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| MISERY |
| Tuesday, January 10, 2006 |
| Americans are more miserable today than we were in the early 90s. It's probably George Bush's fault.
The University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center is the keeper of the misery index. Since you help pay for it from the taxes received by the National Science Foundation, I thought I'd tell you what they learned about your opinion of life in general.
If you had just kept that money that you gave to the NSF to pay for the research, you might be happier because some of the unhappiness is traced back to a lack of money. More of you say you can't afford health care, don't have health insurance, have too many bills or lost your job. More of you also have trouble in the romance department. On the bright side, fewer of you are the victims of crime. Money and love were the two biggest trouble spots in the survey.
Here's my opinion, for what it's worth. Happiness can be reduced to a simple math formula. Expectations (minus) reality = happiness, or lack thereof. When it comes to money, the average American can afford more than he could in 1991, but we constantly expect more. I don't know that romantic expectations have altered significantly in the past 10 years or so, but I suppose it's possible. That's probably Bush's fault too. Not too many people want the relationship that Bill and Hillary have, but more people are probably envious of the Bush's marriage.
At any rate, I believe the misery index has been driven higher by higher expectations, not by lower reality. It's another product of the entitlement mentality, and those who try to cure it by delivering more entitlements are the problem, not the solution. Ralph Bristol |
posted by Jack Mercer @ 1/10/2006 11:17:00 AM   |
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| 4 Comments: |
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Two observations: First, I believe he's largely right about rising expectations; we've been conditioned to think that we can and should have it all. With that said, I'll admit that I'd be pretty unhappy if my husband or I lost our jobs or our health insurance.
Second, and I'm certainly not the first to note it, there's a spiritual malaise at the heart of never being satisfied with what you have regardless of the fact that most of us live like kings compared to much of the world.
Now, when can we expect the Clinton bashing to stop? Only after another Democrat is elected to the White House?
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Ha!
Ralph is a little on the "conservative" side. In speaking with him, he observed many articles indicting Bush for the misery index. He figured he would invoke the name of the left's patron saint in similar fashion.
Take care, EP!
-Jack
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I, like most american males, would gladly trade my contentious relationship for a "stepford wife" like laura b.
...not!
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Hi Mike!
I don't know much about the Bush's relationship. It looks pretty good from the outside looking in, but who knows how it is on the inside. This is probably the small part of the missive that I don't too much buy into myself.
Good to hear from you.
-Jack
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Two observations: First, I believe he's largely right about rising expectations; we've been conditioned to think that we can and should have it all. With that said, I'll admit that I'd be pretty unhappy if my husband or I lost our jobs or our health insurance.
Second, and I'm certainly not the first to note it, there's a spiritual malaise at the heart of never being satisfied with what you have regardless of the fact that most of us live like kings compared to much of the world.
Now, when can we expect the Clinton bashing to stop? Only after another Democrat is elected to the White House?