Morning Wire XX
[0] Amid continued COVID restrictions and economic uncertainty, a new study finds that Americans are less happy than they've ever been.
[1] Hey, John, I'm happy.
[2] It's good to hear.
[3] Well, we'll dig into the reasons for the rising malaise in America.
[4] I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[5] It's Wednesday, February 2nd, and this is Morning Wire.
[6] The massive trucker convoy in Canada continues to plague Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who's now being criticized for calling the protesters violent and racist.
[7] All Canadians want to see a leader who will work to heal riffs, not further divide.
[8] A leader who will listen, even to those voices, he might not agree with.
[9] The leader who will work to understand, not dismiss, name call, and gaslight.
[10] And now, the convoy might be coming to the U .S. And this time it's true.
[11] The legend, the goat, the winningest quarterback in football history, Tom Brady, is officially retiring.
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[13] FDA approval.
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[22] Amid ongoing COVID lockdowns, rising crime, and economic uncertainty, a new study shows that Americans are less happy than they've been at any point on record.
[23] Here are the details as DailyWire's Cabot Phillips.
[24] So Cabot, obviously not the kind of thing you want to hear.
[25] Tell us about the study.
[26] So every three years since 1972, the University of Chicago has run a general social survey.
[27] Now, this is the authoritative national study on American happiness that gauge thousands of opinions each year.
[28] For the past five decades, the numbers have more or less stayed consistent with around one in 10 Americans saying they're unhappy in their day -to -day lives.
[29] But in 2021, that number skyrocketed with one in four Americans now saying they're unhappy.
[30] And if you look at the chart, it's really shocking to see just how steep the drop is.
[31] And it gets worse than when you look at the data.
[32] For example, the number of Americans describing themselves as, quote, very happy.
[33] also took a huge hit, falling from 31 % in 2018 to just 19 % in 2021.
[34] For context, more broadly, that's 10 points lower than at any other point on record.
[35] So the lowest we've ever seen?
[36] Yeah.
[37] Did we learn who in particular saw the biggest decline in happiness?
[38] Well, every demographic and age group did see a decline in happiness, but there were some where it was more pronounced, especially among young people.
[39] From 2018 to 2021, the number of young people saying they're unhappy almost doubled.
[40] from 16 to 30 percent, while the number calling themselves very happy fell from 25 to 14.
[41] So those are the worst numbers for any age group by a noticeable margin.
[42] Some other statistics we saw that were of note, people who were married were three times more likely to report feeling very happy than those who weren't.
[43] And it's also worth pointing out there were some very interesting political trends as well.
[44] Yeah, the political trends.
[45] Tell us about that.
[46] Yeah, Republicans were almost twice as likely to report feeling very happy as Democrats, while Democrats were about 30 % more likely to report feeling unhappy compared to Republicans.
[47] Now, that trend of Republicans being happier than Democrats is something we've seen historically before the pandemic, but the gap became even larger during the last three years.
[48] Now, some theories say it's because red states were less likely to have endured strict lockdowns during the pandemic, while others say the discrepancy is due to religion for decades.
[49] Studies have shown that people who regularly take part in religious activities are happier, and Republicans, again, are considered.
[50] more religious than Democrats.
[51] So obviously, COVID's a major factor over the last couple of years.
[52] How much of this can be attributed to the lockdowns?
[53] Well, sociologists have been warning since COVID lockdowns began that forced isolation would have deep and long -lasting societal impacts.
[54] And it definitely appears that they're starting to be felt.
[55] Now, the study doesn't get into the role of lockdowns in happiness levels and it may be years before we fully understand their impact.
[56] But the general consensus among the medical community is that it's not a coincidence.
[57] that these numbers plummeted when they did.
[58] Experts, they always point out how the main contributing factors to unhappiness are a feeling of isolation and a lack of meaningful relationships, which obviously are impacted when the government forces you to stay inside.
[59] So now the question becomes, will these numbers start to lift as lockdowns are lifted and as the world opens back up?
[60] Or is this going to have an even longer lasting impact than we can foresee now and that this is kind of the new normal?
[61] Let's hope not.
[62] Cabot, thanks for coming on.
[63] Any time.
[64] That's DailyWire's Cabot Phillips.
[65] Coming up, will the U .S. see its own trucker convoy?
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[69] After thousands of truckers in Canada formed a convoy in opposition to COVID -19 mandates, protesters have gathered in the capital city, bringing Ottawa to a standstill.
[70] Here to give us the latest on the protest and how it might impact life in the U .S. as well as Canada is Daily Wires Ian Howarth.
[71] So, Ian, what's going on in Canada?
[72] Well, the latest in the viral Canadian trucker story is that we're now seeing reports that truckers in the U .S. are getting ready to follow the lead of their Canadian counterparts.
[73] This is all in response to a vaccine mandate issued by the U .S. Department of Homeland Security, which is requiring that non -U
[74].S.