These polls need to be paired with people being asked to define socialism. It’s always very interesting to get a gauge on how many people define it correctly in the marxist way.
Its kind of a funny thing because very popular policies like free healthcare, free education, and even stuff like legal weed get called socialism by the right. So it’s understandable that a lot of normal folks come to the conclusion that this socialism stuff is pretty cool. I just assume that, to most Americans, socialism just means large-scale socdem programs, (which, stay with me for a moment) would still be a big win for the American working class… so I’ll take it.
this is why you need a vanguard. the unprincipled masses will support “socialism” and some of us who know that means more than the government doing stuff need to be leading.
you also have to watch out for nazis because they’ll fly red flags and call themselves socialist and boggart that public support.
That is literally how I became a communist, I just said I wanted to make everything better got called a communist and then a week later I was listening to Das Kapital audio books and watching David Harveys college lectures so I could understand it better. So it kinda works lol
It does actually work yeah. Folks like you are the ideal candidates for teach-ins, reading groups, etc. Feeder and education events so that people who are like, “maybe I’m socialist?” can become socialists.
In the UK a similar survey to this was taken a few years ago but it included the pairing with gauging how people define it:
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/new-poll-finds-strong-support-socialism-uk
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29% of 18-34s support Communism
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53% of 18-34s support Socialism
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39% of all people in the UK surveyed (all age groups) also defined Socialism correctly
“Worryingly, young people in the uk also have the highest support for communism”
Lol. Lmao.
I think having a multiple choice option biases it a bit.
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It’s progress. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s not nothing either. I’m not convinced that Demsocs will get us where we need to go, and I think revolution is the only true way to get there, but I’m willing to hear them out and give them a chance, and we’ll be there for them if and when they either exhaust themselves or reach our way of thinking.
Also most successful communist movements spawned either from a social democratic movement that was resisted too much (Like the RSDLP), or from anti-colonial movements (which isn’t really relevant to the US)
The main counter example being the GDR, which came from military occupation by a communist power, which has always been what I assumed was the most likely method of getting socialism in the US, but I’d prefer to not have a global war so destructive that the United States gets occupied by China.
What if the national debt paranoia of previous conservatives was true, and China simply reposses the country?
🤞
It’s only to lull them back into complacency, consumerism, and inertia.
Very few will do that but I would wager a pleasing percentage will be critical of capitalism and that’s better than “Bernie Sanders is socialism”-based polling.
https://www.cato.org/blog/young-americans-socialism-too-much-thats-problem-libertarians-must-fix
There isn’t a graph of the socialism question age break down shown.
A total of 43 percent said they have a “favorable” view of socialism, and for those aged 18–29, 62 percent said favorable. For communism, a total of 14 percent said they have a favorable view; however, in the 18–29 group, 34 percent said favorable. That’s about 18 million people. (The findings are estimates: there are an estimated 52 million Americans aged 18–29, so 34 percent is 17.68 million; 62 percent of that age group is roughly 32 million people.)
report on the survey (does not include age breakdown on results): https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2025-04/Tax Policy Survey_2025_2.pdf
Considering how the US education system vilifies communism in the same vein of fascism, with political indoctrination from elementary to middle to high school, 1 in 3 young ppl favoring communism is honestly amazing
And this report is from early 2025, so if the trend is holding, it’s probably even more than that now.
Socialism is when the government does stuff.
I’m feeling some vertigo lately because I seem to remember a bunch of socialists winning elections during Trump‘s first term and then just turning into liberals as soon as the Democrats took back the White House.
we’ve had the discussion about whether or not they are socialists, i just hope they support the end of all the imperialism.
if they stand on their own two legs i don’t care what lessons they still need to learn.
I wouldn’t read into this much. This just means they want free weed and legal college like in le epic Norway or whatever.
The fact that they don’t reflexively hate the term is great progress, though. Now we just need to get to that point with the word “communist” and “anarchist”, which are still sort of vilified.
Socialism? You mean like Sweden :^)
Destigmatizing the term is still good, and people who are already on board with “socialism” (Scandinavian style social democracy) are far more open to socialism (unionization, democratic control of capital, workplace democracy, etc.)
I was joking and my post was meant tongue in cheek. I was just thinking asking them if they support communism would be more interesting. Since that is the one that gets libs scared. But yeah its good to see a widerspread support of socialism.
I do think I saw a poll ask that question recently and iirc while it was certainly less than socialism it was the highest support it’s had in 50+ years
asking them if they support communism would be more interesting
They did ask that, the overall % of people who view communism favorably is 14% and among 18-29 YOs it’s 34%.
socialism (unionization, democratic control of capital, workplace democracy, etc.)
Another comment in the thread was curious if the polled youth could define socialism. Well if the modern education system taught me anything, it’s how to copy homework!
Sometimes. I have met very committed liberals that want those things in technocratic capitalist ways and are the most insufferable and condescending people you’ll ever meet.
Believe it or not I’ve seen it at multiple unions.
