A Rough Year for Americans? It's Been A Rough Ten Years!

[ancianita]

Last edited Wed Jun 17, 2020, 11:02 AM - Edit history (1)

https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/06/16/2337251/americans-are-the-unhappiest-theyve-been-in-50-years?utm_source=feedburnerFaceBook&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29&utm_content=FaceBook&fbclid=IwAR1xV6MtTSKQOUugwg3Qb_7FHRNf0jkJRMiHcOldBXWMjggjZvlpl3hfGfk

Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they've been in nearly 50 years. This bold -- yet unsurprising -- conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they're very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they'd often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that.

The survey, conducted in late May, draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey, which has collected data on American attitudes and behaviors at least every other year since 1972. No less than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey.

The poll has revealed some other interesting findings. It says that the public is less optimistic today about the standard of living improving for the next generation than it has been in the past 25 years.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/poll-americans-unhappiest-50-years-71273057

Americans are also less likely to report some types of emotional and psychological stress reactions following the COVID-19 outbreak, and about twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018.

IMNSHO...

Sure, there were a lot of economic, political, social reasons for the country's past unhappiness in analog times.

Now, in digital times -- the last decade -- the nation's unhappiness has been driven by technology factors. Too many to elaborate here, but they mostly come down to this:

It's Silicon Valley's conflict driven ad buy algorithms that are at fault. Their "attention" economy drives up human conflict addictions and prurient interests, and drives down human optimism and ethical responsibility. There's more that our platforms have become, against our wills, but for now I'll just say this:

Big tech's social media companies had better find a better business model -- better algorithms -- that better promote human peace and prosperity so that Americans will produce a better economy. Just because studies have shown that a happy workforce isn't necessarily a productive workforce, doesn't mean that an unhappy workforce is productive of a happy human climate. Unhappy humans eventually become the sad soul of the nation. This study shows that.


Sad countries produce bad economies.

Algorithm garbage in, economic garbage out.

Americans and their new government have to change the way Silicon Valley does business. Because, as Scrooge's business partner, Marley, once said: "Mankind was my business!"

[empedocles]

1. 'Sad countries produce bad economies' - chicken or egg.

The last 50 years have been relatively harder on the middle classes.

Turning the OP conclusion around, 'bad economies produce sad countries'

[ancianita]

2. Well, somewhat. But the producers of the economy are made sad by the algorithms that drive them

into "attention" behaviors they wouldn't have had otherwise.

So your last statement doesn't take into account the digital networks that drive buying and selling, unless it's stock trades on Wall St, 70% of which are driven by AI. The REAL economy cannot exist without humans. Although I've read arguments against that, but I'm sticking with that, because nations' greatest assets are humans.

But yes, it can be a downward spiral. So where to stop when technology gives good help, but makes sad people? Start with the algorithms. Humans can reject algorithm driven lives, but they can't stop the humans around them from being driven, and so this must be Silicon Valley's problem every bit as much as the country's problem.

[empedocles]

3. The economic well-being of most of the population, is largely driven, imo, by labor supply.

Excess labor supply, results most immediately in more unemployment. Larger supply of college graduates over the last 70 years has resulted in markedly lower relative incomes for college grads as a whole.

A visible example, is the teaching profession. In the 1950's, with scarce labor supply, before the baby boom - teachers were relatively well paid. A teacher had summers off, could afford a family with a wife at home, even afford to travel overseas. Now teaching tends to be much more of an economic 'reach' for desired things.

[Initech]

4. And these next 10 years rebuilding from COVID are going to suck as well.

Guess they can stop this misery survey, we all know what it's going to be like the next 5 years from this.

[ancianita]

5. That could well change after Biden gets in. A happiness study is good for national reflection.

Don't remember who said it, but it goes something like, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Gotta save the soul of America by doing that. Biden's on it.

[Initech]

6. I seriously hope that Biden gets elected in November.

I don't know if he will be able to pick up all of the pieces from COVID, but he will definitely get the smell of stupid out of the room!

[ancianita]

7. Biden will definitely bring the Yes We Can hope back to the country. Obama will be there to help.

I'd die of happiness if Obama got onto the SCOTUS. He'd constitutionally tear Clarence Thomas and the other hard conservatives a new one.

[Initech]

8. And man do we need that more than ever now!

[ancianita]

9. Then it's gonna have to be all hands on deck and check these right wing weaponizers.

[crickets]

10. K&R for visibility.