4 in 10 now say socialism would be good for US: Gallup poll

anatta

100% recycled karma
More than 4 in 10 respondents in a new Gallup poll now say that socialism would be a good thing for the U.S.

The survey results, released Monday, found that 43 percent of respondents said “some form of socialism” would be a good thing for the nation as a whole.

A little more than half — 51 percent — said that socialism would be a bad thing for the country. And 6 percent said they did not have an opinion.

The results show an increase of 15 points in the number of respondents who said socialism would be a good thing compared to a 1942 Roper/Fortune survey, in which just 25 percent of respondents said socialism would be a good thing and 40 percent said it would be bad.

The results contrast with a Monmouth University poll from earlier this month which found that 57 percent of voters believe that socialism is incompatible with American values.

The Gallup poll, which collected data between April 17-30, comes as more high-profile politicians label themselves socialist. Most notably, self-avowed democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has continued to poll in the top tier of the pool of 2020 Democratic candidates for president, though most of his competitors have distanced themselves from the label.

As the 2020 battle gets underway, Republicans have widely targeted Democrats for allegedly “embracing” socialism.

Gallup also found that Americans are more likely to favor free market over government control on a number of issues, including technological innovation, wealth distribution, the economy, wages, higher education and health care. Respondents favored government control in just two categories: environmental protection and consumers’ online privacy protection.

Respondents were split on their description of the U.S. economy, with 40 percent saying it leans more toward government control, 34 percent saying it leans toward free market control and 25 percent describing it as an equal mix of the two.

The poll of 1,024 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brie...0-now-say-socialism-would-be-good-for-us-poll
 
4 in 10 now say socialism would be good for US: Gallup poll

The survey results, released Monday, found that 43 percent of respondents said some form of socialism” would be a good thing for the nation as a whole.

Money quote there is "some form" of socialism.

The hybrid socialist-free market economies of Scandinavia are among most admired socio-economic systems in human history.

Teabaggers have a vested interest is trying to conflate socialism with the totalitarian Leninist state epitomized by the Soviet Union. For very obvious reasons. Because the hybrid socialist-free market economies of northern Europe are shining examples of success stories in human history.

Albert Einstein was the most credible and influential person of the 20th century to argue on behalf of democratic socialism in the face of the immorality of unrestrained capitalism

Albert Einstein: Why Socialism?

Einstein demonstrated his own resolve in the face of hostile criticism in 1949 when he published the influential article “Why Socialism?” in the inaugural issue of Monthly Review

Einstein’s socialism was that of the democratic left, which distinguished itself from the communist left by its deep commitment to constitutional, electoral procedures and gradual social reform.

In his thoughtful and densely argued 1949 essay, Einstein argued for a planned economy but warned that it carried with it the risk that an all-powerful bureaucracy could become as much of a threat to the rights of the individual as is the unchecked competitiveness of capitalism.

Einstein noted that democratic government under capitalism cannot be trusted to protect ordinary working people because political parties are financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who constitute an “oligarchy of private capital.” The worst evil of capitalism, he wrote, was “the crippling of individuals.”

Einstein was always clear and firm in condemning what was going on in Stalin’s Soviet Union


source credit: Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian, course notes, professor Don Howard, Notre Dame University
 
Money quote there is "some form" of socialism.

The hybrid socialist-free market economies of Scandinavia are, and have been, among most admired socio-economic systems in human history.



Teabaggers have a vested interest is trying to conflate socialism with the totalitarian Leninist state epitomized by the Soviet Union. For very obvious reasons. The hybrid socialist-free market economies of northern Europe are shining examples of success stories in human history.

Albert Einstein was the most credible and influential person of the 20th century to argue on behalf of democratic socialism in the face of the immorality of unrestrained capitalism

There is nothing socialist about those countries. Einstein was wrong.
 
Money quote there is "some form" of socialism.

The hybrid socialist-free market economies of Scandinavia are among most admired socio-economic systems in human history.

Teabaggers have a vested interest is trying to conflate socialism with the totalitarian Leninist state epitomized by the Soviet Union. For very obvious reasons. Because the hybrid socialist-free market economies of northern Europe are shining examples of success stories in human history.

Albert Einstein was the most credible and influential person of the 20th century to argue on behalf of democratic socialism in the face of the immorality of unrestrained capitalism

What we have now is an Oligarchy of private capital.
 
There is nothing socialist about those countries. Einstein was wrong.

If you're going by the original Marxist definition, then yes.
But thanks to Fox News, Socialism has been redefined in America. When Americans say they want Socialism, they mean the economic policies of Scandinavian countries.
 
There is nothing socialist about those countries. Einstein was wrong.

You are an anonymous poster on an obscure message board with no voice in the public commons, and zero influence whatsoever.

Prominent Republicans, the Vice President, and noted Conservatives have specifically and explicitly said that western Europe, Scandinavia, et al are "socialist" countries.

Leading Republicans Refer to Western Europe as "Socialists"
....(and let's not forget, rightwing message boarders have spent years calling western Europe "socialist")......
Lately it seems that not a day goes by without a Republican presidential candidate portraying Europe as a socialist nightmare. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum paint a picture of the Old World as unfree, strangulated by bureaucratic and inefficient welfare systems, and unable to reform and modernize. To these Republicans, Europe seems to be the antipode to everything America is meant to be.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.310f3f267a8a

Leading Republicans Call Western Europe "Socialist"
Newt Gingrich has constantly accused the president of being a "European Socialist", often adding in a reference to an all-but-forgotten community activist from Chicago, who died in 1972, but whose Democratic-leaning writings are thought to have influenced the current president

"I am for the Declaration of Independence; he is for the writing of Saul Alinsky. I am for the Constitution; he is for European socialism," Mr Gingrich told voters in Florida last week.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16583813

Bill O'Reilly noted rightwing blowhard: Western Europe is basically socialist
"I received a letter from Rhonda Hallett who lives in Jacksonville, North Carolina asking me to define Bernie's doctrine of Democratic socialism. Ok. That's basically what some countries in western Europe have, a political system that limits personal income through taxation in return for cradle to grave payouts from the governments. That's the trade."
http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/02/14...atic-socialism

Mike Pence is on record referring to western Europe as "socialist".
when Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, denounced “European-style socialism,” in his speech at the conference on Thursday, the jeers from the crowd did not exactly signal an openness to debate it on the merits.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/w...leibovich.html

European socialism taking root in US, Fox News's Stuart Varney says
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics...us-varney-says
 
You are an anonymous poster on an obscure message board with no voice in the public commons, and zero influence whatsoever.

Prominent Republicans, the Vice President, and noted Conservatives have specifically and explicitly said that western Europe, Scandinavia, et al are "socialist" countries.

Oh, influence makes something true or false? Spoken like a true socialist.

So why is most of the economy in Scandanavian countries controlled by private investors? That sounds like the exact opposite of socialism.
 
If you're going by the original Marxist definition, then yes.
But thanks to Fox News, Socialism has been redefined in America. When Americans say they want Socialism, they mean the economic policies of Scandinavian countries.

They're wrong. They're going to get real socialism, the type of Venezuela or Cuba. What they should be doing is championing the free market and capitalism, just like the Nordic model.
 
Oh, influence makes something true or false? Spoken like a true socialist.

So why is most of the economy in Scandanavian countries controlled by private investors? That sounds like the exact opposite of socialism.

Your own party calls western Europe socialist, per my previous response. Your opinion is meaningless, because you simply want socialism to be conflated with the USSR and Stalin.

I want to be like Norway. Or Sweden. Or Denmark.

The Norwegian government owns substantial portions of the nation's energy, oil, gas, hydroelectric, banking, and financial services. In trust and on behalf of the Norwegian people.
https://www.justplainpolitics.com/s...for-the-right)-in-quote&p=2929942#post2929942
 
They're wrong. They're going to get real socialism, the type of Venezuela or Cuba. What they should be doing is championing the free market and capitalism, just like the Nordic model.

I doubt that. No mainstream American politician wants that kind of Socialism. Even Sanders and AOC don't want that.
 
They're wrong. They're going to get real socialism, the type of Venezuela or Cuba. What they should be doing is championing the free market and capitalism, just like the Nordic model.

Bald-face lying is not helping your case, and making you look dishonest and trollish.

There are no American liberals who want to be like Cuba.

They want to emulate Norway or Sweden. And that is what frightens teabaggers. Teabaggers know full well that the hybrid mixed economies of the Scandinavian social welfare states are among the most admired in all of human history.
 
Your own party calls western Europe socialist, per my previous response. Your opinion is meaningless, because you simply want socialism to be conflated with the USSR and Stalin.

I want to be like Norway. Or Sweden. Or Denmark.

The Norwegian government owns substantial portions of the nation's energy, oil, gas, hydroelectric, banking, and financial services. In trust and on behalf of the Norwegian people.
https://www.justplainpolitics.com/s...for-the-right)-in-quote&p=2929942#post2929942

Then you want state capitalism. Your opinion is meaningless because it is wrong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism
 
Bald-face lying is not helping your case, and making you look dishonest and trollish.

There are no American liberals who want to be like Cuba.

They want to emulate Norway or Sweden. And that is what frightens teabaggers. Teabaggers know they hybrid mixed economies of the Scandinavia social welfare states are among the most admired in all of human history.

I don't care what you think I look like, because you don't know anything.
 
If you're going by the original Marxist definition, then yes.
But thanks to Fox News, Socialism has been redefined in America. When Americans say they want Socialism, they mean the economic policies of Scandinavian countries.

Yet those Scandinavian countries that you admire are moving away from the cradle to grave welfare model. There is no way on Earth that the high taxes of Scandinavia would be tolerated in the US, the consensus in Europe is breaking down, due in part to high immigration, and the resultant deliterious effect on the Welfare State and also the postwar consensus is no longer sustainable.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-26/now-even-swedes-are-questioning-the-welfare-state
 
Last edited:
Then they shouldn't say they want socialism, or any kind of socialism.

Maybe, but words change over time. After the GOP and Fox News spent eight years calling Obama a Socialist, most Americans now think any government regulations that help the working-class are Socialism.
So if you say you want Democratic Socialism, people know what you mean. The word has evolved and now means something like Nordic economics.
 
Back
Top