Those who self-identify politically as liberal or progressive have a special talent for darkening their lives and the lives of others with gloomy thoughts. In the USA, this can be well proven with figures: According to a study , which appeared in December 2022 in the journal "SSM-Mental Health," young people who classify themselves as left-wing tend to be significantly more depressed than their conservative peers.
The Gallup polling firm came to a similar conclusion : In 2019, 53 percent of Republican voters said they were very happy in their lives; among Democrats, the figure was only 29 percent.
So not only there is the "Gender Pay Gap," there seems also to exist a political "Well-Being Gap." However, I haven't heard any leftists complaining about it, even though they are the ones who are suffering.
What could be the reason for this well-being gap?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yes, I would agree. Being a liberal and facing the truth of the reality of this country can be depressing. Seeing conservatives create a culture war based on hatred and ignorance in an attempt to punish those they don't like while making this country less safe and more authoritarian. Yes, that can be depressing.
Charles1971
Level 7
Apr 23, 2023
3
Maybe they should concentrate on , and worry about, real threats and miseries (like climate warming) , not about imagined ones , like "systemic racism"?
@Thibaud70
Below you were telling people not to worry about societal problems.
Here's the real problem with your take though, you claimed not to know what the reason for the wellbeing gap and then say liberals should concentrate on real threats like climate change which we all know most Republicans don't believe in. Of course you don't worry about stuff you don't believe in. So it seems like you understand most of this stuff, aside from the idiotic position of believing systemic racism is imagined.
Also, they are complaining, just not about non-descript nonsense like the Republicans do.
Republicans are whining about a cartoon piece of candy not being sexy. Democrats are complaining about lax gun laws that have caused firearms to become the LEADING cause of death for children in the United States.
Republicans are pissing their diapers because one beer from one of the over 13,000 breweries in the United States made one promotional can with one trans person's picture on it. Democrats are complaining about the fact that women are literally dying, in hospitals, in front of their doctors, because asshole Republicans are enacting legislation that takes away the doctor's ability to save their lives.
Republicans are losing their shit over even mentioning homosexuality and doing one of the most quintessentially villainous things ever by banning books and emptying libraries. Democrats are complaining about the right's indifference to maintaining a functioning democracy. There were literally Republicans that attacked the Capitol while waiving Confederate flags and had references to Nazis and other extremist/hate groups.
So yes, leftists are complaining about the wellbeing gap by complaining about the problems that are causing it, it's just falling on the deaf ears of some exceptionally stupid people.
ChestRockfield
Level 8
Apr 23, 2023
1
looking facts in the face, and knowing history, wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?
you cannot be that naive/uninformed, can you?
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Apr 23, 2023
3
If you don't care, you don't have anything to get depressed about, if you do care you have to worry.
Fernapple
Level 9
Apr 23, 2023
3
Oh, you already gave him the answer...
But in this case it would be stupid to care, because subjective well-being (aka "happiness" ) is what we want to achieve in this world. In the US the pursuit of happiness is even a fundamental human right. Therefore those people who worry about things they cannot change would be just stupid.
- Why do you assume nothing they worry about can be changed?
- Why do you assume people have the ability to choose whether or not to be worried about something?
@Thibaud70 No, subjective well being is not what we want to acheive in this world. Only those with the wisdom to recognize the value of that, want to acheive it, and only those with the wisdom to recognize that it can be best achieved in a world where it is made the normal for everyone, would want it to be a universal. There are sadly many who think that their own well being is best served by the misfortunes of others.
@ChestRockfield Personally, I'd say that you should worry only about personal problems in your life, or in your immediate environment (family, friends etc...), not about big problems that only humanity as a whole could solve (but won't).
Yes, you're right: it is difficult to un-learn to worry if you've got the habit.
@Thibaud70 What a uniquely privileged position to hold. It's easy to tell people not to worry about societal problems when you're not burdened by those problems. Tell the slaves not to worry about slavery. Tell the women not to worry about losing bodily autonomy. Tell minorities not to worry about institutional racism. Worrying about/ talking about/ shining light on these problems is the ONLY way they get solved.
@Thibaud70 The two are not mutually exclusive. And indeed my main point was that they are almost always, one of the same.
As an extreme example. Would it make you happy, if you had to step over the corpses of people who died of starvation, every time you walked down your street ? I think not. So seeing that people don't starve is in every ones own self interest.
Do you want to be served by a moron, who can not speak, read, and has bad personal hygiene next time you go shopping ? I think not. So seeing that people get a good education, is in every ones self interest.
If your company makes cakes, do you want nearly everyone to be so poor they can only afford gruel, so you go broke ? I think not. So seeing that everybody is wealthy enough to be a consumer, it is in every ones interest.
Do you want to be unable to drive your car, because the streets are blocked with piles of trash ? In think not. So having good cleaning and waste services for every area, is in every ones self interest. Etc. Etc. Etc. I could go on for ever, but I will stop there.
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