A recent Gallup poll found that 69 percent of millennials are ready and willing to vote for a socialist president. These findings come as no surprise in light of a Reason-Rupe poll that shows that the majority of Americans under the age of 30 hold a more favorable view of socialism than capitalism.
For years, the United States has operated as a capitalist nation in which the country’s industry and trade is controlled by private owners, rather than the state. However, millennials are becoming receptive to socialism, an ideology in which production and distribution are controlled by the state.
Not surprisingly, during his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders accumulated much support from millennials interested in shrinking the gap between the rich and the poor, and advancing the middle class.
However, polls suggest that millennials are not entirely aware of what a socialist government would look like.
In the Reason-Rupe survey, 58 percent of college-aged Americans expressed a positive view of socialism while 56 percent expressed a positive view of capitalism. However, 72 percent also said they were more favorable to a free market system, compared to the 49 percent who were in favor of a government-managed economy. Millennials don’t fully understand that a socialist government would mean a government-run economy.
The Gallup poll affirms a trend in which millennials in general are not particular when it comes to presidential candidates’ characteristics such as sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity.
This trend also applies to candidates’ political views. Millennials have made it clear that they are ready for change – even if they don’t quite understand what that change would bring.
