Posted on 05/17/2009 12:30:49 PM PDT by van_erwin
Americans grow happier as they age, surveys find. And a new Pew Research Center survey shows the tendency is holding up as the economy tanks.
Happiness is a complex thing. Past studies have found that happiness is partly inherited, that Republicans are happier than Democrats, and that old men tend to be happier than old women.
And even before the economy got nasty, seniors were found to be generally happier than Baby Boomers. Some of that owes to the American Dream being lived by past generations, while Boomers work two jobs and watch the dream wither.
In times like this, it's clear how age can have its advantages. While not all seniors are weathering the recession well, for many the impact is much less severe than it is for younger people.
Why? Many people 65 and older retired and downsized their lifestyles before the economy imploded, according to Pew analysts. Most aren't raising kids and many are not so worried about being laid off. Loss of income can be, of course, a source of stress and displeasure. (While money doesn't buy happiness, a study in February showed cash can help, especially when people use it to do stuff instead of buy things.)
If you're thinking that Republicans are happy just because they perhaps make more money, that does not seem to be the case. The study that found Republicans to be happier than Democrats also showed that it held true even after adjusting for income.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
It is the sense of happiness that comes from the knowledge of having worked a life that is honest and not having bled others. It comes from knowing that honesty and loyalty aren’t a thing to be thrown away for the sake of homosexual debauchery or wanton murder of innocent children not yet born. It comes from knowing that ideals, and words, mean things. It comes from knowing that living off of others leads to more discontent and sloth after each instance of submission. It comes from knowing they did their best - not took from the best of others.
Bah humbug!
Not if one is conservative minded!
Not if you worked all your life to build for a retirement and then set and watched it all get taken away in business collapse and economy collapse engineered by the dam liberals.
I'm confused - are you saying that you had the choice to go for "homosexual debauchery" and decided to hang on to "honesty and loyalty" instead? I'm not sure I get the connection.
That doesn't count.
Show some compassion for "change" and life will dissolve that hatred you feel. /s
Dittos to all of this Gaffer. I'll be 73 later this year and have a lot of good memories and am pretty well pleased with the life I've led. There are some things I would change, of course, but one never knows how earlier changes might have altered the course of one's life. Better to be happy with who and what you are, count your blessings and celebrate your independence.
Imagine having to deal with the DMV once every four years and replace that with sometimes daily, sometimes weekly having to deal with the federal government regarding even the smallest of health care issue to the largest and the lines, and the waiting, and the control of your health by people such as Barney Frank and Hairy REED.
I can see happiness slipping away for many that are aging after a life of hard work and being good Americans.
Unhappiness is being a brain-dead democrat party peon, who wakes up one day and find that he/she has been totally lied to and betrayed.
Imagine the race baiting that will occur to put you at the end of the line...
Ah, that means that FR should be one of the sunniest & “happiest” places in the cyber universe! LOL!
A big reason that Republicans tend to be happier than democrats in general is that Republicans believe they are responsible for their own happiness while democrats think it is everybody else's responsibility to make them happy.
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