In America, Happiness Is Extreme
Published in Le Journal de Montréal
(Canada) on 19 February 2014
by Daniel Girard (link to
original)
They enrage Democrats and dishearten their Republican colleagues with their systematic obstruction — and they don't give a rat's ass about how others feel about it. Tea party politicians are on a crusade to shrink the state and are convinced that they're right. At the end of the day, they're a marginalized minority and they don't get a lot done. So you'd think they'd be frustrated and unhappy.
Not so.
In fact, according to rigorous surveys conducted by both left and right-leaning political scientists, 48 percent of Americans that call themselves extremely conservative also say they are extremely happy — the surveys' happiest respondents.
The other demographic that approaches this state of bliss? Extremely liberal Americans: 35 percent consider themselves extremely happy. This includes, of course, Americans that participated in the Occupy movements and those that are eternally disappointed by Democratic administrations' timid reforms.
A World in Black and White
These extremist Republicans and Democrats have one thing in common: a clearly-defined adversary. They live in a world where there are good guys and bad guys, and consider themselves extremely happy to be one of the good guys.
Moderate Americans don't have that luxury. They spend a lot of time trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in politics; at 26 percent, they're the least “extremely happy” Americans.
If you're a moderate and the extremism of a Republican senator like Ted Cruz angers you, don't forget that while you're seething, he's probably sipping a martini.
Not so.
In fact, according to rigorous surveys conducted by both left and right-leaning political scientists, 48 percent of Americans that call themselves extremely conservative also say they are extremely happy — the surveys' happiest respondents.
The other demographic that approaches this state of bliss? Extremely liberal Americans: 35 percent consider themselves extremely happy. This includes, of course, Americans that participated in the Occupy movements and those that are eternally disappointed by Democratic administrations' timid reforms.
A World in Black and White
These extremist Republicans and Democrats have one thing in common: a clearly-defined adversary. They live in a world where there are good guys and bad guys, and consider themselves extremely happy to be one of the good guys.
Moderate Americans don't have that luxury. They spend a lot of time trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in politics; at 26 percent, they're the least “extremely happy” Americans.
If you're a moderate and the extremism of a Republican senator like Ted Cruz angers you, don't forget that while you're seething, he's probably sipping a martini.