General Discussions

If they're unhappy, why not move? I mean, those places are also very commercial states, so they probably don't move because they enjoy being employed.

They enjoy being employed enough that they don't move, despite what other negative qualities their residence has. Presumably, the negative qualities make them unhappy, and being employed makes them happy. But given that they're staying, I'd say they think being employed is worth the "unhappiness" and so they're not actually unhappy at all.

But what about the people who don't have the means to move some place better? In that case, the unhappiest states would have the highest poverty. But the happier states are most of the time actually poorer\. Well then, what about that homeless guy living underneath that corporate building who begs for money? The unhappier states have the largest income disparities! Yea, but what are the chances those people are participating in this study and submitting personal reports?

So once again, all these "miserable" people, either give rather low preference to happiness (in which case they don't mind being miserable) or enjoy being miserable.

With the exception for the truly deprived, you are responsible for your own misery.

[Edited by bobulation, 12/17/2009 11:41:53 PM]

[Edited by bobulation, 12/17/2009 11:42:53 PM]

I hate when people tell someone to move, things aren't that simple.

Ugh, I give up trying to fix my links in that post. Some of the text is clickable if you want to find out which and win no prize.

If there is extremely strong incentive for you not to move, you can't be unhappy.

I mean, apart from the financial and opportunity aspect of it, the only other things I can think of are friends and family and other relationships. If you found those miserable, you would have no qualms about moving at all. If you found those enjoyable, enjoyable enough that despite other negatives, and being financially capable of moving, that you don't, and you still think you're miserable, then you are very misguided.

So once again, either we're masochists or idiots.

Agreed. Don't you think that I would LOVE to get out of here? The problem is, we aren't exactly well-to-do financially and here is the only place where we have managed to find jobs. We don't have the money to move. Frankly, you don't have ANY idea how rough it is until you've been there. Unfortunately, I'm stuck here either until I go off to college or my mom finds a job elsewhere. I really don't have much choice. Does that mean I have to be happy about it? Absolutely not.

Where exactly is "there"? Working two jobs so that you have enough to pay for rent in an apartment shared by so many people that you have 3 sleeping in the living room and being on the draw to get a couch is a luxury?

Plus your anecdotal argument still doesn't address the fact that if those states are truly the unhappiest states, then they must contain the the highest concentration of fools.

[Edited by bobulation, 12/18/2009 12:14:34 AM]

I resent that. Do you honestly think that the only people in the world are either rich or poor as church mice? We are lower-middle class. As I said, I am the only person who knows exactly how my life is. If other people choose to judge, that's up to them. No matter what anyone says, it doesn't change the hard facts of how things go in my life. My mom HAS been looking for a job out of state, we are trying our best to leave.

Anyway, I have had to do this before to avoid a flame war. This will be my final post on this topic. Dhampy posted this so we could see where our states were in relevance to the others. Not so we could argue about leaving them. *bows out* I leave this topic to the rest of you.

My point was that that was where I was last year before I was finally hired for a salaried position and could quit my wage jobs and move some place better with a friend.

My other point was that I don't believe those rankings at all because they really don't make sense from a practical standpoint. Either that, or I am overestimating the intelligence of others.

48. Unless you count Missouri. Then 38.