Some mornings I stop for a breakfast sandwich and coffee at a local establishment on the way to work. The same group of seven to ten men are always gathered there around tables pushed together in the center of the room, drinking coffee and kibitzing about the affairs of the day.

The men are older and, I assume, retired. It’s hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation. It’s always the same: the country is going to hell, government is out of control, taxes are too high, the state is overrun with illegal immigrants, healthcare reform is another brick on the road to socialism, individual freedoms are being eroded, and nobody wants to work hard anymore and take responsibility for themselves.

This particular breakfast club meets in an affluent community. The participants appear reasonably healthy and laugh a lot. This is in stark contrast to their early morning conversation, which is uniformly negative and alienated, even bitter. Why is this so?

Get The Drift for one answer.