IT’S OFFICIAL—MOST DEMOCRATS ARE SOCIALISTS
There was a time, not too long ago, when to call someone a socialist was to stigmatize him. No more. Most Democrats proudly admit they are now socialists. Even communism is making a comeback.
Gallup released a survey on September 8 that found most Americans still view capitalism more favorably than socialism, but this is not true of Democrats. The researchers found that when comparing Republicans, Independents and Democrats, “Democrats are the only partisan group of the three that views socialism more positively than capitalism—66% to 42%, respectively.”
That 24 percent gap is significant. It explains the enthusiasm for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a professed socialist whose views more closely align with communist thought.
In April, CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, released the findings of a survey that found “more Democrats have positive views of socialism (67 percent) than capitalism (50 percent). Strong liberals lead the way with 82 percent having favorable views of socialism compared to 28 percent who feel positive toward capitalism.”
Even more stunning, fully a third (34 percent) of Americans have a favorable view of communism. Even though the communists in the twentieth century murdered over 150 million people—mostly in Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China and Pol Pot’s Cambodia—communism is gaining popularity in some quarters. Yet none of Marx’s fans want to move to North Korea.
From other surveys, we know that it is not those escaping socialist countries who are the most likely to support state-owned institutions, it is young college graduates, a disproportionate number of whom are women with no religious affiliation. Highly educated, and militantly secular, these Americans increasingly have nothing in common with the rest of the country. Worse, many of them hate America.
The Democratic Party is no longer the Party of JFK, LBJ, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. And it is not merely its affection for socialism that sets it apart. Their support for open borders, a relaxed attitude towards crime, and transgender mania have nothing to do with socialism—they represent a total loss of common sense and a penchant for self-destruction.
These Democrats may be highly educated—in the sense that they stayed in school for a long time—but that doesn’t mean they are well educated. Too many have adopted the ideological vision of man and society force-fed to them by an alienated and angry professoriate. Despite what they say, there is no such thing as democratic socialism: the Scandinavian countries are welfare-state economies—they are not an example of socialism. The face of socialism is Venezuela, not Sweden.
Anyone who says he believes in socialism, as do most Democrats these days, and denies its legacy—it is one of poverty and oppression—needs to talk to those Americans who have lived under socialist regimes. The Dems may be too far gone to change, but they will have no riposte worth noting.
Marx taught that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” More accurate was the French sociologist, Raymond Aron. He aptly observed that “Marxism is the opiate of the intellectual.” It’s now the official brand of the Democratic Party.