Take it with a grain of salt.
The average American thinks socialism is Bernie Sanders. The term has been completely coopted by SocDems at this point.
I want to point out the survey made a distinction between socialism and communism. 34% said they had a favorable view of communism. It’s not the same number, but it’s certainly closer to what you’re looking for, no?
“Strategically, we take the eating of a meal lightly, we know we can finish it. But actually we eat it mouthful by mouthful. It is impossible to swallow the entire banquet in one gulp”- Mao Zedong.
We can’t refuse to eat just because we want the whole meal immediately. Similarly, we can’t dismiss anything moving in a progressive direction because we want revolution today
I was hoping they got specific, but you’re right:
Cato Institute Senior Editor Michael Chapman explained that the poll did not define socialism, leaving it up to the respondents to determine what the term meant.
So kind of meaningless data, since we have no idea how the respondents define it in their head.
Still useful, when they don’t have a kneejerk reaction to the word.
You’re right, I did think of that some time after I posted. I’d be curious to know how it compares in that way to past decades, especially at the height of Red Scare propaganda.
It’s the accumulation of a quantity before the point in which a transformation in quality occurs, the conditions are growing more favorable for actual Socialism, and as more burn out on fake “socialism” they will be more receptive to the real deal. Behind the growth of “socialism” there are Marxist Leninists slipstreaming to catch those thrown off the “socialist” bus by disillusionment.
It’s not a binary, “is” or “isn’t” thing, the socdems represent the fear of the ruling class to appease the masses and cool revolutionary energy before it boils over, they are a weather vein that is showing that the winds are changing direction.
There are more decades in weeks ahead of us, even if the pendulum sometimes swings back to weeks in decades. (or at least seemingly)
Yatta yatta yatta “like a rope supports a hanged man”
