Who are the happiest people?

[Deja Q]

According to compuserve, who also silently whispers "Would you believe" just as Maxwell Smart might...:


WHO Are the Happiest People of All?

Married Republicans who earn more than $75,000 a year are the happiest people in America. At least that's the word from a new Gallup poll that attempted to measure our overall satisfaction with life.

(snip)

But the good news is that we're happier than we've ever been. Even Democratic singles who are just scraping by are smiling. The nationwide poll of 1,011 adults showed that fully 55 percent of us are "very happy" and 40 percent are "fairly happy"--the highest numbers since the annual poll began in 1956, reports WorldNetDaily.com.

(snip)

Some interesting tidbits:
--Of those who earn $75,000 or more a year, 75 percent were very happy with their lives.
--Money definitely buys happiness. Just 41 percent of those earning less than $30,000 annually were very satisfied with the way things are going in their lives, compared with 53 percent among those in the $30,000 to $49,999 bracket.
--Marriage also helps. A whopping 62 percent of married people said they were very happy, compared with 45 percent of single adults.
--And oddly, Republicans are happier than Democrats and Independents. Fully 62 percent of those who identify with the GOP said they are very happy, compared with 50 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of Independents. While the pollsters have no idea why this is so, it's held true since the question was first asked in 1996.

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. on a scale of 1-10

With 1 being unbridled dismay and 10 being metiphysical orgasmation, I'd say today I'm a 6 and yesterday I was a 4.

[Deja Q]

2. Yesterday I was a 3, today a 5...

I'm not sure why compuserve posted that. It just didn't ring true...

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. The happiest people are the ones

having regular sex.

[bmbmd]

17. Year ago, an article in a psychiatric journal

(don't ask which one, my memory is not so good) defined "the good life" as "regular sex with a caring partner". Sounds good to me.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. Ignorance is bliss!

[sendero]

5. Abraham Lincoln ...

...said (forgive me if this quote is not exact)

Folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Having lived a while and having found myself in plenty of great and not so damn great situations, I agree with that 100%.

[creativelcro]

6. There is data showing that

above the poverty level, it does not matter how much you make etc. It's more a personality trait than anything else...

[styersc]

7. I recently had a conversation with my little girl (11)...

and explained to her that thinking people are often unhappy because we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. We feel the need to try to fix what is wrong and fret over mistakes.

Stupid people live in bliss. I believe that Republicans are the happiest people.

[forgethell]

8. Worrying about things

you cannot fix, or can fix over a long length of time, is not smart. You don't have to be stupid to be happy, but you do have to recognized and accept your own limitations.

Money and lots of sex do help, too.

[styersc]

9. What if a deficit of sex and money

is my primary complaint???

[forgethell]

12. Well, you'll just have to work on that.

n/t

[creativelcro]

10. to some extent.... But being happy makes the idea of dying

much more umbearable. Because one wants to keep the happiness going, and it is sure that it will end some time (too soon). Happines is a myth... Money keeps some pain away, but it tends to spoil people and it comes with the fear of losing it.

[forgethell]

13. No, it doesn't

We all have to die. It's just one of those things that we have to accept to be happy. Or, of course, you could develop a belief in an 'afterlife'.

[elfwitch]

16. I'm with you on this...

I figure the less you know about the way the world really works, the happier you are. The people who have the ability to stick their head in the sand and truly believe that "Ameruka is the greatest nation on the planet!" must be happy all the time. Those of us who know better are developing ulcers.

[KCDem]

21. count me in on that philosophy as well.

I'm smart and miserable. I often wish that I didn't have to think as much. With what's going on in the world right now, you can only be truly happy if you don't have a conscience (Republican), you aren't paying attention (Republican), or you actually ARE doing whatever you can to alleviate others' suffering (Democrat). The happiest I've ever been in my life was when I spent a year teaching ESL in Russia. I had barely any possessions, income was only enough to survive, but I loved it because i knew I was helping others.

[Piperay]

11. The ones you don't know...

because once you know someone you realize that no one is really happy. :shrug: :-(

[TrogL]

14. Well, they don't call them "grinning idiots" for nothing

[felonious thunk]

15. Blessed are those....

who aren't cursed with self-awareness.

[Whitacre D_WI]

18. People who need people.

No, wait -- they're the LUCKIEST people.

Never mind.

[arwalden]

20. LOL!!! Stop it!! Your reply is almost identical to what I was thinking...

... of adding to this thread. Too funny!

-- Allen

[regularguy]

19. Ignorance is not Bliss

Maybe for a little while when you are still young it is. But one has to somehow eventually deal with the not-quite-blissful realities of life. Once one has some awareness they can stop there and adopt a "woe is me, I'm so advanced and sensitive; only morons can be happy" attitude or they can continue to grow. Happiness is taking the good with the bad and still appreciating the good.

That said I would guess it's just about impossible to be happy without the barest of material comforts.

-RG