I've always felt the unhappiness of liberals mainly came down to living their lives in a fantasy world devoid of rational foundation, being constantly disappointed that your fantasy world doesn't manifest itself in reality and always looking outward toward bogeymen to blame (conservatives) instead of looking inward and taking an honest assessment of their life choices and how their ideology has made them make poor choices again and again.
I can see also your point in tying it to childhood trauma and especially a broken home in the sense that this encourages the naturally-dishonest and the weak of mind to try to justify their own failed upbringing as being the norm and to then spend their lives trying to cause everyone else to experience the same traumas...because to admit that your parents' life choices as well as your own life choices are demonstrably wrong is simply a bridge too far. This would involve an honest self-assessment, something that is generally limited to those with higher levels of cognitive functionality.
Thank you again for the wonderful read and the essential hyperlinks, Ann!
So, to sum up your argument one would conclude that liberals are living in a permanent state of cognitive dissonance, which, as the experts warn, if left untreated finally leads to insanity.
I might suggest that the 'insanity phase' is already here and well-established.
How else can one explain the needless, catastrophic decline of American cities, the adoration of criminal thugs and the vilification of demonstrably decent people; the collapse of academia and the persecution of those who dare to speak the truth...to name just a few indicators? If allowing...and encouraging and applauding...those things is not insanity then I would wish to be presented with an alternate definition.
There are times when I truly hate the state of the world as it is today, but this reminds us how Blessed we are that Ann Coulter is among us and how she is uniquely able to shepherd thoughtful people through the storm by providing 'reality anchors' along the way.
I think unhappiness strongly correlates with voting for the party of rebellion. Alot of this is attributing your own unhappiness to the country. There are many reasons to be unhappy. Perhaps you are excessively materialistic and jealous of people who have more than you. Perhaps you are a spoiled young person with no purpose in life. Perhaps you are godless and therefore view the future as just returning to dirt. 28% of Democrat's are atheists compared to 8% of Republicans .(can't find the site). Call it Thurnberger syndrome after the miserable little Scandinavian girl.
When your ruling elite becomes “inclusive” and solicitous of those on “the margins,” the abnormal concepts that drove them to the margins become normalized.
My childhood was chaotic and dysfunctional and I do wonder if that's why I was a card carrying liberal myself until my mid-30's... when I married and then had children.
The happy childhood theory has always made sense to me, especially if you perceived yourself as an outsider or were in some way odd. You will then develop resentment against what you perceive as mainstream and normal, and want to wreck things
'especially if you perceived yourself as an outsider or were in some way odd. You will then develop resentment against what you perceive as mainstream and normal, and want to wreck things"
I don't think it is quite that simple, there has to be some other trigger. I think most kids feel awkward at some point: too top heavy or too flat, too tall, too short, pimples, bad physical coordination due to growth spurt, etc etc etc (and in Ann's case, too good lookin'..... :-P ).
My own awkwardness was a mid teenage collision with Rush (the band) in a small town where all the cool kids were listening to The Clash and Sex Pistols. I was the long haired hippie in town and was the butt of mild to moderate teasing. As millions of other teenage outsiders around north america, I picked up an instrument and wanted to play in a band. I never did make it big, but I can puff my chest out and say "I was this guy's drum tech / monitor mixer / roadie in the clubs of Western Canada." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1CS0hWUPQ
And I remember fondly bringing home my first (used) black and white Rickenbacker 4001 bass and telling mom "Open the case!!" and her saying "that's just like Geddy's."
Maybe the answer is that 'kids these days' were raised in affluent homes that they could never hope to achieve and so they became socialists or anarchists, maybe they never found a role model (Geddy Lee, Ayn Rand, Robert Bartley and Jude Wanniski) to put them on a particular path, especially a path of individualism where they could be happy no matter what anyone else has or thinks.
I think if you are speaking generally and look at people who had happy childhood vs unhappy and looked at kids who perceived themselves as more on the outside than mainstream, I bet happy/mainstream more likely to be conservative for simple reason that they are happy in the society they grew up in.
I never understood permanently affixing you resume to your face and neck, unless of course, you’re a gang member and displaying your kill tally is essential.
But, liberalism is becoming synonymous with cultism and rational thought, specifically the willingness to evaluate the historical record, is under assault.
Now, you are no longer defending your factual position, you are forced to defend yourself from ad hominem. The new breed of “conservatives” are actually liberal and blind to what they’ve become - virtual face tattoo lunatics.
Finallyy, I have been saying this for yrs the LGBTQ + Trans are a mental aberration. When you say this on Twitter you will get suspended as I was twice. So much for free speech!
I think what explains the sudden explosion of gender bullshit is that Leftists starting running out of arrows in the quiver of attacking Western Civilization. First was the most obvious tool, economics, putting government in charge of economic policy.
It is interesting that on the one hand, government kept the Depression going with economic policies like high income taxes to depress the domestic economy and protectionist tariffs to depress the international economy while at the same time laying the groundwork for a generous welfare state....
Then came the beginnings of the Deep State with the CIA embroiling the US in endless and costly wars, then feminism in order to get closer to home by undermining the family.
Then came Nixon going off gold, undermining the entire economy and people's ability to navigate their way through inflation, booms and busts, bank bailouts and ultimately leading to a $33 trillion debt that can only be paid of by outright confiscation of savings or inflating away the debt and the wealth of every average person in the nation (please, Ann, start writing about the evil of a digital currency, which will finish off the West once and for all.)
On the heels of "the oil shock" came the EPA doing its part to destroy the economy and centralize control over access to abundant energy. Other arrows in the quiver were religious friction (Doug Hooper himself converting to Islam because economics and the humanities in University were already spoken for)
*race hustling
*the Catholic Church being infiltrated by homosexuals in order to undermine that Institution
* no nativity scenes on public property
*class warfare
* immigration
*environmentalism
*lawfare
*politicized law enforcement and regulation
*attacking the 1st and 2nd Amendments (while leaving the 19th intact)
*a corrupt media
*attacking election integrity, undermining trust in the very foundation of self government
to name but a few,,,,,so what was left for the Left? What other Traditions and Institutions (in Limbaugh's formulation) could be attacked?
With all these other Leftists sitting on the branch, the gender queers had to walk waaaaay out onto the end of the branch to stake out their grievance.
Queers are no more or less mentally retarded than any other Leftist / collectivist, they just had to wait their turn because if they had piped up like this in the 60s or 70s they would have been spending too much time in dentist chairs or intensive care wards to worry about dressing up like a bunch of Kansa City faggots.
Thank you for sharing your perspective Ann as well as good memories of childhood! There is a lot going on “out there”. Nothing that is not faced can be healed. We all just gotta keep plugging along!
Excellent article and commentary, Ann!
I've always felt the unhappiness of liberals mainly came down to living their lives in a fantasy world devoid of rational foundation, being constantly disappointed that your fantasy world doesn't manifest itself in reality and always looking outward toward bogeymen to blame (conservatives) instead of looking inward and taking an honest assessment of their life choices and how their ideology has made them make poor choices again and again.
I can see also your point in tying it to childhood trauma and especially a broken home in the sense that this encourages the naturally-dishonest and the weak of mind to try to justify their own failed upbringing as being the norm and to then spend their lives trying to cause everyone else to experience the same traumas...because to admit that your parents' life choices as well as your own life choices are demonstrably wrong is simply a bridge too far. This would involve an honest self-assessment, something that is generally limited to those with higher levels of cognitive functionality.
Thank you again for the wonderful read and the essential hyperlinks, Ann!
So, to sum up your argument one would conclude that liberals are living in a permanent state of cognitive dissonance, which, as the experts warn, if left untreated finally leads to insanity.
And thus endeth the lesson.
I might suggest that the 'insanity phase' is already here and well-established.
How else can one explain the needless, catastrophic decline of American cities, the adoration of criminal thugs and the vilification of demonstrably decent people; the collapse of academia and the persecution of those who dare to speak the truth...to name just a few indicators? If allowing...and encouraging and applauding...those things is not insanity then I would wish to be presented with an alternate definition.
There are times when I truly hate the state of the world as it is today, but this reminds us how Blessed we are that Ann Coulter is among us and how she is uniquely able to shepherd thoughtful people through the storm by providing 'reality anchors' along the way.
Michael Savage said that a long time ago, which I’m sure Ann knows.
I think unhappiness strongly correlates with voting for the party of rebellion. Alot of this is attributing your own unhappiness to the country. There are many reasons to be unhappy. Perhaps you are excessively materialistic and jealous of people who have more than you. Perhaps you are a spoiled young person with no purpose in life. Perhaps you are godless and therefore view the future as just returning to dirt. 28% of Democrat's are atheists compared to 8% of Republicans .(can't find the site). Call it Thurnberger syndrome after the miserable little Scandinavian girl.
So beautiful, and so true, just like Ann Coulter!
When your ruling elite becomes “inclusive” and solicitous of those on “the margins,” the abnormal concepts that drove them to the margins become normalized.
"the abnormal concepts that drove them to the margins become normalized."
Defining deviancy downwards, in Moynihan's formulation.
My childhood was chaotic and dysfunctional and I do wonder if that's why I was a card carrying liberal myself until my mid-30's... when I married and then had children.
The happy childhood theory has always made sense to me, especially if you perceived yourself as an outsider or were in some way odd. You will then develop resentment against what you perceive as mainstream and normal, and want to wreck things
'especially if you perceived yourself as an outsider or were in some way odd. You will then develop resentment against what you perceive as mainstream and normal, and want to wreck things"
I don't think it is quite that simple, there has to be some other trigger. I think most kids feel awkward at some point: too top heavy or too flat, too tall, too short, pimples, bad physical coordination due to growth spurt, etc etc etc (and in Ann's case, too good lookin'..... :-P ).
My own awkwardness was a mid teenage collision with Rush (the band) in a small town where all the cool kids were listening to The Clash and Sex Pistols. I was the long haired hippie in town and was the butt of mild to moderate teasing. As millions of other teenage outsiders around north america, I picked up an instrument and wanted to play in a band. I never did make it big, but I can puff my chest out and say "I was this guy's drum tech / monitor mixer / roadie in the clubs of Western Canada." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1CS0hWUPQ
And I remember fondly bringing home my first (used) black and white Rickenbacker 4001 bass and telling mom "Open the case!!" and her saying "that's just like Geddy's."
Maybe the answer is that 'kids these days' were raised in affluent homes that they could never hope to achieve and so they became socialists or anarchists, maybe they never found a role model (Geddy Lee, Ayn Rand, Robert Bartley and Jude Wanniski) to put them on a particular path, especially a path of individualism where they could be happy no matter what anyone else has or thinks.
I think if you are speaking generally and look at people who had happy childhood vs unhappy and looked at kids who perceived themselves as more on the outside than mainstream, I bet happy/mainstream more likely to be conservative for simple reason that they are happy in the society they grew up in.
I am still wracking my brain trying to come up with whom Ann was talking about in her last quote
Just like hearing a wonderful song for the first time, so good, I had to read it again!
I never understood permanently affixing you resume to your face and neck, unless of course, you’re a gang member and displaying your kill tally is essential.
But, liberalism is becoming synonymous with cultism and rational thought, specifically the willingness to evaluate the historical record, is under assault.
Now, you are no longer defending your factual position, you are forced to defend yourself from ad hominem. The new breed of “conservatives” are actually liberal and blind to what they’ve become - virtual face tattoo lunatics.
"patriotic"
These days it must hard for white conservatives to feel patriotic about a country all of whose institutions preach hatred of you.
Just read the full interview from 2004. You're so smart and funny, Ann!
I see what you did there...
Finallyy, I have been saying this for yrs the LGBTQ + Trans are a mental aberration. When you say this on Twitter you will get suspended as I was twice. So much for free speech!
"LGBTQ + Trans are a mental aberration"
I think what explains the sudden explosion of gender bullshit is that Leftists starting running out of arrows in the quiver of attacking Western Civilization. First was the most obvious tool, economics, putting government in charge of economic policy.
It is interesting that on the one hand, government kept the Depression going with economic policies like high income taxes to depress the domestic economy and protectionist tariffs to depress the international economy while at the same time laying the groundwork for a generous welfare state....
Then came the beginnings of the Deep State with the CIA embroiling the US in endless and costly wars, then feminism in order to get closer to home by undermining the family.
Then came Nixon going off gold, undermining the entire economy and people's ability to navigate their way through inflation, booms and busts, bank bailouts and ultimately leading to a $33 trillion debt that can only be paid of by outright confiscation of savings or inflating away the debt and the wealth of every average person in the nation (please, Ann, start writing about the evil of a digital currency, which will finish off the West once and for all.)
On the heels of "the oil shock" came the EPA doing its part to destroy the economy and centralize control over access to abundant energy. Other arrows in the quiver were religious friction (Doug Hooper himself converting to Islam because economics and the humanities in University were already spoken for)
*race hustling
*the Catholic Church being infiltrated by homosexuals in order to undermine that Institution
* no nativity scenes on public property
*class warfare
* immigration
*environmentalism
*lawfare
*politicized law enforcement and regulation
*attacking the 1st and 2nd Amendments (while leaving the 19th intact)
*a corrupt media
*attacking election integrity, undermining trust in the very foundation of self government
to name but a few,,,,,so what was left for the Left? What other Traditions and Institutions (in Limbaugh's formulation) could be attacked?
With all these other Leftists sitting on the branch, the gender queers had to walk waaaaay out onto the end of the branch to stake out their grievance.
Queers are no more or less mentally retarded than any other Leftist / collectivist, they just had to wait their turn because if they had piped up like this in the 60s or 70s they would have been spending too much time in dentist chairs or intensive care wards to worry about dressing up like a bunch of Kansa City faggots.
Great read!
The Left in 2023 is not just anti-American, they are actively anti-AMERICANS.
They vote against us. Look at all their social media memes. Listen to NPR for twenty minutes. Talk to a Millennial liberal for twenty seconds.
They vote for nothing ( except abortion). They are voting specifically against our interests.
On purpose.
Thank you for sharing your perspective Ann as well as good memories of childhood! There is a lot going on “out there”. Nothing that is not faced can be healed. We all just gotta keep plugging along!