Millennial Socialist Moment Mostly Media Hype – Reason (blog)
Michael Nigro/ZUMA Press/NewscomAre millennials increasingly anti-capitalist? That's the question Chicago public radio station WBEZ posed recently to me and The Nation's Sarah Leonard. (You can listen to the whole thing here.)
"The explosive popularity of Bernie Sanders in the U.S. and Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K. among younger voters revealed millennials' desire for a new economic system," states the promo for the segment on WBEZ program Worldview. "It's no wonder, as millennials are likely to be economically worse off than their parents or grandparents, especially those who became job-seeking adults after the Great Recession of 2008."
That all makes for a tidy narrative, but it's one built on the flimsiest of evidence. The main data offered during the Worldview segment was a 2016 Harvard poll, in which 51 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents had an unfavorable view of capitalism. But as I pointed out at the time (and on the show), the same poll showed that an even greater number of young people59 percenthad an unfavorable view of socialism.
And while 42 percent of the millennials that Harvard surveyed had a positive view of capitalism, just 33 percent had a positive view of socialism.
In an array of other surveys from the past few years, millennial support for socialist and capitalist policies varies widely based on how poll questions are asked. For instance, socialism is much more popular than a government-managed economy, and a free-market economy is more popular than capitalism. And in policy-based polls, millennial economic preferences run the gamut. Yes, many support student-loan forgiveness programs and government-managed health care, but they also express strong support for entrepreneurship, dream of owning their own small businesses, and reject hypothetical government expansions when they come with personal tax hikes. In other words...they look a lot like Americans across the age spectrum.
Polls only tell part of the story, of course, but the part they do tell is not one of an increasingly socialist youth populace. That's probably important to keep in mind as the media coalesces on the Socialist Moment plot-line. Sure, the leftist podcast Chapo Trap House has a lot of fans, and more Twitter avatars now sport red roses (long a socialist symbol). But the subset of American young people poised to notice either of those things is infinitesimally smaller than those who aren't. These are the kinds of affectations and antiheroes that the media latch onto and elevate becauselike the Pepe the Frogtweeting alt-right accounts during the electionthey're very salient in online media and activism worlds. But it's a mistake to take that salience as indicative of actual numbers or influence.
So what about Bernie? Yes, young Americans vastly preferred the socialist-lite Vermont senator to Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or any of the GOP-primary candidates. But their alternatives were Clinton, Trump, and the likes of Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. They are the most establishment of The Establishment, with the exception of Trumpwho, like Sanders, benefited from people's desperation to ditch this dynastic, cronyist electoral loop we seemed caught in. That Sanders secured so much millennial support doesn't necessarily equate to a full socialist embrace by these young folks, just that he was the best of exceedingly bad options.
To their credit, more committed and long-term leftists have managed to swing some of Bernie's millennial momentum into post-election momentum for leftist policies more broadly. And young people are certainlynow and at least throughout recent historymore receptive to redistributive economic policies and strict labor regulation. Perhaps the left can capture some of these tepid socialism supporters at the right moment to convert them for good, and this same discussion will look a lot different in a few years.
But I doubt it. Sandersand Trumpseem to me the 2016 heirs of the Hope and Change phenomenon, which propelled not just Barack Obama to 2008 victory but the rise of the Ron Paul movement. At its essence is the idea the system is fundamentally broken and only bold changes can begin to fix it. And the particulars of these bold changes seem to matter less than how convincing their messenger and the movement around them.
I was amazed talking to young people last year how many had been Paul and/or Obama fans in previous election cycles yet were now professing support for Sanders or Trump. The vast political gulfs between these candidates (especially on economic issues) didn't resonate as much as the areas and ways in which they promised reform.
Older folks and the extremely party-loyal tend to take this as youthful flakiness, a side-effect of unserious passions, hastily-conceived beliefs, or a juvenile contrarian streak. But perhaps a lot of younger Americansnot yet sold on the idea that it's one's civic duty to choose the lesser of two evils at election time, nor narcotized by years of show-pony partisanship into believing in vast differences between Democrats and Republicansare reacting rationally to the options presented to them. The good news for libertarians (and socialists) is that millennials are definitely dissatisfied with the centrist Republican-Democrat status quo. But as the 2016 election made clear, there's room for this dissatisfaction to go in all sorts of different and unexpected directions.
See original here:
Millennial Socialist Moment Mostly Media Hype - Reason (blog)
- Hasan Piker on Streaming, Zohran Mamdani, and the Future of Socialism - Home Current Affairs - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- What Would Zohran Do? Reflections on the Prospects for Democratic Socialism in a Small College Town - Amherst Indy - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Business Rundown: Zohran Mamdanis Rise And The Socialism Threat - FOX News Radio - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Trump ramps up private sector intervention even as he warns of socialism - Washington Examiner - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Dont let New York beta test socialism for the rest of America - Washington Examiner - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Labour has just exposed socialism as an exhausted ideology - The Telegraph - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Trump Keeps Blurring the Line Between Capitalism and Socialism - The Wall Street Journal - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats on all levels are mainstreaming socialism - The Hill - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Trace Gallagher: Turns out it's socialism that never has to say sorry - Yahoo - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- People Vote for Conservative Policies, Get Socialism Interview With Gerald Grosz - Hungary Today - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Socialism on the Hudson - Manhattan Institute - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Imperialism cannot make us abandon the path of socialism, reaffirms Cuban foreign minister - Peoples Dispatch - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Trace Gallagher: Turns out it's socialism that never has to say sorry - Fox News - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- "Deconstructing Settler Socialism - Anarchism and the Internationals in the Wild West" - Author Talk - Indybay - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats Increasingly Favor Socialism Over Capitalism in Shocking Polling Shift - MSN - September 30th, 2025 [September 30th, 2025]
- Socialism intends to extinguish the light of Freedom in Spain: Lets turn on more - Contando Estrelas - September 30th, 2025 [September 30th, 2025]
- Zack Polanskis socialism response is really resonating with people - thecanary.co - September 30th, 2025 [September 30th, 2025]
- Why its folly to recycle a failed ideology like socialism in India - Times of India - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- SBAs Loeffler: NYC businesses sound alarm as socialism, population loss, and capital flight threaten growth - Fox Business - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- Why its a folly to recycle a failed ideology like socialism in India - Times of India - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- Why socialism resonates with Gen Z and Millennials across the USand how it reshaped NYC politics - Moneycontrol - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- SBAs Loeffler: NYC businesses sound alarm as socialism, population loss, and capital flight threaten growth - MSN - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- Texas State professor fired over comments at socialism conference to be reinstated as legal process unfolds - KVUE - September 28th, 2025 [September 28th, 2025]
- The legacy of Indian socialism cant be allowed to fade away. Its the Left we need - The Indian Express - September 25th, 2025 [September 25th, 2025]
- Acton Institute grant funds an exploration of capitalism versus socialism in the Johnson Center for Political Economy - Troy University - September 25th, 2025 [September 25th, 2025]
- The economy's moribund. Socialism rules. Police come knocking if you say or think the wrong thing. Now, in an authoritarian new plan that'll make... - September 25th, 2025 [September 25th, 2025]
- Socialism or barbarism: Why you should be a communist - Revolutionary Communist Party - September 23rd, 2025 [September 23rd, 2025]
- Curriculum, teaching syllabus on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era published - China Daily - September 23rd, 2025 [September 23rd, 2025]
- 67: Fighting for socialism in the United States - Green Left - September 21st, 2025 [September 21st, 2025]
- Berrien Makes Hongs Socialism Focus of Governors Race - MacIver Institute - September 19th, 2025 [September 19th, 2025]
- Shashi Tharoor writes: Rethinking capitalism and socialism in India and beyond - The Indian Express - September 19th, 2025 [September 19th, 2025]
- Tenured Texas State professor fired for comments at socialism conference sues university over termination - KVUE - September 19th, 2025 [September 19th, 2025]
- How Does Socialism With Chinese Characteristics Actually Look and Feel Like? - TheWire.in - September 19th, 2025 [September 19th, 2025]
- Are Americans ready for the reality of socialism? - Fox News - September 17th, 2025 [September 17th, 2025]
- Charlie Kirk's faith, are Americans ready for socialism, and more from Fox News Opinion - Fox News - September 17th, 2025 [September 17th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - Corvallis Gazette-Times - September 17th, 2025 [September 17th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - STLtoday.com - September 15th, 2025 [September 15th, 2025]
- Socialism and Communism Arent What You Think They Are - Vision Times - September 13th, 2025 [September 13th, 2025]
- NYC voters wary of Mamdanis socialism, but split field keeps him in the lead - Jewish Insider - September 13th, 2025 [September 13th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - MSN - September 13th, 2025 [September 13th, 2025]
- Is US government stake in Intel a good idea or socialism or both? - Asia Times - September 13th, 2025 [September 13th, 2025]
- Gutfeld: Socialism must be perfect to work, which is why it must be done with force - Fox News - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- No, East Germany Wasnt Socialist and Neither Is Democratic Socialism - Left Voice - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Morning Joe Rips Trump Administration's University Patent Proposal as 'Full, Blown-Out Socialism' | Video - TheWrap - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Take up the fight for socialism! Mobilise the working class against genocide, dictatorship and world war! - World Socialist Web Site - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Salazar denounces horrors of socialism in newly introduced resolution - Ripon Advance - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Critics Call the Government's Stake in Intel Socialism. Are They Right? - DTN Progressive Farmer - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- The Socialism of Fools Reaches Record Levels in Britain, Having Doubled in Four Years - The New York Sun - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Americans positive view of capitalism falls, while thoughts on socialism rise - Straight Arrow News - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- 'Socialism': Joe slams Trump official for saying U.S. should take chunk of college's patent revenue - yahoo.com - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Gutfeld: Socialism must be perfect to work, which is why it must be done with force - MSN - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- Americans' positive view of capitalism falls, while thoughts on socialism rise - MSN - September 11th, 2025 [September 11th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - AP News - September 9th, 2025 [September 9th, 2025]
- Poll: What Americans think about socialism and capitalism - niagara-gazette.com - September 9th, 2025 [September 9th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - Carolina Coast Online - September 9th, 2025 [September 9th, 2025]
- What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll - Weatherford Democrat - September 9th, 2025 [September 9th, 2025]
- This is socialism: Trumps private sector intervention causes heartburn on right - Roll Call - September 6th, 2025 [September 6th, 2025]
- AJC readers write about green energy needs and a deal that looks like socialism - AJC.com - September 6th, 2025 [September 6th, 2025]
- Xi Jinping bonds with Kim Jong Un over 'common ideals' of socialism at first meeting in years - Washington Examiner - September 5th, 2025 [September 5th, 2025]
- Farage deputy Richard Tice: "Some of our policies... are a form of socialism" - IAI TV - September 5th, 2025 [September 5th, 2025]
- Exploring the Art of Radicalization at Socialism 2025 - Weave News - September 5th, 2025 [September 5th, 2025]
- Trump brings socialism to the USA - The Hill - September 3rd, 2025 [September 3rd, 2025]
- NYT reporter: The closest Zohran Mamdani gets to socialism is his belief in 'treating people more equitably' - yahoo.com - September 3rd, 2025 [September 3rd, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - Arizona Daily Star - September 3rd, 2025 [September 3rd, 2025]
- Is That Socialism? The U.S. Governments Share of Intel - Advisor Perspectives - September 3rd, 2025 [September 3rd, 2025]
- What to Know About Zohran Mamdani and Democratic Socialism - The New York Times - September 1st, 2025 [September 1st, 2025]
- NYT reporter: The closest Zohran Mamdani gets to socialism is his belief in 'treating people more equitably' - Fox News - September 1st, 2025 [September 1st, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - Wahoo Newspaper - September 1st, 2025 [September 1st, 2025]
- Socialism has no place in New York City (letter to the editor) - SILive.com - August 29th, 2025 [August 29th, 2025]
- Trump buying shares of Intel is socialism! Government should stay out! Robby Soave | RISING - The Hill - August 29th, 2025 [August 29th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - AP News - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Socialism Is Right Here In Donald Trumps America. Rejoice! - The Daily Beast - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Other Views: Bolivia turns the page on socialism - Yakima Herald-Republic - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - MSN - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - PinalCentral.com - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - The Killeen Daily Herald - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- 'State-owned enterprise is not the American way' GOP senators, former Trump associates question White Houses 10% stake in Intel, critics brand move... - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - Ottumwa Courier - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - couriernews.com - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]
- Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party, but he vows more deals are coming - thederrick.com - August 27th, 2025 [August 27th, 2025]