Support for socialism in America used to belong to the far left fringe, but a new poll from Gallup indicates that socialism has gained acceptance in recent years.
Alex Pappas reports at FOX News:
Four in 10 Americans embrace socialism, Gallup poll saysMore Americans are embracing socialism.A new Gallup poll released Monday found that 43 percent of Americans think socialism would be a good thing for the United States, while 51 percent say it would be a bad thing.The poll is fresh evidence that attitudes toward socialism are changing, amid the popularity in the Democratic Party of democratic socialists like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is running for president, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who pushes policies like “Medicare-for-all” and the Green New Deal.Gallup noted that in 1942, a Roper/Fortune survey that found 40 percent of Americans described socialism as a bad thing while only 25 percent called it a good thing.Times have changed. An August Gallup poll indicated that more Democrats view socialism positively than they do capitalism, with 57 percent of Democrats saying they have a favorable view of socialism, while just 47 percent of Democrats in the poll said they have positive feelings about capitalism.
Mohamed Younis wrote this report for Gallup:
Four in 10 Americans Embrace Some Form of SocialismAmericans today are more closely divided than they were earlier in the last century when asked whether some form of socialism would be a good or bad thing for the country. While 51% of U.S. adults say socialism would be a bad thing for the country, 43% believe it would be a good thing. Those results contrast with a 1942 Roper/Fortune survey that found 40% describing socialism as a bad thing, 25% a good thing and 34% not having an opinion.The Roper/Fortune survey is one of the oldest trend questions measuring attitudes on socialism in the U.S. Gallup’s update of the question in an April 17-30 survey finds Americans more likely to have an opinion on the matter now, as well as a smaller gap in the percentage calling socialism a bad thing vs. a good thing.Previous Gallup research shows that Americans’ definition of socialism has changed over the years, with nearly one in four now associating the concept with social equality and 17% associating it with the more classical definition of having some degree of government control over the means of production. A majority of Democrats have said they view socialism positively in Gallup polling since 2010, including 57% in the most recent measure in 2018.
Did the words “social equality” in that last segment jump out at you? They should. Young Americans raised in the era of ‘everyone gets a trophy’ have been conditioned to believe that equality of outcome is more important than the balance of opportunity.
For background, here’s an excerpt from the Gallup findings last August, by Frank Newport:
Democrats More Positive About Socialism Than CapitalismFor the first time in Gallup’s measurement over the past decade, Democrats have a more positive image of socialism than they do of capitalism. Attitudes toward socialism among Democrats have not changed materially since 2010, with 57% today having a positive view.The major change among Democrats has been a less upbeat attitude toward capitalism, dropping to 47% positive this year — lower than in any of the three previous measures. Republicans remain much more positive about capitalism than about socialism, with little sustained change in their views of either since 2010.
The panel on The Five had an exciting discussion about this poll on Tuesday. Greg Gutfeld blamed higher education, Jesse Watters suggested that the left’s embrace of socialism is a form of rebellion against Trump’s success, and Juan Williams blamed capitalism, naturally. Watch:
I agree with Greg’s point, in that academia has pushed the notion that socialism somehow represents fairness. History proves otherwise. Now is an excellent time to dust off this classic from Milton Friedman:
[Featured Image: Soviet Flag at Occupy Philadelphia via YouTube]
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