Americans are less happy.

[Woodznutz]

Statistically they struggle and end up with zero wealth and work their whole lives. There are always outliers but the statistics are clear.

Only 4% of households with a four-year college degree are in the bottom 50% of wealth, meaning the vast majority of college graduates reside in the top half. Its that stark of a difference.

https://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/education-pays-2026-full-report.pdf

It is often said that a college degree is a license to steal. Those stats support this. That said the current batch of grads might change those stats. We also need to track the vocations of college grads over time. Many go into fields that don't require a college education, only a college "degree". Many go into fields that require neither. Statistics are not the deep dive needed to accurately assess the value of a college education.

Everyone in the company I work for has a college degree. None are working in the field they got a degree in. All they are are wall decorations. All (except one) work in the family residential rental business. Four generations of college grads, all millionaires, doing rental real estate, but will be counted as attaining success due to a college education.

 

[Blaster]

Politics has consumed Americans which fosters hate between people. This was a better country when there was less interest in political differences.

 

[1srelluc]

You have DDS. Democrat Derangement Syndrome. I didnt post anything political. The data shows people are less happy. There is a cause. Your sad ass self decided to just insult. Try finding a human friend.

Friends are overrated....They always want you to help them move.....Close acquaintances are much better. You go your way, they go theirs.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I've observed graduate students for decades. Since Covid there has been a change in them. There are less engaging, more solitary, and much less friendly. This article goes a long way explaining this recent phenomenon. Very interesting.

MSN

Thank you for sharing.

 

[JohnDB]

Seriously,

Americans are less happy due to abandonment of hard-wired genetic emotional needs.

First off....Church attendance.
This has really two guilty parties. One is the church itself and the other is the people not going. Regular attendees to church have a much stronger sense of community involvement and more importantly OWNERSHIP of the communities they live in.
Americans pride themselves in the separation of church and state....that was never written in the constitution....it comes from a poorly translated letter of Thomas Jefferson explaining how the Federal government had no grounds to interfere in various State's functions.
All in all this is the first time in history religion and politics are completely separate.
So somehow we are going to have happier societies than how we have done this for literally thousands of years? Re-invent the wheel so it stops being so round?
Let me know when round wheels don't work.

Education is not helping....
Just the reverse. At a certain point of learning educations do more to destroy a society than build it. (Academia argues non-stop)
Plus it destroys normal male/female relationships. Well, puts large roadblocks that prevent them from forming relationships that result in richer, more fulfilled lives with children and extended families.

Jordan Peterson explains.

 

[Woodznutz]

Friends are overrated....They always want you to help them move.....Close acquaintances are much better. You go your way, they go theirs.

We helped a good friend move his family to another city. It didn't work out for him, and he moved again shortly after. I asked him why he didn't call on us for help. He said that he wouldn't put us through that again.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

That's a lot of words to say that mostly people are weak and look for others to blame for their lot in life.

Make Those Who Drink $100 Bottles of Wine Become the Whiners

Judgment is flawed if it's all a matter of present position.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

So, the "good jobs" are only accessible if one has a college degree? How about the millions of grads who can't find those 'good jobs'.

College grad: "I have degree in architecture. Do you have a job for me?"
Hiring rep: "Sorry, but there aren't enough tradesmen to build what you might design."

Generic Generations

So it doesn't matter what they have talent for, only what skills they can afford to get?

 

[Woodznutz]

Generic Generations

So it doesn't matter what they have talent for, only what skills they can afford to get?

The job market doesn't accommodate everyone's 'talent'.

As it is the economy is FUBR.

Curious citizen: "Why can't we build homes that are affordable with privacy and backyards?"

City Planner: "We need to preserve the farmland for corn for ethanol, corn syrup, and food for people to overeat. The doctors and the chemical fertilizer companies need the business."

 

[citygator]

Education is not helping....
Just the reverse. At a certain point of learning educations do more to destroy a society than build it. (Academia argues non-stop)
Plus it destroys normal male/female relationships. Well, puts large roadblocks that prevent them from forming relationships that result in richer, more fulfilled lives with children and extended families.

JohnDB suggest people are not dumb enough to be happy. Brilliant. You must be very happy.

 

[Woodznutz]

JohnDB suggest people are not dumb enough to be happy. Brilliant. You must be very happy.

Many people are too smart for their own good. Much of what they "know" isn't useful. Modern education is like inheriting a woodshop. The heir has learned what the tools are but doesn't know how to use them, or what to build with them.

 

[Woodznutz]

JohnDB suggest people are not dumb enough to be happy. Brilliant. You must be very happy.

Actually, people aren't smart enough to be happy, regardless of education. People don't go to college to be happy. They go for the prospect of wealth, and so they don't have to do physical work, and to be able to say, "Hey, look at me, I went to college!"

 

[JohnDB]

JohnDB suggest people are not dumb enough to be happy. Brilliant. You must be very happy.

It's NOT a direct result but an indirect result.

Women tend to excel at college educations. Much moreso than men. But then once educated women have less of a chance at finding a spouse.

Also a higher incidence of fatalism and lacking a sense of hope comes from knowing too much. (You believe you know the outcomes in the future)

Used to be (when people were happier) less that 1% of the population had a college degree.
Now we have over 30% with college educations, a disastrous birth rate, and are looking at complete societal collapse within 40 years with a major reset inside of 20 depending on the stupidity of politicians.

I have 2 post secondary degrees and a trade school cert. Plus I shoulda signed up for 2 other certs....but just didn't even if I did do the coursework).

What you got?

 

[Woodznutz]

It's NOT a direct result but an indirect result.

Women tend to excel at college educations. Much moreso than men. But then once educated women have less of a chance at finding a spouse.

Also a higher incidence of fatalism and lacking a sense of hope comes from knowing too much. (You believe you know the outcomes in the future)

Used to be (when people were happier) less that 1% of the population had a college degree.
Now we have over 30% with college educations, a disastrous birth rate, and are looking at complete societal collapse within 40 years with a major reset inside of 20 depending on the stupidity of politicians.

I have 2 post secondary degrees and a trade school cert. Plus I shoulda signed up for 2 other certs....but just didn't even if I did do the coursework).

What you got?

Too many chiefs and not enough indians.

 

[initforme]

The problem is one might get stuck in a factory or something awful like that. Thats a slow death. Do we need factory workers?

 

[citygator]

It's NOT a direct result but an indirect result.

Women tend to excel at college educations. Much moreso than men. But then once educated women have less of a chance at finding a spouse.

Also a higher incidence of fatalism and lacking a sense of hope comes from knowing too much. (You believe you know the outcomes in the future)

Used to be (when people were happier) less that 1% of the population had a college degree.
Now we have over 30% with college educations, a disastrous birth rate, and are looking at complete societal collapse within 40 years with a major reset inside of 20 depending on the stupidity of politicians.

I have 2 post secondary degrees and a trade school cert. Plus I shoulda signed up for 2 other certs....but just didn't even if I did do the coursework).

What you got?

You are misconnecting the dots.

On women and marriage:

• College educated women have an 70% chance of being married in their 40's vs less than 50% chance for those without and they are 15% less likely to get a divorce than those without
• College educated women pick off the most financially stable men finding their spouse making 2-4Xs the spouses of women without a college education

Education, Income, and 'Marriageable' Men

Men’s economic performance, including their performance relative to women’s, still seems to matter, per a new study.

ifstudies.org

On College education:

• Life expectancy is 8 years longer with a degree
• Household wealth is 4X's higher
• Unemployment is 2% vs 5-6%
• Health outcomes are better
• Happiness index higher

The notion that people are educated and unhappy is a false narrative. The statistics show otherwise.

I have 3 degrees. History, Economics and a masters in business.

Is College Worth It?

Americans have mixed views on the importance of having a degree. 47% say the cost is worth it only if someone doesn’t have to take out loans.

www.pewresearch.org

 

[JohnDB]

Too many chiefs and not enough indians.

Exactly....
Nobody wants to follow orders....even in the military which is why Hegseth is firing generals left and right. (if they were any good they would have been in the private sector already)

as we get more edumakated we tend to thinks we da bomb and schmartest of all the other campers in the campground. When in truth the other campers wish we would head for the next campground down the trail...because they know they are the schmartest. And since I wont follow their orders....I just need to be canceled, leave, made uncomfortable, or forced to comply by laws.

And we can see these attitudes EVERYWHERE....including in this thread.

Lonely women without kids....no hope of even gaining a husband and family of her own. Good guys who cannot find a woman who will simply show some respect for anyone including herself....

But
I gots me some edumakashun real good.

(Yes, we are ALL freaking idiots)

 

[initforme]

Perhaps when employers really struggle to find labor, everyone wins.

 

[Lockback]

Speaking only for me, I know I'm less happy than I could be.
I thought by now the Democrat Party leaders would have all been arrested for treason.
Oh, well. Maybe someday soon.

 

[JohnDB]

Perhaps when employers really struggle to find labor, everyone wins.

When you have Rolex but nobody to admire it....the stupid thing is no better than a working Timu watch.