…………
On the TSA bit Adam Savage from Mythbusters (one of my favorite shows) has this video and story…
I am thankful that
HE CAUSED HIS WORD TO BE WRITTEN DOWN so that I could learn how to behave properly, in HIS eyes, in my relationship towards him and towards my fellow man.
HE REVEALED HIMSELF AS THE MESSIAH YESHUA
HE CHOSE TO DIE TO BRING ME BACK INTO PROPER RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM
I’m flattered to have received an invite to one of my daughter’s long time friend’s 21st birthday shindig next week. It’s at a pool hall that serves alcohol, so it should be interesting to observe even though I’ll probably be the only older person there besides her parents. She’s one of the crew that used to frequently hang out at… Read more »
Read carefully this report of yesterday’s Ethics Committee hearing regarding the scandal surrounding Joe Straus, and see if you see the same problem I see: Hughes said under oath that Phillips told him that he didn’t need to worry about being drawn out of his district as long as he was on the list of Straus supporters. He said Phillips… Read more »
#23 Whiskerfish: That was outstanding!! We will be having my inlaws over for Thanksgiving and we will all listen to that recording BEFORE we eat. It will serve to give us pause for reflection and should also deliver some spine to agitate for change.
From the department of LOL, a perv gets what’s coming to him.
Content Advisory: There’s some language.
On a lighter note, this is just funny and cute.
Well North Korea is getting what it wants from the fools at the UN… They threaten war, and nuclear ambitions and they get this from the Secretary General Even as the world struggles to find workable ways to constrain North Korea’s expanding nuclear weapons program and unpredictable belligerence, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is planning how to channel new… Read more »
What am I thankful for?
Here’s one of many examples
Charlton Heston tells Harvard students like it IS
“Thanksgiving Prep”
I know the way to LANDRY’s buffet!
Florida and the Tel-Wink Grill Back around 1975, my friend Al Matthias was the A&R man for RCA in Texas. He invited me out to Gilley’s one Saturday night to hear and meet Gary Stewart who was at the peak of his popularity with “Out of Hand” and “I’ve Got This Drinkin’ Thing” released by RCA. After the show to… Read more »
#18 Hamous The owner was Bob Harris out of Ft. Pierce, you probably wouldn’t know him. Dee’s father was Bandy Stewart. Her brother Bill was a pretty good roper and his wife Kay was a champion barrel racer. Our nephew, Bandy Murphy, too young for you to have known then, is presently a pro bull rider and 2 time world… Read more »
This just up on Drudge
China/Russia drop the dollar
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/24/content_11599087.htm
This will not turn out well.
OletimerLin – Yup, from my mother’s side of the family I’m 7th generation Cracker. They were all from the Kissimmee-Kenansville-Holopaw triangle. Who owned the ranch Dee’s family managed? I haven’t been in decades but the Silver Spurs Rodeo was a big part of my childhood. Texanadian – Florida Crackers wear it as a badge of honor despite others attempting to… Read more »
I spent a lot of time in this old house when I was a kid. It was occupied by my two great aunts, and was the only place they had ever lived. I lived with my grandparents, uncle, mother, and brother in a smaller, house a couple hundred yards away. Legend has it that the old place was haunted by… Read more »
I am leaving soon to have a quick lunch with Lovely Daughter and Aggie Beau before they head out to his family’s place in north Texas. LD says the burgers at “Burger Guys” are AWESOME and I should come hungry. She also told me that you don’t mess with the recipes there or the cook will tell you off. Unless… Read more »
Difference between a liberal and a conservative….
A Liberal judges a person by the color of their skin.
A Coservative judges a person by the content of their actions.
My grandfather’s family came from Sicily in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. I found my grandpa’s record on a passenger index, which indicated he arrived with a scar on one cheek and $20 in his pocket. My paternal family settled on Leeland Street and became a family of tailors and barbers. I know of one uncle that went to… Read more »
The rightnetwork has this up,
http://rightnetwork.com/links/why-november-2nd-was-a-rout
Here’s a pretty cool article about a day in the life aboard USS Ronald Reagan.
#9 Hamous I didn’t realize you were from Kissimmee. Dee’s family ranched in Cotulla, TX for generations until the drought in the late 40’s-early 50’s bellied them up. They went to Mexico fo several years on the hoof and mouth disease eradication program. He then became ranch manager on a 42 section ranch at Yeehaw Junction, right down the road… Read more »
Side note: I read or heard recently that the term ‘cracker’ was originally used to describe the cow hunters in Florida because of the whips noise. It has of course changed meaning since then.
texanadian and Oletimer My family’s “compound” (four generations all lived next door to each other) was right next to this man’s massive ranch. I used to go fishing in the creek that ran through his ranch. Even in segregated Kissimmee he was well-respected among cattlemen. So how do we as a nation get to where one’s success or failure isn’t… Read more »
I’m done wasting time trying to figure out what motivates those idiots.
Michael Savage nailed it, very shortly and simply:
LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER.
#2 Hamous When I became the first person in my family to graduate from college My mother was also the first in our family to graduate and became the teacher in the one room schoolhouse, which was not “integrated”, it was simply open to anyone (including adults) who wanted to learn. I posted some time ago that as I became… Read more »
Related topic: I despise affirmative action programs. My company is among those that have gone nutzoid to promote women into upper management. So of course any woman who gets promoted is immediately suspect. Are you here because you’re good, or because of the “Gender Balance” program?
Hamous: This is never talked about. I come from many generations of slaves, my forefathers and mothers too, were considered property. They worked the land, toiled the fields and lived short miserable lives for generations. When the owners figured out there were more productive ways to make money from the land they were turned out. No place to go, their… Read more »
I guess I don’t understand the mindset where something that happened to someone else long before I was born determines what happens to me here and now. My father’s family were dirt poor. My grandparents and the first 2 or 3 of my aunts & uncles lived in a dugout tent for several years. Later on, there were anywhere between… Read more »
G’Morning all For those that didn’t see my quick IPhone post from the hospital yesterday, Dee came out fine. Thanks for all the knee mail. While she was still about halfway in lala land the surgeon got both of us together and said he wanted to go over the post-op directions so that she could heal properly. I asked him… Read more »
Coincidentally, the first op/ed I read in my morning rounds this morning was this lamentation from Richard Cohen. He’s wailing about Sarah Palin (what liberal doesn’t these days?) for mentioning Michele Obama’s infamous “For the first time in my life…” speech: It’s appalling that Palin and too many others fail to understand that fact – indeed so many facts of… Read more »
Excellent article, instead of asking why lib’s are unhappy, why not ask why conservatives are happy? A simple answer of course is that conservatives, by not being perpetual victims, work to improve their lives, see successes. The resulting improvement creates their happiness.
Microsoft vs. Linux and Open Source
This will be interesting.
The TSA Screener anthem.
Or it could be this .