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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 1, 2024

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Straightforwardly, yes. American self-reported happiness rates have been on a fairly steady decline since the 70s. With regards to women in particular, there is a phenomenon referred to as the ‘paradox of declining female happiness’, the observation that even as women have attained greater legal rights and generally been raised in status relative to men, their self-reported happiness has declined. This is often used by social conservatives to argue that women were happier as wives and mothers and that forcing them out of their ‘natural’ roles and into competition with men was a mistake.

I am generally skeptical about self-reported happiness, because it’s not clear if measurement invariance holds over time. Does the question “are you happy?” mean the same thing to someone in 2020 as it does in 1970, let alone 1900?

I think a lot of this can be explained the fact people have gotten better at collecting data and or putting names to problems that have always existed . The tracking of suicides and missing persons has improved since the 19th century.

But the option exists right now for for people to dial things down, to work less, for women to stay home and to settle down, but they are choosing not to. the problem is that the returns to careerism are too high. Wages too high, standards of living too high. America has become spoiled by its success and long-standing peacetime, and I don't see this changing (Pinker is right). The revolution my have been bad in some ways, but people do not want to exit it either.

As for the “divorce rape” the manosphere has spent the last fifteen years insisting is endemic under our gynocracy, only 10% of divorces actually result in any actual alimony paid.

But it's more than that: child support, loss of visitation, and other downsides.

But it's more than that: child support, loss of visitation, and other downsides.

I couldn't find the statistics, but I don't actually think the majority of divorced couples have children.