Study: New York unhappiest state

ignorance is bliss... (4.00 / 2)

Can it be that New Yorkers ar unhappier because they are more informed and the truth is depressing.  That would be my unscientific take on this happy thing.  

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by: MomoInRhinebeck @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 17:27:47 PM UTC

A couple of years ago, I would have agreed with you. (0.00 / 0)

Albany is almost the most dysfunctional of the 50 state legislatures, but Sacramento, from what I hear, takes the cake.  Of course, Albany hasn't been deliberately crippled by ballot referendum like Sacramento has.  Californians can only blame themselves for the ineffectiveness of their state government, once the envy of the nation; New Yorkers not so much.

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by: Steaming Pile @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 19:53:57 PM UTC

Really though (4.00 / 1)

the study has an incredibly high correlation with number of sunny hours per year, which scientists have known for years, see S.A.D.. NYS has very few across the state (that people are awake for) due to our northness, our place eastward in the timezone, and our proximity to cloud-causing bodies of water.

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by: Amherst Guy @ Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 16:42:39 PM UTC

They say upstate NY is rainier than Seattle. (0.00 / 0)

But nobody makes jokes about Syracuse in the not-winter, do they?

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by: Steaming Pile @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 13:55:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Rainier, perhaps (0.00 / 0)

But while Seattle doesn't get all that much rain, they get an enormous amount of cloud cover.

I wonder why Indiana is near the bottom.

I also wonder how scientific a study is, when they combine numerically determinable factors, such as commute time, with indeterminate factors, such as personal views of happiness.

New Yorkers like to complain.  That might seem to outsiders to be unhappiness, but that just ain't so.

I'm very unhappy about this whole "study."

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 19:36:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think (0.00 / 0)

its probably spot on.

Aren't you happier when you spend a week in Florida?

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by: Amherst Guy @ Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 00:35:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

If it's in the winter, maybe a week (4.00 / 1)

The last time I was in Florida the first week was fine, but I made the mistake of staying for two months and couldn't wait to get back.

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 04:01:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No (4.00 / 1)

it's a giant fucking swamp. I'm happier when I spend a week in sunny and warm New York.  

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Dec 24, 2009 at 18:14:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well... (0.00 / 0)

Corrupt government definitely has a suppressing effect on my happiness (which I generally rate as very high, nevertheless).  But, I can't think corrupt and dysfunctional government can be too big a factor in this if Louisiana comes out #1 of 50 states....

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by: robinia @ Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 02:34:24 AM UTC

but who wouldn't smile at a bumper sticker that said (0.00 / 0)

"Vote for the lizard, not the wizard"

or:

"Vote for the Crook. It's Important"

See?  Corruption and racism can lead to funny bumper stickers.

(Edwards vs. Duke, 1991.)

Thanks, but I'll stay here.

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by: simonstl @ Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 03:05:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

More markets, more freedom. more happiness! (0.00 / 0)

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by: John Minehan @ Tue Dec 22, 2009 at 16:50:48 PM UTC

Here is how to be happy at the State level: (0.00 / 0)

1) get rid of absurd laws that are hostile to growth, innovation and investment;

2) Lower taxes;

3) eliminate fees that stifle business;

4) reform education and how it is financed;

5) privatize all the state owned land Upstate; and

6) pass term limits that get rid of professional politicians as a class.

Here is how to be happy at the Federal level:

1. If the 20th Century, from Lochner, through Griswold to Roe v. Wade, was the century of the Civil War Amendments, the 21st should be the Century of the Tenth Amendment.

 2.  The great, looming realities of the 21st Century are: 1) we will have to compete for foreign capital with everyone else; and 2) we will have a less affluent population and a slower rate of growth.  Ever see those commercials for investment in Macedonia on Fox and CNBC?  They are the competition.

 3.  These two constraints mean: 1) we will have to have to allocate a lower percentage of our GDP to government to attract investment; and 2) we will probably have a shrinking tax base in any event.

 4.  There will, however, be needs that will have to be met and investment rarely comes to unstable nation-states or to those without a properly educated work force.

 5.  The key to dealing with items 3 and 4 above is the Tenth Amendment.

 6.  The Federal Government needs to shrink, performing only its Constitutionally enumerated powers, as Madison believed it should, even though this is not the current state of the law.

 7.  Things like Education, properly a State (or, better, a local) function, would be returned to that level and the Federal Education Department could be eliminated.  Something new needs to replace the current model of property-tax-funded, free, universal K-12 public education.  We need as many incubators as possible to develop best practices.

 8.  Universal health care could be pursued through legal reform and the establishment of not-for-profit buying cooperatives.  Instead of creating a centralized government bureaucracy like the DMV (or continuing the current employment-based system), Americans should get their health insurance through competing not-for-profit groups like USAA.  The Federal Government, post Iraq and Katrina, does not have the legitimacy to make hard choices in this immensely personal area.

 9.  If this proves successful, Social Security and pensions could be privatized on a similar model.

10. National defense is a (perhaps "the") critical function of government but it does not require continuing to buy weapons for the Cold War.  More money, time and effort need to be given to State and USAID.  The Department of Defense needs to think, not only about the current war(s), but the next.  This would best be done through investing in the development and honing of the Military's current stable of exceptionally experienced Officers and NCOs.  Why not try to make them all McMasters and Nagles?  GEN Peterus's exceptional brain trust in Iraq  needs to become the norm, not the exception.  

11.  The Troop Program Units ("TPUs") of the Army and Air Force Reserves should be reassigned to the states.  State National Guards and Militia ought to be capable enough to handle a disaster at the Hurricane Katrina level on their own.  If these forces are deployed in Federal service, there should be Inter-state compacts that handle the issue.  As a result, FEMA should be stood-down, saving money and decentralizing disaster response and recovery.        

12.  Returning Education to the States and allowing individuals to come together to solve common problems though voluntary organizations is not only more efficient, it is more resilient, an issue identified by thinkers like Ramo and Robb and William Lind.  

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by: John Minehan @ Tue Dec 22, 2009 at 16:59:45 PM UTC