Poll: 4 n 10 Americans Embrace Some Form of Socialism

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new poll out from Gallup confirms the trend we conservatives have been witnessing for quite some time now. Actually, the poll questions themselves are quite old, having been asked of the populace way back in 1942 and again in 2019. The contrast is startling.

In the age of Social Justice Warriors, Medicare for All, and proposals to confiscate the wealth of the rich, it seem socialism is back in vogue among a large portion of the population.

The poll found that 43 percent of Americans think socialism would be a good thing for the country.

From Gallup:

Americans 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.

Even the public understanding of the term ‘socialism’ has become more aggressive and ‘woke,’ if you will. Instead of defining socialism as more government control over the economy, almost a quarter of respondents associate it with more ‘social equality.’ This isn’t terribly surprising considering the nature of collectivism and its proponents’ desire to turn citizens into uniform bricks in the wall. An equal society, in the eyes of the Left, means tearing down those on top under the false premise that it will lift those on the bottom.

The polling also found that public opinion is tending in the direction of assuming more and more countries will be socialist in the future. Additionally, while the poll found that majorities want the free market to govern most areas of life, a plurality think the U.S. economy leans more toward government control.

And they’re right. Socialism has been creeping into our government for decades, and there are enough programs redistributing wealth and bureaucrats lording over nearly every facet of our lives that even the semblance of a free market economy is eroding.

The problem with the rising popularity of socialism is not just that many don’t seem to understand its practical, not to mention moral, implications for our economy and individuals’ quality of life. It is exacerbated by the fact that the common defense of ‘Capitalism’ is made of the system we have, which is not really free market capitalism, after all, but a mixed back of cronyism and Big Government.

Many of the grievances people have are well placed, but the assignment of blame is misplaced. Much, if not all, of the economic struggles borne by the average American in 2019 is not due to too much capitalism, but too little. Alas, we have a growing slice of America coming to the opposite conclusion; that more socialism is desirable in response to current conditions.

To combat this we need conservative leaders to effectively articulate why liberty in the economic sphere is, first and foremost, the only moral option, but especially the option that demonstrably leads to more prosperous, higher quality lives. No middle of the road, milquetoast Republican that thinks some Big Government is the answer some of the time can effectively make that argument, because he or she has already ceded the premise.

Hopefully, the United States has not already reached a tipping point with regards to favoring Big Government socialism. Even if we haven’t, it’s going to take an extremely capable messenger to help America learn the lessons against socialism the easy way. In their absence, we will learn this historical lesson again, the hard way, and no one will be feeling very favorable toward the collectivist illusion then.