I usually don’t make personal comments. But wow it’s evident.

Thank you Art for the information. Powerful documentation. There is only one thing liberals can do. Be more generous!

Stop hurting the economy with your policies! It hurts good people!

The same guy who spent years slicing and dicing the numbers to come up with the idea that conservatives are more generous than liberals also finds that conservatives are “happier.”

He’s probably on firmer grounds with his latter observation, but it’s nonetheless meaningless.

The same type of surveys have been taken globally.

The happiest people: Nigerians. The least happy? Norwegians and Japanese.

What does that tell us?

No more than we should already know: Happiness is thoroughly relative. The concentration camp survivor feels elated having cheated death. The well-fed, stunningly beautiful, intelligent, wealthy housewife contemplates suicide because her husband doesn’t pay enough attention to her and she’s putting on weight.

Happier?

How about sillier?

For many, ignorance is bliss.

A Happiness Gap: Doomacrats And Republigrins
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102303473.html

is it any wonder that miserable people see the world miserably.

Who Gives and Who Doesn’t?
Putting the Stereotypes to the Test
abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730&page=1

“when you look at the data, it turns out the conservatives give about 30 percent more.” He adds, “And incidentally, conservative-headed families make slightly less money.”

“You find that people who believe it’s the government’s job to make incomes more equal, are far less likely to give their money away,”

Finally, the single biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable is their religious participation.

“The religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly non-religious charities.”

from other studies

Of those surveyed, those who live in conservative households donated an average of $3,255 to charities outside of places of worship during the past year. By comparison, moderate households donated $2,926 and liberal households donated $1,879.

so this helps clear up mitsus point and the other..

religion increases your charity and love of fellow man liberalism takes it away…

since in each case, liberals are the lowest donators to charities, or to their own religions…

and also to explain why mitsu things that the situation is not what it is..

while conservatives give more than their peers, they are less likely to spread the word to others about their giving experiences.

so basically they give less, and crow/brag more…

[which, by they way is a key violation of the religious teachings if they are christian… for jesus said that you should do good works and not seek reward for them… for those who seek reward for them in this life, need not reward for it in the after life. so those who actually attend religion and not a personal version, tend to not tell others of the good work they do… this makes sure that its a pure good work in the eyes of everyone and god. while the liberal is giving to get social reword. end justifies the means… the end is to get reward, nto help, since they give less, and crow more… conservatives are trying to do whats right, not because they get something from it)

Charity’s Political Divide
philanthropy.com/premium/articles/v19/i04/04001101.htm

“Some people will always say that government spending (based on taxes) is necessary to pay for things that private charity will not,” he writes. “This may be true. But we must remember that taxation has some very destructive consequences for communities and for the nation as a whole. Charity, in contrast, has only the upside.”

Peter Schweizer: Liberals Are More Selfish Than Conservatives
http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/Peter_Schweizer/2008/06/02/100864.html

Drawing on extensive attitude surveys, Schweizer’s “Makers and Takers: Why Conservatives Work Harder, Feel Happier, Have Closer Families, Take Fewer Drugs, Give More Generously, Value Honesty More, Are Less Materialistic and Envious, Whine Less . . . and Even Hug Their Children More Than Liberals,” which comes out this week, says liberals are much more likely than conservatives to think about themselves first and are less willing to make sacrifices for others

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html

Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, published “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism.” The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than conservatives.

– Although liberal families’ incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

– Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.

– People who reject the idea that “government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality” give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

contradicting mitsu’s reason blaming the religion and conservative mix on bush.. (always blame)

mitsu:since the 80’s, religion has become more of a predictor of conservatism, mostly because of the Republican strategy of appealing to the religious right.

The single biggest predictor of someone’s altruism, Willett says, is religion. It increasingly correlates with conservative political affiliations because, as Brooks’ book says, “the percentage of self-described Democrats who say they have ‘no religion’ has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s.”

of course… mitsu cant blame democrats own behaivior.. everything mitsu doesnt like is from the right…

mitsu takes the position of nader: Ralph Nader, running for president in 2000, said: “A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.”

however, i was poor… i have grown up eating the cheese… not having money so had to not attend school. i know what its like to live in the south bronx during the race riots being one of the only whites there… and having my future taken away for social justice purposes… you see. our being refugees from the same system that mitsu wants, meant we had nothing… and even worse i was an oppressor class, and my sister wasnt.. so i attended bronx science, and no college after woudl take me bcause i couldnt mee the liberal definition… my sister is now going for her third set of phds… even though she is only three years younjger than me… there is still money for her.

so mitsu cant see the truth of how things are. (mitsu doesnt realize that mitsu is upper middle class, not middle class. mitsu… when you are a member of a 4 person two earner family making a combined salary of 35k then your middle class)

, however, warns: “If support for a policy that does not exist … substitutes for private charity, the needy are left worse off than before. It is one of the bitterest ironies of liberal politics today that political opinions are apparently taking the place of help for others.”

given i work in a medical library… i can list out links to lots of studies

Case Confirms Rezko Is Talking With Prosecutors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121003232.html?hpid=topnews

on another note… http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/10/russia

when this and a bunch of other things collide…
its going to be interesting…

remember, the peopel we are talking about are copying the political system that the last link is commenting about…

I’m talking about the results of the survey, not my own speculation. In the survey, religion was by far the most significant factor, according to the study in question.

I referred to Mitsu’s link. Read the link and if you have any contrary evidence, bring it on.

C’mon, Mitsu, that is rather ridiculous! As ridiculous as any generalization. I grew up with an awareness of my religion but vague observance. I love my religion and am proud of it because of all I have learned about its history and culture, and I’m sure it informs my values to some extent, but I don’t give based on it. I give more because of an example set by my father, and the good feeling it gives me. People give for all different reasons — some because of religion (i.e. tithing), some when illness hits family members or close friends and awareness increases re: research needs; some whose great empathy moves them to give; and some who just believe that if life is good to you, you give back.