It is often said in conservative circles that liberalism is a mental disorder. That’s not really accurate, though, and it’s a result of many people continuing to conflate liberalism with progressivism or socialism. In truth, the two latter ideologies bear almost no resemblance to classical liberalism. Still, studies have found correlations between political views and state of mind. Progressives, on the whole, are less happy than conservatives. Harvard professor Arthur Brooks recently discussed his latest findings on the subject, which show that not only are conservatives collectively happier than progressives, but the latter are more prone to mental health challenges.
It should be noted, as any statistician will confirm, that correlation does not mean causation. A connection between two data sets is not proof that one set has directly affected the other. But we are dealing with human beings and emotions, here, and not just numerical variables. For anyone passionate about their political and cultural values, psychological well-being is surely not an unrelated issue.
Happy Warriors and Haters
Brooks sat for an episode of The Genius Life podcast in September, discussing the state of “happiness” in America today. The study of happiness is, for Brooks, a specialty that he’s been pursuing for years. Indeed, around ten years ago, the professor wrote in The New York Times that, when political identification is factored into the study of happiness, conservative women were the most blissful demographic and liberal men the least content with their lives. Brooks mostly used the label “liberal” but also acknowledged the shift to progressivism among those on the political left.
The distinction should be considered significant. There’s really nothing in classical liberal philosophy that might evoke unhappiness or mental disorders. But progressives, in attempting to rationalize and justify their worldview, must deal with a host of contradictions, hypocrisies, and rejections of traditional values. Perhaps, above all, they feel the need to commit to the practices of dehumanizing – and disassociating themselves from – anyone who does not share their beliefs. Essentially, unbridled hatred for dissenters has unfortunately become a core tenet for modern progressives. It can’t be easy to feel happy and maintain perspective when so much of one’s time and energy is spent on despising everyone who thinks differently from you.
Spend some time perusing the posts on Bluesky, the social media platform now favored by progressives. The fanatical commitment to hating their political opponents is so pervasive – and often expressed in the most extreme terms – that it’s a wonder anyone active on the political left could be either sane or happy.
Brooks says that “liberal” women (and, again, one should probably read that as progressive women) have now sunk lower than their male counterparts on the mental and emotional health scale. Back when Brooks wrote his piece for The Times a decade ago, 40% of conservative women felt very happy – just a bit happier than conservative men and considerably more cheerful than liberal women. Meanwhile, only around one-fifth of liberal men considered themselves very happy.
Troublingly, the professor observed, “New data show that white liberal women under 30 have almost a six in 10 chance of having been diagnosed with a mental illness in America today.”
Progressives Reject the Keys to Happiness
In his years of research into what he terms “the art and science of happiness,” Brooks has discovered what seems to be the “big four” founding dynamics of happiness: faith, family, friends, and purpose – or “work that serves,” as he put it during the podcast. Faith, Brooks pointed out, doesn’t have to be religious devotion but “doing something that makes the universe big and you little.”
As host Max Lugavere observed, these seem to be the values embraced by conservatives. More pertinent is that they are all values categorically rejected by progressives. While it isn’t difficult to find moderate Democrats who consider themselves either religious or spiritual, progressives scoff at the notion of a God or higher power in some other form. For them, the government is the Alpha and the Omega, supposedly providing everything we need and guiding every aspect of our lives. Interestingly, this idea forms the very foundation of fascist doctrine – a system progressives claim to oppose. That’s one of those many contradictions with which progressivism constantly wrestles.
Family is also rejected. The institution of marriage is trivialized, abortion for any reason – or no reason at all – celebrated, and even the disowning of family members who hold opposing viewpoints is now encouraged on the extreme left. Progressive politicians, along with healthcare and education officials, sneer at the concept of parental rights, seemingly determined to promote and enforce the idea that children are, from birth, essentially wards of the state.
Friends, too, must be chosen based on ideological kinship. As for purpose or fulfillment through work, progressives, much like their socialist cousins, see employment as oppression or even a form of slavery. The one and only purpose they appear to revere is a battle for control over their fellow human beings.
Couple all this with bizarre and confusing notions of “gender fluidity,” the destruction of traditional community life, and the mindset that vilifies the idea of citizens defending themselves or others from physical assault. It‘s little wonder progressives are unhappy when everything that they or anyone else does or says must be measured against an unbendable standard of ideological purity. If the standard isn’t met, the thing said or done must be raged against, ridiculed, vilified, and ultimately suppressed or destroyed – along with the person responsible for the said words or actions.
Such a philosophy requires a tremendous amount of negative energy. So much, in fact, that there can’t be very much room left for happiness.
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