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Some people enjoy talking about things of depth, rather than just small talk about sports, gossip, etc. Still, most people don't enjoy talking serious, so it's best to respect societal mores than force conversation on people that bores or otherwise turns them off.
My sister likes to throw her transgender stuff in people's faces in a rather aggressive manner that will just turn people off. People don't want to talk about that at a restaurant, you know..... though I personally don't care because I like that kind of talk.
I don't usually try that route, but I've noticed especially since on C-D, the "red" state people are angry and closed minds, while the "blue" state people are OPEN and happier overall. Blue states = live and let live...
I don't go over to the P&OC area too much as it's a den of anger.
I don't usually try that route, but I've noticed especially since on C-D, the "red" state people are angry and closed minds, while the "blue" state people are OPEN and happier overall. Blue states = live and let live...
I don't go over to the P&OC area too much as it's a den of anger.
I don't see that. I don't see happiness depending upon which political state you live in. Happiness is an individual issue.
However there are some very disgruntled individuals who frequent the California forums due to politics and it makes you wonder why they just don't move.
I don't usually try that route, but I've noticed especially since on C-D, the "red" state people are angry and closed minds, while the "blue" state people are OPEN and happier overall. Blue states = live and let live...
I don't go over to the P&OC area too much as it's a den of anger.
I don't see much correlation between political affiliation and happiness.. there are some really republican areas that are very happy, and some democrat areas as well. A mixture of both parties seems to create the most happiness, but it's a combination of factors including wealth, education, work life, etc.
It seems like "redneck" areas are the least happy, while rural and/or wealthy areas are more happy. Happy states include the upper Midwestern states.. Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin... Colorado is near the top of the list because it's more libertarian than it is liberal, plus the climate is beautiful, and legal marijuana of course.
How many unhappy days per month people have are mapped on this attachment.... all maps pretty much show eastern Tennessee and West Virginia being some of the most unhappy in the country. They also have the highest smoking rates and lowest life expectancy. The eastern great plains has some of the happiest people, and living in Brookings, South Dakota, I can attest that most people here are quite happy. Why great plains people are happier than rednecks? Who knows.... maybe it's less humidity and more temperate climate? Why is Tennessee so unhappy? Maybe it's cultural?
I would not say that political affiliation and happiness are linked either. They just might cite different reasons why. A right leaning person might blame the decline of traditional social values, a left leaning person might blame inequality or various outrages. I know people with depression and other serious psychological issues that hurt them, on all parts of the political spectrum.
And people are more apt to complain, than they are to come along and talk about how happy they are and how great life is, so the complainers seem disproportionate to the happy people because they are being more vocal.
Also, people talk about what they care about. I rarely talk about politics, because the easiest path for me has been to try to ignore a lot of stuff going on (until it is time for me to vote again) and just get on with my life. My life went on under Clinton, under Bush, under Obama, and it still goes on under Trump. For now, and hopefully for the duration. People freak out about their way of life being disrupted, I do my best to make sure it isn't.
So I try not to care that much about politics. I sure know I'm not going to change anybody's mind by arguing with 'em on the internet, so there isn't much point in that.
I can, however, turn nearly any conversation around to be about my love/sex/relationship/personal life...because I care about that a lot. I do try not to do too much of that here, though. Think about it a lot = talk about it a lot.
EDIT: I could also talk about fancy cheese, or raising teenage kids, or cats...
Another thing about this political obsession is that whenever something tragic happens there are some people who are quick to put a political spin on the story to push some narrative.
For example, the mass shootings we had back in 2012. Some people try to use it to push the narrative that it was because of guns and that they need to be stricter regulations on guns. But they ignore the mental states of the shooters themselves which is the more likely reason.
Recently there is the story of the New York chiropractor and his wife who committed suicide. The New York Post tried to spin the story as if the couple killed themselves due to Obamacare (high medical costs) but it has been proven that the man had owed $10,000 in taxes and was sued for not repaying a student loan to a medical school.
There seem to be a growing number of opportunists who use these tragedies to push an agenda rather than focus on those affected. This is more infuriating than anything.
Another thing about this political obsession is that whenever something tragic happens there are some people who are quick to put a political spin on the story to push some narrative.
For example, the mass shootings we had back in 2012. Some people try to use it to push the narrative that it was because of guns and that they need to be stricter regulations on guns. But they ignore the mental states of the shooters themselves which is the more likely reason.
Recently there is the story of the New York chiropractor and his wife who committed suicide. The New York Post tried to spin the story as if the couple killed themselves due to Obamacare (high medical costs) but it has been proven that the man had owed $10,000 in taxes and was sued for not repaying a student loan to a medical school.
There seem to be a growing number of opportunists who use these tragedies to push an agenda rather than focus on those affected. This is more infuriating than anything.
Yes, in regards to the bolded, some are saying some activist are now disguised as journalist. I can see that. Presenting information can be skewed subtly but nonetheless still skewed to push a certain element of a story and help push a narrative.
No doubt that is happening. Journalist standards have been changing a bit the last few years. Many smarter people than I have been saying this stuff.
Heck, just look at the CNN producer a little while back openly saying that there wasn't much to the Russian investigations but it didn't matter because it boosted ratings. Fine. Really. Just don't call yourself a news network. News should be the hard bits of journalism, the who, what, when, where and why.
The 24/7 news cycles has screwed up a lot. More and more is commentary and editorial but the problem is is that now commentary and editorial are sorta being presented in a way that feels like news.
As long as viewers watching are able to recognize this.
This forum has nothing on the comments sections at Yahoo news. They're mental over there. Both sides.
I'm hearing that more and more websites are starting to remove their comments section because of all the knuckle draggers who can't act civilly.
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