Capitalism vs. Socialism: Big Surprise in New Polls

Capitalism: Big Surprises in Recent Polls

A new Pew Poll shows widespread skepticism about capitalism and hints that support for socialist alternatives is emerging as a majoritarian force in America’s new generation.

Carried out in late April and published May 4, 2010, the Pew poll, asked over 1500 randomly selected Americans to describe their reactions to terms such as “capitalism,” “socialism,” “progressive,” “libertarian” and “militia.” The most striking findings concern “capitalism” and “socialism.”

Pew summarizes the results in its poll title: “Socialism not so negative; capitalism not so positive.”

“Capitalism” is still viewed positively by a majority of Americans. But it is just by a bare majority. Only 52% of all Americans react positively. Thirty-seven percent say they have a negative reaction and the rest aren’t sure.

A year ago, a Rasmussen poll found similar reactions. Then, only 53% of Americans described capitalism as “superior” to socialism.

Meanwhile, 29% in the Pew poll describe “socialism” as positive. This positive percent soars much higher when you look at key sub-groups, as discussed shortly. A 2010 Gallup poll found 37% of all Americans preferring socialism as “superior” to capitalism.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a “Center-Right” country but a populace where almost 50% are deeply ambivalent or clearly opposed to capitalism.

More interesting, in the Pew poll, just 43% of Americans under 30 describe “capitalism” as positive. Even more striking, the same percentage, 43%, describes “socialism” as positive. In other words, the new generation is equally divided between capitalism and socialism.

The Pew, Gallup and Rasmussen polls come to the same conclusion. Young people cannot be characterized as a capitalist generation. They are half capitalist and half socialist. Since the socialist leaning keeps rising among the young, it suggests—depending on how you interpret “socialism”—that we are moving toward an America that is either Center-Left or actually majoritarian socialist.

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In Defense of "Socialism"

The term "socialism" has long been thrown at liberals by their right-wing opponents, even when liberals act to reform and save capitalism. Barack Obama has been labelled a "socialist" and his "insurance reform" is being attacked as "socialized medicine," even though it is basically a Republican plan to mandate people buy private insurance and keeps the failing for-profit healthcare system in place.

Socialists must educate the public about what is and is NOT socialist. While liberals diligently reject the socialist label and side with conservatives to defend capitalism, we must assert that DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM is, in the words of Michael Harrington, the only "hope for human freedom and justice under the unprecedented conditions of life humanity faces in the twenty-first century."

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Socialism? Not Quite, Say the Socialists

In The Great Recession, Socialism Sells

In The Great Recession, Socialism Sells
By Shareen Pathak
from: COLUMBIA NEWS SERVICE

The Socialist Party’s chapter in New York City has a brand new member. Kimberley Ortiz, 25, is a single mother from the Bronx who had never heard of socialism until six months ago, when her co-worker handed her a piece of paper with the details of the Socialist Party’s next meeting.

“He told me, there is a word for what you believe in,” she says. “Socialism.”

Ortiz attended the meeting, and the one after that, and the one after that. She became an official member of the party on Feb. 12.

The economic crisis may have sounded a death knell for investment banks, construction companies and countless small businesses, but there are some groups that are benefittng from the general malaise. Alternative political movements such as communism and socialism are hoping that some Americans will go outside the mainstream and adopt a socialist ideology, breathing new life into these organizations.

“I want to put a normal face on socialism, which looks like this big scary thing for most people,” says Ortiz, who has been working alongside party members, translating fliers into Spanish and handing them out. She says that she has been seeing a steady increase in the number of new faces at every meeting.

“I want more people like me to join, single moms and regular people, y’know?”

Officials from the Communist Party USA and the Socialist Party USA say they have never seen such interest from Americans as they see today. A poll conducted by Rasmussen in 2009 showed that 20 percent of Americans favor socialism over capitalism, with more support among younger people. Of adults under 30, 37 percent of them said socialism was the better choice.

Though Ortiz had never heard of socialism, she thinks that in her own way, she had always been championing its cause. “I had been inquiring about a union at my workplace, and pointing out unjust and unfair treatment,” says Ortiz, who works in food services at the Statue of Liberty. “I work my tail off at this job and I don’t get paid what I deserve, and being a woman doesn’t help my chances at promotion either.”


read the full article at: http://columbianewsservice.com/2010/02/leftists-profit-from-economic-crisis/