The Gun Counter

Interesting article from the WAPO, found via the Querencia blog:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/won ... ingtonpost

The five happiest places in America are all in Louisiana. The unhappiest place is NYFC, big f'in surprise. There's an interactive map at the site--the NE and Rust Belt all stand out as unhappy places. The number two unhappiest place is St. Joseph, MO.

There's something to be said for living in Cajun Country. You might not make much money, but if family and sit down meals are important to you, I don't think you can do much better.

Except for Suck-O-Rouge. I truly despise that place...

Darrell wrote:The five happiest places in America are all in Louisiana. The unhappiest place is NYFC, big f'in surprise.

They're are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. ~ Mark Twain

Eh, HTRN, there are quite a few, MISERABLE, lonely people in NYC. I don't think I've ever been somewhere where so many people have completely walled themselves off from their surroundings.

I think its also a very economically stressful place - much of which is artificial, I think - the residential costs make no sense at all - the commercial costs are inline w. everywhere else, mostly.

I've never met an unhappy Cajun - met some temperamental ones, though.

Stressful? sure. Unhappy? I think places like Detroit, Camden, Newark(in the bad old days) are far more misreable.

I'm calling crap reasoning and non-related statistics. (But it's WaPo, and they need to try anything to sell their birdcage liner.)

For starters, related how satisfied you are with your life and extrapolating that personal level of satisfaction with where you live.

That's ignoring the whole inability to quantify happiness/unhappiness. The Colorado Rockies shows high levels of "happiness" on that purported "happiness" map, and yet Columbine.

Someone who's a sociopath might thrive in a city where they'd clawed their way to the top, and be very self-satisfied, despite inflicting untold misery on millions of others. (Barack, Rahm, Michael Bloomberg, call your offices.)

Others might find that all they want is a quiet trailer spot in dogpatch, steady employment and regular meals, no screaming neighbors or ass-raping government, despite living in humble surroundings. That just means their expectations are simpler, not that they're happier per se - in the same way some people are mesmerized by daytime TV. I'll wager if they could have those same things in Manhattan, they'd move there, but the competition is a bit fiercer for it.

Better study: ask the people who live in either place or any place why they live there, and I suspect you'll discover >90% satisfaction everywhere. We aren't serfs chained to the land, and when people are actually unhappy, at least in this country, they pack a suitcase or a U-Haul, and GTFO, and they keep doing it until they get what they want, or learn to live with what they can get.

It must have something to do with the food..........

But if the electricity goes out in mid-summer, it's much less fun.......

Heh! Laissez le bon temps rouler.

Looks like Springfield is pretty close to average. I daresay it'd be an even happier place with more diverse industries than healthcare and government. Or fewer lobbyists. That'd help, too. Having fewer politicians from Chicago would help, or at least fewer local pols sucking Chicago pols' collective backside might bring it above the 150 mark.

Others might find that all they want is a quiet trailer spot in dogpatch, steady employment and regular meals, no screaming neighbors or ass-raping government, despite living in humble surroundings.

The older I get, the more of a priority this becomes for me.

Better study: ask the people who live in either place or any place why they live there, and I suspect you'll discover >90% satisfaction everywhere. We aren't serfs chained to the land, and when people are actually unhappy, at least in this country, they pack a suitcase or a U-Haul, and GTFO, and they keep doing it until they get what they want, or learn to live with what they can get.

Um, nazzo fast, Guido. Sometimes it is family considerations, job/industry concerns, or just plain 'ol inertia. You might have a really great life in Gulf Shores, but if all you've ever known is Bahston, you aren't likely to just pick up and leave everything and everyone you've ever known. Sometimes, unhappiness is comfort because it is what you know. That does not equal satisfaction. Toleration, maybe, but not satisfaction. This also explains why so many women make bad choices in a mate, choosing the same type over and over and over and over again.