Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year!

With all the busy times of the holidays I have not been posting. Here is a poignant video for the holidays. Enjoy. My best and I really mean this, best wishes for a happy new year for us one and all.

OK, now that we have gotten holiday cheer out of the way...ahem...back to the purpose of this site. Here is a doosey for you to start of the new year with: Laura's Psychology Blog.  I found this post when I was searching on the phrase "internal locus of happiness." I have never read this blog before and I don't know anything about Laura except that if you think Republicans are the happiest people on earth you just might be radically right ugly. She is reporting on a study done by the Pew Research Center which has found after surveying 2,260 people that reportedly Republicans are much happier than Democrats. 

So is Laura Republican or Democrat? I have no idea. Does she uphold the survey? Not sure. Were the 2,260 people surveyed actually a fair representation of the American public? I just don't know and I have my doubts. What I do know without a doubt is that I am much happier today as a Democrat than I was prior to 1996 when I was a Republican. I am also more prosperous. The Pew study found Republicans were more wealthy. My income has quadrupled since I became a Democrat. Does one have a tie to the other? I think it has more to do with the fact that I completed a college degree in computer information systems and am working in my field of study. Maybe I am just not a typical Democrat. I am a happily married heterosexual with children and our combined household income is in the top level for my county. I am a person of faith albeit a Methodist which means that social justice is important to me as opposed to what I perceive of the religious right's belief that God helps those that help themselves. 

I recall my college statistics professor telling us that statistics never lie but that statisticians do. The point is that you can make a poll provide support for whatever view you prefer. The fact that this poll would have any authority when the respondents represent 1/10000 of the population is something I cannot take stock in. That is like taking 2 people out of a crowd of 20,000, one being a democrat and one being a republican and judging from their responses to a set of questions who was happiest then extrapolating that to the rest of the US citizenry.

reference:
Wikipedia entry for Pew Research Center




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