Ed West Ed West

Being right-wing hasn’t made me happy

Can being more Right-wing make you happier? According to the right-wing Daily Mail it can:

‘People with conservative views are more content than their more liberal-minded neighbours, research suggests. ‘Those with politics that lean to the Right were found to have higher levels of well-being – even when their favoured political party was in opposition. ‘They benefit from the belief that problems are a person’s own making – which helps them deal better with whatever life throws at them.’

I can’t say it has exactly worked for me, but being an evolutionary conservative I tend to think that our internal political compass has a lot to do with simple biology, and that conservatives are more fearful and depressive by nature. My Guardian-reading neighbours will see a group of teenagers and think how wonderful to have a vibrant youth scene in the neighbourhood; my reaction is ‘oh God, hoodies, they’ll probably throw rocks at me and shout “paedo!”’.

One of the essential problems with politics is that conservatives tend to tell people what

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