[Peace-discuss] Fw: Capitalism vs. Socialism: Big Surprises in Recent Polls

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Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 9:50 PM
Subject: Capitalism vs. Socialism: Big Surprises in Recent Polls


> Capitalism vs. Socialism: Big Surprises in Recent Polls
> 
> By Charles Derber
> CommonDreams
> May 18, 2010
> 
> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/18-3
> 
> According to the conventional wisdom, the US is a
> center-Right country. But a new poll by Pew casts doubt
> on that idea. It shows widespread skepticism about
> capitalism and hints that support for socialist
> alternatives is emerging as a majoritarian force in
> America's new generation.
> 
> Carried out in late April and published May 4, 2010,
> the Pew poll, arguably by the most respected polling
> company in the country, asked over 1500 randomly
> selected Americans to describe their reactions to terms
> such as "capitalism," "socialism," "progressive,"
> "libertarian" and "militia." The most striking findings
> concern "capitalism" and "socialism." We cannot be sure
> what people mean by these terms, so the results have to
> be interpreted cautiously and in the context of more
> specific attitudes on concrete issues, as discussed
> later.
> 
> Pew summarizes the results in its poll title:
> "Socialism not so negative; capitalism not so
> positive." This turns out to be an understatement of
> the drama in some of the underlying data.
> 
> Yes, "capitalism" is still viewed positively by a
> majority of Americans. But it is just by a bare
> majority. Only 52% of all Americans react positively.
> Thirty-seven percent say they have a negative reaction
> and the rest aren't sure.
> 
> A year ago, a Rasmussen poll found similar reactions.
> Then, only 53% of Americans described capitalism as
> "superior" to socialism.
> 
> Meanwhile, 29% in the Pew poll describe "socialism" as
> positive. This positive percent soars much higher when
> you look at key sub-groups, as discussed shortly. A
> 2010 Gallup poll found 37% of all Americans preferring
> socialism as "superior" to capitalism.
> 
> Keep in mind these findings reflect an overview of the
> public mind when Right wing views seem at a high point
> - with the Tea Party often cast as a barometer of
> American public opinion. The polls in this era do not
> suggest a socialist country, but not a capitalist-
> loving one either. This is not a "Center-Right" America
> but a populace where almost 50% are deeply ambivalent
> or clearly opposed to capitalism. Republicans and the
> Tea Party would likely call that a Communist country.
> 
> The story gets more interesting when you look at two
> vital sub-groups. One is young people, the "millennial
> generation" currently between 18 and 30. In the Pew
> poll, just 43% of Americans under 30 describe
> "capitalism" as positive. Even more striking, the same
> percentage, 43%, describes "socialism" as positive. In
> other words, the new generation is equally divided
> between capitalism and socialism.
> 
> The Pew, Gallup and Rasmussen polls come to the same
> conclusion. Young people cannot be characterized as a
> capitalist generation. They are half capitalist and
> half socialist. Since the socialist leaning keeps
> rising among the young, it suggests-depending on how
> you interpret "socialism"-that we are moving toward an
> America that is either Center-Left or actually
> majoritarian socialist.
> 
> Turn now to Republicans and Democrats. Sixty-two
> percent of Republicans in the Pew poll view capitalism
> as positive, although 81 % view "free markets" as
> positive, suggesting a sensible distinction in their
> mind between capitalism and free markets. Even
> Republicans prefer small to big business and are
> divided about big business, which many correctly see as
> a monopolistic force of capitalism undermining free
> markets.
> 
> The more interesting story, though, is about Democrats.
> We hear endlessly about Blue Dog Democrats. But the Pew
> poll shows a surprisingly progressive Democratic base.
> Democrats are almost equally split in their appraisal
> of capitalism and socialism. Forty-seven percent see
> capitalism as positive but 53% do not. And 44% of
> Democrats define socialism as positive, linking their
> negativity about capitalism to a positive affirmation
> of socialism.
> 
> Moreover, many other subgroups react negatively to
> capitalism. Less than 50% of women, low-income groups
> and less-educated groups describe capitalism as
> positive.
> 
> So much for the view that Obama does not have a strong
> progressive base to mobilize. In fact, "progressive,'
> according to the Pew poll, is one of the most positive
> terms in the American political lexicon, with a
> substantial majority of almost all sub-groups defining
> it as positive.
> 
> You may conclude that this all add ups to little, since
> we can't be clear about how people are defining
> "capitalism" and "socialism." But in my own research,
> summarized in recent books such as The New Feminized
> Majority and Morality Wars, attitudes registered in
> polls toward concrete issues over the last thirty years
> support the interpretation of the Pew data, at minimum,
> as evidence of a Center-Left country.
> 
> On nearly every major issue, from support minimum wage
> and unions, preference for diplomacy over force, deep
> concern for the environment, belief that big business
> is corrupting democracy, and support for many major
> social programs including Social Security and Medicare,
> the progressive position has been strong and relatively
> stable. If "socialism" means support for these issues,
> the interpretation of the Pew poll is a Center-Left
> country.
> 
> If socialism means a search for a genuine systemic
> alternative, then America, particularly its youth, is
> emerging as a majoritarian social democracy, or in a
> majoritarian search for a more cooperativist, green,
> and more peaceful and socially just order.
> 
> Either interpretation is hopeful. It should give
> progressives assurance that even in the "Age of the Tea
> Party," despite great dangers and growing concentrated
> corporate power and wealth, there is a strong base for
> progressive politics. We have to mobilize the majority
> population to recognize its own possibilities and turn
> up the heat on the Obama Administration and a
> demoralized Democratic Party. If we fail, the Right
> will take up the slack and impose its monopoly
> capitalist will on a reluctant populace.
> 
> Charles Derber, professor of sociology at Boston
> College and author of Corporation Nation and Greed to
> Green. He is on the Majority Agenda Project's
> coordinating committee (
> http://MajorityAgendaProject.org,
> info at majorityagendaproject.org).
> 
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