Are You Happy?

            The 2019 World Happiness Report (WHR) from the UN is out. It is huge. Its multiple charts are a statistician’s delight, while the accompanying explanations and commentary help to understand the methodology and interpret the findings. The report ranks the overall happiness of 156 countries, based on six categories: GDP per capita, Health (life expectancy), Social Support, Freedom, Generosity, and Corruption. The first two rely on available statistics, while the rest are the result of surveys that asked questions such as: “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?” and “Is corruption widespread throughout the government (or business) or not?” One could spend days immersed in this report, but for the less wonkish among us, it is best to focus on specific points. One is life expectancy, because it has gone DOWN in this country.

            Why should life expectancy go down when we have the best doctors and the best hospitals in the world, as well as the most advanced treatments for killer diseases? The paradox is that old people are living longer, but young people are dying much too soon. Why? The answer appears to be in lifestyles chosen by teens and young adults. Too many of them are self-indulgent hedonists who seek joy and fulfillment in self-destructive behavior. We have an epidemic of addiction in this country: to drugs, sex, gambling, violence, over-eating, money, and more. Substance abusers die young; so do the obese, the drunken drivers, and the murderous gang members; so do the homeless and the mentally ill driven to depression and suicide.

            The WHR ranks the United States 19^th out of 156 countries. Why should that be when we are the richest, most generous country in the world, the beacon of freedom, the model of democracy? Why is there so much hate, divisiveness, and greed where there should be friendship, unity, and care for our families, communities, and the less fortunate among us? Why are so many young people so unhappy? The WHR may not have all the answers. But it’s a good place to start looking. If we care.

           

Remembering 1969

            Those among us of a certain age can recall some of the major events of 1969. Fifty years is not enough to erase the images of that fateful year. Here are just a few:

            That year the Vietnam War was raging. Anti-war riots occurred on campuses around the country, most notably at UC Berkeley; enormous crowds massed outside the White House to protest; pictures of the My Lai massacre were released. Meanwhile, young people gathered under a marijuana haze to tune out at Woodstock and Altamont.

            Among people who died but shouldn’t have: Sharon Tate and friends at the hand of Charles Manson and his followers; Mary Jo Kopechne in a car abandoned in the water by Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick. Category 5 Hurricane Camille killed 262 people from Louisiana to Virginia.

            Good things happened that year, too. The Boeing 747 flew for the first time, and the Concorde broke the sound barrier on its first commercial flight. ARPANET, precursor of the Internet, linked two computers—just think how far we’ve come since then.

            My favorite memories: We put a man on the moon! Broadway Joe Namath led the New York Jets in a major upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. My wife presented me with Marc, our third child, now himself a father and grandfather.

            I won’t be around in 2069 to recall the events of 2019. I wonder how those who are alive then will remember this year.

           

           

Socialism, Energy, and Ocasio-Cortez

            Random thoughts on socialism, energy, and Ocasio-Cortez:

            If Democrats want to defeat Donald Trump in the worst way in 2020, why are they letting themselves be bullied by the party’s most radical proponents of socialist ideology? “Fall in line, or else” seems to be the tactic employed by extremists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to get her House colleagues to back ruinous policies like her “Green New Deal” and “Medicare for All.” Socialism may appeal to young voters who are ignorant of history, but it will never garner a majority. Extremism doesn’t win elections.

            The reason Venezuela’s socialist tyrant Nicolás Maduro is still clinging to power today is the support of a military backed by Cuban operatives. With more soldiers defecting every day, it is just a matter of time before Maduro’s protective wall is breached and the Cubans are thrown out. Other losers will be Russia, Iran, and especially China, all of which have backed Maduro. Americans believe in the Monroe Doctrine, and when Washington says that “All options on the table,” these adversaries have only to remember what happened in Panama, Granada, and the Cuban Missile Crisis to know that we will not allow them to gain a foothold in the Americas.

            I will never understand why the most efficient, affordable, and clean source of energy is hardly ever mentioned by starry-eyed proponents of green energy. What is it? Nuclear energy. All the arguments against it have been de-bunked, and the countries that have expanded its use are reaping the benefits: low costs, clean air, and expanding economies. One example should suffice. Sweden, an Ocasio-Cortez favorite, has doubled its energy output with nuclear energy, while dropping fossil-fuel use by 40% and reducing carbon emissions by 50%. That’s why its capitalist (YES, capitalist!) economy has been able to fund its expansive social programs so loved by Ocasio-Cortez.

            Our publicity-seeking congresswoman is still hissing and yowling like a drenched cat after seeing that Times Square billboard: AMAZON PULLOUT – 25,000 Lost NYC Jobs - $4 Billion in Lost Wages - $12 Billion in Lost Economic Activity for NY – THANKS FOR NOTHING, AOC! Would her constituents vote for her today?

Searching for Honest Journalists

            I have a soft spot for journalists. My dad was a journalist. He was also the most honest man I’ve ever known. The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes, who was known for holding a lantern as he walked the streets of Athens looking for an honest man, would have liked my father. But Diogenes would have a tough time today looking for honest journalists in the mainstream media. That’s because most reporters who call themselves journalists are nothing more than propagandists or political operatives. And that’s not just my opinion.

            South African Lara Logan is a celebrated freelance journalist. She has covered the news for ABC, NBC, and CNN, and was a foreign correspondent for CBS News from 2002 to 2018. She reported from Afghanistan and Iraq, and gained notoriety when she broke news stories on what really happened in Benghazi. In 2011 she was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in Cairo while reporting on the Egyptian Revolution. She has earned her stripes and the right to speak out.

            “It is a fact that the vast majority of journalists in this country are registered Democrats,” she stated in a recent op-ed in the New York Post. She blames colleges “dominated by one political ideology,” with the result that “reporting has become so one-sided,” and “people have lost faith in journalism.” Unsurprisingly, Logan has been reviled and castigated by the mainstream media for speaking the truth.

            But she is not alone. Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times has said, “We have become political activists…and some could argue propagandists.” She recognizes that all the negative coverage of Trump all the time is a distortion of the truth.

            By speaking out against their Leftmedia colleagues, Lara Logan and Jill Abramson have committed professional suicide.

            Diogenes, meet Lara Logan and Jill Abramson.