An Axios poll published on Friday revealed that in the capitalist US, just 49% of Americans aged 18-to-34 actually support capitalism. And 51% say they have a positive view of socialism.
For several years, polling has found support for socialism rising among Democrats and the young. As a result, Democrats running on explicitly socialist platforms – like Democratic Socialists of America members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) – have translated this discontent into electoral success.
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However, the latest poll found that young Republicans, usually tireless advocates for free-market capitalism, have grown sick of the system they’re used to defending. Among Republicans aged 18-to-34, some 66% now have a positive view of capitalism, down from 81% in 2019. But 56% of young Republicans want the government to focus on reducing wealth inequality, up from just 40% two years ago.
Americans aged 18-34 have witnessed the Great Recession and the various backstops of the pandemic, and are not burdened with observations of the old Soviet Union.
Most -isms have their good sides and their bad sides when real-world implementation is attempted. We’ve seen a lot of the bad side of capitalism over the past decade or two, and not quite as much of the bad side of socialism/communism.
Meh. Socialism is ok if The People agree to it, and Americans like their current American socialist programs, even if they think the word is a bad one.
IMO, this is a good thing. “Socialism” has been the bogeyman that creates knee jerk opposition among many Americans without any thoughtful analysis.
I think the Rs finally shot themselves in the foot here. They pulled out the “socialism” line so often that they changed the common meaning of the word. It used to mean “government ownership of certain means of production” like coal mines, railroads, and hospitals. Now it means “any attempt to reduce the damage of unfettered capitalism”. It turns out that people like many of those things.
Maybe more Americans will be willing to raise taxes on rich people instead of falling for the “but it’s socialism” line. Or support antitrust laws, or limits on drug prices, …