More Democrats view socialism favorably than do capitalism, according to a Fox News poll released this week.
The survey, conducted from August 7-10, showed at least 59 percent of registered Democrat voter participants view socialism positively, whereas 49 percent view capitalism in the same positive light.
The results show a big change from February last year, when the same question was asked and 50 percent of Democrats indicated a positive view of capitalism and just 40 percent sharing a favorable view of socialism.
Standing in sharp contrast to the Democrat population surveyed, Republican voters overwhelmingly view capitalism positively at 67 percent, whereas just 8 percent said they view socialism favorably.
The shift toward socialism among Democrat voters comes as self-described democratic socialists continue making waves in Congress. Both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders have gained influence on Capitol Hill, with the latter leading the charge to push through the $3.5 trillion budget legislation that he said would address “massive income and wealth inequality.”
“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, we will end the days of billionaires and large, profitable corporations not paying a nickel in federal income taxes. Yes. We will finally ask the very wealthy and largest corporations to pay their fair share of taxes,” Sanders tweeted.
Sanders, who owns three homes and has been a long-time critic of millionaires and billionaires, became a millionaire himself around 2016, largely due to his first run for the White House and his success as a best-selling author, CNN reported.
In 2019, Sanders came under fire when it was revealed he was paying some of his campaign employees an average of $13 per hour, despite pushing to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. The Washington Post reported that field organizers were working 60 hours per week on a salary of $36,000 annually.
The Post reviewed correspondence between Sanders’ staff and his campaign manager showing employees’ demands for a “living wage.”
“Given our campaign’s commitment to fighting for a living wage of at least $15.00 an hour, we believe it is only fair that the campaign would carry through this commitment of its own field team,” the letter stated.
According to a July survey by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Millennials largely associate socialism with positive words like “workers,” “public,” “equal,” and “fair.” In contrast, capitalism is linked to terms like “exploitative,” “unfair,” “the rich,” and “corporations.”
Of the young people surveyed, 75 percent agreed with the statement that “socialism is a good idea, but it has failed in the past because it has been badly done.”
