As a side note: left out but intended to be implied in the right to pursuit of happiness (judging by the founders’ own correspondences) was the right to property.

pps: I don’t think income or education level have as much to do with party preference as worldview does. Party preference CANNOT be generalized in demographic terms this way, it is a matter of personal philosophy. Many Buddhist Democrats are happy, while many Christian Republicans are. The Republicans are just less likely to meddle in the lives of others, though they still, admittedly, do way to much of that.

I am an Atheist Libertarian and am, despite many economic setbacks due to mistakes only I can claim ownership to (I can’t blame others), I am happy. I wonder if there’s a survey showing happiness levels in those who own their mistakes vs those whom blame others.

Northern Europeans – mistier, rainier and colder than Appalachia – are the happiest in the world.

For example, there are many studies that indicate that lower social status creates psychological and physiological stress in primate groups. The way various primate groups allocate resources among all ranks of the hierarchy is key to determining how much stress each particular rank is subject to. Social structures where resources are allocated in a “despotic” way as opposed to an egalitarian one tend to be the most stressful for the primates at the lower end of the social order. Guess which one humans utilize?

So then we have to consider the “old male Republican” issue and happiness. This is also not a surprise at all. Older males (particularly white and Hispanic males as opposed to black males) are still found in greater proportion in positions of power, both in the home and in society at large. The Republican issue is also not difficult when you consider what the party tends to stand for, Conservatism. Keeping things the same. The same social structure, the same family structure, etc. Who tends to want to keep things the way they are? Why, those who are happiest with them, and who are benefiting from them disproportionately.

Democrats tend to want things to change. Remember Obama’s tag line? Hope and Change? Who tends to want things to change? Obviously, it would be those who are not benefiting from things as they are at the present, who hope to create not just any change, but change that puts them in a more advantageous position. So, the results of this survey do not surprise me, nor in my opinion do they show any clear cause for questioning self reporting of happiness as a viable method. The results are exactly what should be expected based on the numerous studies of social hierarchy in primates.

Signed,
-A happy areligious Democrat on a cloudy day

So I urge caution when interpreting such surveys that use a notoriously slippery term such as happiness.

And by the way your Declaration of Independence can’t guarantee anything; it is not your constitution. Does ignorance of your laws make you happier?