Socialism is a growing buzzword in America, and the 2020 elections brought it to the forefront. Many political candidates and experts promoted the concept directly or indirectly.
A recent survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University (ACU) found that despite the heavy promotion of socialist ideologies by leftists, the proportion of Americans who support socialism has declined after the 2020 presidential election.
Two years ago, almost 41 percent of American adults admitted to preferring socialism over capitalism. The figure has now dropped by 9 percentage points to just 32 percent. This decline represents 20 million Americans shifting away from socialism. Almost two-thirds of respondents admitted to preferring capitalism over socialism. Among self-identified Christians, support for socialism dropped to 30 percent.
For Americans between the ages of 30 and 49, the number of people in favor of socialism declined by 15 percentage points. It is down from 49 to 34 percent. Americans aged 50 and over remained the most supportive of capitalism, with pro-socialist tendencies dropping from 30 to 23 percent. Under the age of 30 displayed the highest affinity to the ideology, with 43 percent, down from 48 percent in 2018.
“The survey shows that having a biblical worldview is the best defense against embracing socialism… The findings also show support for socialism among younger Americans is declining — which means minds can be changed in the cultural debate of socialism versus capitalism. Our students are challenged to engage seriously with the moral and Scriptural arguments for the free market and to look critically at the ideas and consequences of socialism,” ACU President Len Munsil said in a statement.
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The three groups most likely to support capitalism over socialism are (a) people aged 50 and above at 23 percent, (b) political conservatives at 21 percent, and (c) those with a biblical worldview at 12 percent. Groups most likely to support socialism include (a) people under the age of 30 at 43 percent, (b) those who did not vote in the 2020 presidential election at 43 percent, (c) Democrats at 45 percent, and (d) political liberals at 54 percent.
Socialism versus capitalism
The fact that socialism is mostly in vogue among the younger generation has been shown in past surveys. Last year, a CBS documentary Speaking Frankly | Socialism explored how the ideology influenced America. “The democratic socialist movement is being driven by millennials, zoomers, younger people… Younger people are interested in socialism because we can see so clearly the failings of capitalism,” Jabari Brisport, a Brooklyn teacher, said in the program. A year earlier, Pew Research Center’s survey found that almost half the adults under the age of 30 had a positive view of socialism.
The anti-communist group Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s annual survey in 2020 found that socialist support among people between the ages of 16 and 23 grew by 10 percent, most likely due to the coronavirus pandemic’s consequent economic crisis. Almost 60 percent of millennials even supported a “complete change” of America’s economic system, away from capitalism. With a significant proportion of Americans desiring socialism, the country could soon see widespread policies that align with the ideology.
The present Democrat administration is already pursuing such policies. It recently promised to achieve racial equity, a socialist concept that seeks equality of results among races rather than focusing on equality of opportunity. The Biden administration has also pledged to reduce college tuition and even make it free, basically burning taxpayers’ dollars. As anti-socialist activist Maria Fernanda Bello says, socialism will always entice you with “free” everything, at the hefty price of liberty.
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