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National survey suggests you actually CAN buy happiness [Republicans are happiest]
The Colorado Springs Gazette ^ | 02/14/2006 | PERRY SWANSON

Posted on 02/14/2006 6:51:41 AM PST by loreldan

Rich, Republican churchgoers must be the happiest people on Earth.

While only about a third of Americans in a survey released Monday reported being “very happy,” the people in those categories had the best odds of bliss.

El Paso County appears to be in pretty good shape on the happiness board. The area’s median family income is higher than the national figure, and Republicans far outnumber other party affiliations.

Church membership is less common here than elsewhere, however, even with the area’s status as home to many evangelical Christian groups.

The rich were the happiest of all among respondents to the Pew Research Center’s national telephone survey. But Republican Party members also were quite content as 45 percent reported they were “very happy,” compared with 30 percent for Democrats and 29 percent for independents.

Republicans have been the happiest even when a Democrat was in the White House. They’re also happier regardless of income.

The divide in political party cheer makes sense to El Paso County Commissioner Wayne Williams, a former chairman of the county Republican Party.

“I think generally Republicans have a more positive world view,” Williams said. “Democrats tend to think that things are bad, and the government has to protect us.”

El Paso County Democratic Party Chairman John Morris said the finding doesn’t clash with his experience, either.

“Democrats that I’ve certainly known and worked with have been people who’ve had to work harder, maybe because they weren’t as affluent and so they had to make ends meet,” Morris said.

Overall, the survey found 34 percent of Americans considered themselves “very happy,” 50 percent are “pretty happy,” and 15 percent are “not too happy.” One percent of respondents said they didn’t know.

The Pew center’s figures are based on a telephone survey of 3,014 people conducted Oct. 5 to Nov. 6, 2005. The margin of error varies depending on the groups of respondents.

Does membership in the GOP really make people happy? Probably not, said Will Wilkinson, who studies happiness for the Cato Institute. The bliss is probably connected to some other facet of life that also inclines people to be Republicans, he said.

“People might read that and say, ‘I’d like to be happy, maybe I should be a Republican.’ It definitely doesn’t mean that,” Wilkinson said.


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: gop; happiness
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I agree Republicans are happier people - but not because we're richer.
1 posted on 02/14/2006 6:51:44 AM PST by loreldan
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To: loreldan

Agreed. Being rich doesn't make one happy, but at the same time, as my Dad says: "Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure as hell makes misery a whole lot easier to deal with."


2 posted on 02/14/2006 6:52:55 AM PST by RockinRight (Attention RNC...we're the party of Reagan, not FDR...)
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To: RockinRight
Republicans have been the happiest even when a Democrat was in the White House. They’re also happier regardless of income.

This is a good point. Democrats should take note.
3 posted on 02/14/2006 6:55:26 AM PST by loreldan (Lincoln, Reagan, & G. W. Bush - the cure for Democrat lunacy.)
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To: loreldan

Agreed. I'm happy. And, for once, I feel our nation is secure with Terror on its heels for a while.


4 posted on 02/14/2006 6:57:22 AM PST by Wiseghy ("You want to break this army? Then break your word to it.")
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To: Wiseghy

Look at the reader comment that was posted at the end of the story. Grrrr...


5 posted on 02/14/2006 6:59:40 AM PST by loreldan (Lincoln, Reagan, & G. W. Bush - the cure for Democrat lunacy.)
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To: loreldan

"The bliss is probably connected to some other facet of life that also inclines people to be Republicans, he said."
____________________________________________

Personal responsibility. You cannot be happy if you believe that the world is rigged against you, or that others are to blame for your problems and others must solve them for you.

Many democrats I know are happy, but it is because they apply the principal of personal responsibility to their own lives but throw it out when it comes to politics. They do this in large part because they want the approval of other liberals more than anything else...or they feel guilty for being sucessful.


6 posted on 02/14/2006 6:59:47 AM PST by fizziwig (Democrats: so far off the path, so incredibly vicious, so sadly pathetic.)
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To: loreldan
Agreed. Last time I checked, I am not rich. Our outlook on life is better though. Every lib that I know always complains about our gov't, yet they want the gov't in every aspect of their lives. No wonder they are unhappy.
7 posted on 02/14/2006 6:59:54 AM PST by downtoliberalism ("A coalition partner must do more than just express sympathy, a coalition partner must perform,")
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To: downtoliberalism
Every lib that I know always complains about our gov't, yet they want the gov't in every aspect of their lives. No wonder they are unhappy.

Good point. Liberals hate Bush and Republicans, but they trust him/them. They must. They want them to take more of their money. I surely wouldn't want people I trust to take more of my money!
8 posted on 02/14/2006 7:05:06 AM PST by loreldan (Lincoln, Reagan, & G. W. Bush - the cure for Democrat lunacy.)
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To: loreldan

bump


9 posted on 02/14/2006 7:11:29 AM PST by VOA
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To: loreldan
"I agree Republicans are happier people - but not because we're richer"

The author overlooked the other common thread. Church. In fact being spiritually happy leads to blessings from the lord, and that includes wealth, and common sense. Anyone with common sense would be a republican rather than a democrat/communist.

10 posted on 02/14/2006 7:11:36 AM PST by Nathan Zachary
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To: loreldan
“People might read that and say, ‘I’d like to be happy, maybe I should
be a Republican.’ It definitely doesn’t mean that,” Wilkinson said.


Gotta' keep down the rush to register!
11 posted on 02/14/2006 7:13:31 AM PST by VOA
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To: loreldan
Interesting.

Seems they have things upside-down down under- Money really doesn't buy happiness, study finds

12 posted on 02/14/2006 7:13:36 AM PST by new cruelty
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To: loreldan

They try to make the Republican-Rich connection in the wrong direction. People don't become Republican because they're rich (else why so many rich Dims in the world), but I would posit many become more self-sufficient because of the Republican values (don't get me started on the perversions of those values) they hold. As Eleonor Roosevelt said, "Happiness is a by-product, not a goal." And an old Reader's Digest had this gem, "Happiness is the direct result of an honest attempt to make someone else happy."


13 posted on 02/14/2006 7:22:25 AM PST by trebb ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but by me..." - Jesus in John 14:6 (RSV))
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To: new cruelty

Thanks. I was just looking for that thread.


14 posted on 02/14/2006 7:23:05 AM PST by L98Fiero
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To: RockinRight

Actually I say it as: "Money doesn't buy happiness. It buys the yacht and you sail there."
As someone without two nickels to scratch together I can say the poor part isn't fun. I would like to try the rich part just to be sure.


15 posted on 02/14/2006 7:31:10 AM PST by IrishCatholic (No local communist or socialist party chapter? Join the Democrats, it's the same thing.)
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To: loreldan
My wife and I have found our level of happiness and contentment has risen tremendously due to a significant increase income.

Three reasons-

1. My wife is able to stay home and raise our children.

2. When an emergency happens, there is no money anxiety to compound the problem. (i.e. a broken transmission is just a broken transmission, not a broken transmission and a huge money problem)

3. Additional convenience to make life less stressful. After 12 hours of chasing the kids around, if she doesn't have the energy to cook dinner, we can order out and enjoy the rest of our evening.

When you're broke, every issue is a money issue. Health, transportation, clothes for the kids, even being able to just take a break once in awhile.

16 posted on 02/14/2006 7:32:12 AM PST by adam c
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To: RockinRight

"“People might read that and say, ‘I’d like to be happy, maybe I should be a Republican.’ It definitely doesn’t mean that,” Wilkinson said."

No.. It does mean that. Democrats are the most miserable people on earth. They walk around with a cloud over their head.


17 posted on 02/14/2006 7:36:47 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz ("We don't need POLITICIANS...we need STATESMEN.")
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To: loreldan; fizziwig
Fizziwig: "Personal responsibility. You cannot be happy if you believe that the world is rigged against you, or that others are to blame for your problems and others must solve them for you."

Good point! The headline is somewhat misleading, in that it suggests that only the wealthy ones are happier, while the survey indicated the finding to be across the board.

Having grown up within a rural community where everyone, by LBJ's and the Democrats' "poverty" standards, would be considered "poor," there was, in my community, caring, sharing, pride in accomplishment, and never a thought of robbing someone else in order to have more, even if one was hungry. Instead, each child was inculcated with a belief system that stressed charity, faith, and hope, resulting in a sense of reponsibility for one's neighbors and gratitude to God.

The Democratic Party's underlying philosophy sets people against people, thereby contributing to a sense of unhappiness and discontent by encouraging envy and coveting.

Its philosophy has so infiltrated the society that even those who subscribe to the Ten Commandments' prohibition against individual stealing, envying, and coveting, will advocate the same if they can band together to get government to do it for them.

If one believes, as America's Founders did, that such fundamental law (Ten Commandments) is for human happiness, then it is easy to understand why unhappiness results when a Party philosophy based on purchasing votes and political power from the least wealthy by promising to pass human laws that will, in essence, forcibly take wealth from others who have earned it may produce a sense of unhappiness.

In addition, it directs the attention and gratitude of the recipient of such plunder to government--not to the kind neighbor and the God who motivated the charity that prompted it.

Ideas have consequences!

18 posted on 02/14/2006 7:42:29 AM PST by loveliberty2
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To: loreldan

Marriage. That's the missing bit. Rich, Republican, Married people are undoubtedly happier than the singles.


19 posted on 02/14/2006 7:54:05 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (The Prophet Muhammed, Piss Be Upon Him)
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To: loreldan

‘I’d like to be happy, maybe I should be a Republican.’>>

Indeed. In the immortal words of W. Albert Yankovic:

I eat filet mignon seven times a day
My bathtub's filled with Perrier
What can I say
This is the life

I buy a dozen cars when I'm in the mood
I hire somebody to chew my food
I'm an upwardly mobile dude
This is the life

They say that money corrupts you
But I can't really tell
I got the whole world at my feet
And I think it's pretty swell

I got women lined up outside my door
They've been waitin' there since the week before
Who could ask for more
This is the life

You're dead for a real long time
You just can't prevent it
So if money can't buy happiness
I guess I'll have to rent it

Yeah, every day I make the front page news
No time to pay my dues
I got a million pairs of shoes
This is the life

I got a solid gold Cadillac
I make a fortune while I sleep
You can tell I'm a living legend
Not some ordinary creep

No way, I'm the boss, the big cheese
Yeah, I got this town on its knobby little knees
And I can do just what I please
This is the life

That's right, I'm the king, number one
I buy monographed Kleenex by the ton
I pay the bills, I call the shots
I grease the palms, I buy the yachts

One thing I can guarantee
The best things in life, they sure ain't free
It's such a thrill just to be me
This is the life
Waah, this is the life


20 posted on 02/14/2006 8:39:39 AM PST by Phil Connors
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