Even as socialist paradise Venezuela falls, a Gallup poll released Monday has found that four in 10 Americans “embrace some form of socialism.”
Some 43% of respondents said “some form of socialism” would be a “good thing” for “the country as a whole.” That’s an 18-point increase from when the same question was asked in 1942 by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
Thankfully, 51% said some form of socialism would be a “bad thing” for the country, an 11-point increase from 1942. Back in the early half of the 20th Century, 34% said they had no opinion on whether socialism would be good or bad for the country. Now, only 6% say the same, a 28-point drop.
This is a frightening development. More people have decided socialism could be good for the country in the past 80 years than have decided it would be bad. The country is pretty close to being split on the issue. Part of the shift is due to the Left’s rebranding of socialism as a means to achieve “social equality” rather than the traditional definition, Gallup reported.
“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,” the polling company wrote. “A majority of Democrats have said they view socialism positively in Gallup polling since 2010, including 57% in the most recent measure in 2018.”
The former definition is what is being taught in schools and universities across the country, leading young people to believe America is not a great country and that capitalism hurts more than it helps, even though by nearly every metric this is proven to be untrue.
In another question, Gallup asked participants what form of government they expected to see spread globally. The same question was asked in 1949. Back then, 72% said democracy would be the form of government most countries would adopt in “the next 50 years.” Now, 57% say the same. In 1949, just 14% said socialism would spread, while today 29% say it will be spread in the next half-decade. At least communism took a hit, with just 6% now saying most nations would adopt that form of government, compared to 9% who said the same in 1949.
“It is unclear whether this is due to the flourishing of democracies -- particularly in Europe and Latin America -- led by what are often described as social democrats, or whether a fundamental shift is taking place among some Americans in their views of socialism,” Gallup wrote.
There’s still good news for free markets, however, as a majority of Americans want them to lead on “technological innovation,” “the distribution of wealth,” “the economy overall,” “wages,” “higher education,” and even healthcare. When it comes to “protecting consumers’ privacy online” and “environmental protection,” however, respondents wanted the government to take the lead.
That is not great news for Democrats, who are campaigning on government control of just about everything, including the issues Americans said they prefer the free market lead.