Karl Marx believed that “Democracy is the road to socialism.” Socialists seem to have found a generation of dupes to buy their ahistorical, fanciful pitch. A new poll shows 43% now have a positive view of socialism. An astonishing 65% of Democrats have a positive view. Socialism is now the rage on the left.
Like clothing styles, if you wait long enough, socialism tends to come back into style with generations with no memory of past failures. However, it is an astonishing trend in one of the most prosperous nations on Earth that outlasted a history cluttered with the broken failures of socialist and communist systems.
A new slick packaging of socialism has emerged with leaders such as Zohran Mamdani offering to teach people of the “warmth of collectivism.” The Democratic Socialists of America are enticing voters with narratives like “Imagine the end of capitalism.” Those words promise voters that there is a brave new world without landlords, debt, mandatory work hours, and “food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation… are common goods and utilities.”
What is incredible is that many are buying this pitch.
It is also ironic that this is happening not just on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence but also on the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
As I write in Rage and the Republic:
“While he never visited the United States, his theories seemed quintessentially American to many of his generation. For a revolution that was triggered by tariffs and fueled by events like the Boston Tea Party, Smith’s general principles read like an economic version of Common Sense. It was a type of declaration of independence not just from the British policy of mercantilism (emphasizing British exports over imports) but from economic controls over individual productivity and self-determination….
In summary, Smith was first and foremost viewed as a political theorist, and his economic theories were closely tied to his views on the natural liberties of humanity. He saw capitalism as a liberating system for individuals to allow them the wealth and resources to pursue their own chosen paths. Conversely, he saw government controls and subsidies as forms of control and potentially forms of suppression of the human will. If people are to be truly free, they must have the resources to pursue that freedom. The government dole can become a type of servitude or at least a subterfuge for citizens. If they are dependent on the government, they are never truly free.”
The book compares many of these proposals to identical policies of the Jacobin movement in the French Revolution. Both the American and French revolutions arose during the same period, but one became the world’s oldest democracy while the other became the blood-soaked “The Reign of Terror.”
Notably, the Jacobins pushed for the same unicameral system that the socialists are now advocating as well as attacks on the wealthy.
The DSA is the direct descendant of the Jacobins in seeking to tear down moderating institutions and replace the president and justices with democratically elected figures by a Congress composed only of the House of Representatives.
As with the original Jacobins, those demanding these changes are not the working class but professors, pundits and young college-educated voters.
Pushing this analogy to a more menacing level, another poll shows that roughly 60 percent of Democrats now would support a military coup to remove President Donald Trump.
The return of socialism is like the reappearance of low-rise jeans. You are left mystified by anyone who believes that this is a worthy theory to emulate after consistent and catastrophic failures. Long forgotten is the disaster of the socialist government of François Mitterrand in France.
Most recently, Prime Minister Andy Burnham condemned the privatization policies of Margaret Thatcher: “The country surrendered control of the essentials — housing, water, energy, transport — and left people exposed to higher costs.” What he does not mention is that she followed the collapse of socialist policies under Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1977–78 during the so-called “winter of discontent,” which I also discuss in the book.
Perhaps Marx was right after all: “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.”
Jonathan Turley is the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
What is the age group of this poll? Older Americans do know the difference. And doesn’t it take 2/3 majority to make changes to the Constitution?
No, it’s best of nine, i.e. 5-4.
I would rephrase that; almost half of Americans have been successfully indoctrinated to believe an ideology about which they know very little and understand nothing. They are living in a fantasy world created by the prog media/education industry.
You and suezappa always appear at the same time. Same style and vehemence.
A great distraction from the Epstein files and a $40 trillion national debt!
The vast majority of voters support public schools, public universities, public police departments, public fire departments, public roadways, public infrastructure, Social Security (partially subsidized) and Medicare (partially subsidized).
Trump acquired government ownership of corporations, a form of socialism.
The desire to steal and covet another mans goods are intertwined on the Boa constrictor vine. The “warmth of socialism” has always been accompanied by warm blood on the ground. As has been proven by the recent polling, those who call for the “warmth of socialism” are more than willing to see the assassination of an American President to gain their ends.
A more appropriate naming would be “the ice in the veins of socialism”. If a person were to ignore history would it be correct to say that such a person would be too blind to read a book or too deaf to listen to an audiobook explaining the history of socialism over more than two hundred years? Those deaf dumb and blind kids sure play a mean pin ball bouncing about the common man. The difference is a game of life and death for those who refuse to comply. The construction of a hiding closet could soon be in order if the socialist succeed in their endeavor. It is not the time for the continuing of the practice of hiding ones head in the sand.
If socialism is so terrific, why did thousands of Cubans flee their homeland when Castro imposed “socialism” on them??? My family had neighbors who had risked their lives fleeing Cuba after Castro’s takeover! The biggest problem is that today’s Americans have had it far too easy! We’ve never had to put our lives on the line in order to live in the US. Now far too many stupid young Americans who’ve been taught by equally stupid “professors” who also never had to put their lives on the line for our nation are trying to change our nation into a commie cesspool!
Lot’s of talk girl. Now start a 2nd Civil War and cleanup the mess you let happen. Let’s see some girls finally man-up do some damage.
The economic prospects of young college graduates and professors is diminishing rapidly, so they are lashing out.
Incredible? Not at all if you consider who is running K-12 education, higher education, Hollywood, most of TV, etc. Young adults today have been brainwashed since the first grade.
Come off it man. You were born in the 50’s and ate-up TV , Hollywood etc. too. Brainwashed? You still Beaver is a real kid.
On this report, I’m reluctant to suggest another cause. Currently, we have another factor in this country: exhaustion with the news and this has led partly to the rage. As well, we are confused by uncertainty – now running at least ten years, probably fifteen. The public has been fed countless contradictions. Let me list a few:
Get Obama care, its cheaper and you keep your doctor.
The border is closed but it seemed open.
Biden is as sharp as a tack, but he falls asleep in meetings.
The economy is terrible, but people are making more money than ever.
Hamas is good, but they slaughter Jews and Palestinians.
Iran was months from having a nuclear weapon, but this war is dead wrong.
Trump is corrupt, but he is fighting corruption at home and evil in the world.
Murder is bad, but for some regular people it’s justified.
All of this was churned and whipped up and over again by the press. Socialism seems to be a change, an alternative to the frenzy in the country. In my view, the people don’t really want it. They want normalcy. They don’t like this “down the rabbit hole” environment.
You must have a historically ignorant (dumbed down), psychologically gullible, participation trophy minded, pandered populous to effectively ram Socialism and/or Communism down the throat of free people. Thanks to our leftist dominated public education (aka indoctrination) system, that’s exactly what we have across the USA.
Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt wasn’t a wacko conspiracy theorist after all, she was a very knowledgeable whistle blower, but no one in leadership positions listened.
Now we can all hold our collective breath while we wait for the anti-intelligent ad hominems from multiple “Anonymous” morons that argue with themself.
Stevie is seeing ghosts.
You, your parents all caused this shift. You stood back and watched it all happen never thinking it would happen. And all you and your kind nowadays is whine here day in, day out hoping Trump will save the country. Got news for you, its over, they’ll come for your assets faster than ….
Like clockwork, the morons slither out from under their mind crushing rocks and attack the messenger.
Anonymous wrote, “You, your parents all caused this shift. You stood back and watched it all happen never thinking it would happen. And all you and your kind nowadays is whine here day in, day out hoping Trump will save the country.”
No moron, that’s not what my parents and I did. We made sure our children were properly educated instead of indoctrinated.
You know; only partisan hacks, ideological fools, and TDS suffering morons deflect everything to “Trump”.
Anonymous wrote, “Got news for you, its over, they’ll come for your assets faster than…”
That’s pure trolling.
Don’t take it personally Steve. You show up here pontificating Republicanism. Your generation, and before, are a bunch of big mouthed lazy slobs more interested in flashing wealth rather than taking care of their children; thinking it will never end. Fooled ya ha? Your kind created this situation and you’re to dumb to see that, and admit it. Its over.
Educated you say? Obviously you learned nothing.
It’s amazing how this particular “Anonymous” moron commenter can fabricate an entire comment where absolutely nothing in any sentence is based on actual fact based reality, it takes “talent” to be able to project oneself as this much of a complete moron. Even for a troll, this particular “Anonymous” is at the top of the pungent heap, his level of idiocy should be honored among trolls.
The following fact based observation cannot be shared enough…
Who are they polling? AOC & Bernie clones?😳
Of course they do. Look who is teaching them this garbage and who runs the media excusing it. All Democrats. Been watching this since I was exiled from Cuba in 60s after they expropriated all my land. Wake up. Orangeman has a lot of warts but at least he has stemmed the tide for now.
Maybe compare 21st Century Democrats to Eisenhower Republicans with a top tax rate exceeding 70%?
Or Ronald Reagan with 11 tax increases, not vetoing any of them.
Or Trump acquiring government ownership of corporations. Very similar to socialism found in communist block nations.
Or that Bill Clinton is the last president to leave office with a balanced-budget! Not a single 21st Century president has been fiscally-responsible balancing the budget.
Communist block nations? No such animal. Its the 21 st century anon. That term disappeared 40 years ago. Obviously your teachers failed you too.
That a government can buy shares in a US corporation is indicative of a robust capitalist society, growing and helping the country realize its future. Socialist my arse.
“Not a single 21st Century president has been fiscally-responsible balancing the budget.” Nor in the 20th century too. Or 19th, or 18th.
First, let’s fix your 20th-century amnesia: President Bill Clinton ran consecutive, historic budget surpluses from 1998 to 2001. Before him, Lyndon B. Johnson balanced the budget in 1969, and Dwight D. Eisenhower did it three times in the 1950s.
Second, your 19th-century claim is even worse. President Andrew Jackson didn’t just balance the budget; in 1835, he completely paid off the entire national debt for the only time in U.S. history. For most of the 19th century, the U.S. government routinely ran surpluses outside of major wars like the Civil War.
Better do some research before spewing nonsense next time.
and what were those increases? Mostly bipartisan in nature, since he dealt with a D House and Tip O’Neill. Unlike the current POTUS, he knew how to maximize political capital
First the top marginal rate went from 70% to 28%. The follow up bills (TEFRA, SS Reform and deficit acts) addressed:
– adjusting excise taxes (Excise taxes are indirect taxes imposed on specific goods, services, or activities such as fuel, alcohol, tobacco, airline tickets, and certain health-related items.)
– payroll taxes (Social Security reform)
– closing corporate loopholes/rolling back some business tax cuts
Do you know why the Trump admin invested in those 7 companies? It wasn’t to appease your childish socialist ideals. How about what corps the PRC invests in and it’s not for communist ideals. Learn to think instead of whine here about how able democrats are, or better said, were.
The rising popularity of socialism explains the attacks on Milton Friedman and “Zombie Reaganism” from the “common good” right led by J.D. Vance. He’s not going to concede the socialist sympathetic vote to the Sanders-AOC-Warren-Sayed Democrats.
Turley: “Those words promise voters that there is a brave new world without landlords, debt, mandatory work hours, and “food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation… are common goods and utilities.”
So then, the state becomes landlord, banker, employer etc. Can only imagine what chaos will happen when the new socialists renege on their rent, debts and work?
If only their teachers had taught them what socialism and capitalism mean … and the history of how human beings have fared under both.
Their teachers? You blame them? What a stupid comemnt.
Blame the parents for not being involved in their children’s education. The teachers do what their union tells them.
Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland established a national strike force (consisting of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies), to prosecute parents who were too vocal at local school board meetings.
This is a great distraction from the Epstein Files, inflation and America’s imminent bankruptcy with $40 trillion in debt!
If I were a Republican leader, I’d be using false labels to mislead voters also.
Well it took about 170 years but the Marx Manifesto finally got some traction (not counting the Brutal Communist Experiments of the past that showed the warmth- Bah haha) the affluent ignoramuses’ of America! The poor have always been attract to the FREE STUFF Baubles dangled by the Faux Socialists but now we have a society of old irrelevant groovy hippies that were always fans joining up with the non-strategic thinking slacker younger Gens. The perfect toxic brew of stoners and faux educated types ready to take the next easy step – Blame Someone Else for Your Failure To Launch. Oh well, every civilization eventually falls as that final crew BLOW IT.
When communism became de rigueur in Russia, the peasants didn’t vote for it. You realize that right?
When public schools teach watered down inaccurate history of America and Capitalism this is what follows.
Blame your school board and you being complacent.
I absolutely do not believe any poll the shows socialism at the rate they’re claiming, even among Democrats. I just do not believe it. The further the Democrats pull to the left, the more they’ll lose membership. Trump didn’t win this last election, Biden lost. Same as in 2016, Trump didn’t win, Clinton lost. Biden didn’t win in 2020 either, Trump lost. The public didn’t want what the democrats were offering in 2016 or 2024, nor did the public want what Trump was offering in 2020 after disastrous Covid. But there is no way the democrats will win the presidential race with socialism. Not happening
Fine, stick your head in the sand. You reps have been doing that since time immemorial. And when you finally pull it out you see a new world filled with everything you hate. Moral of the story: Republicans caused this shift by hiding their heads in the sand for decades, playing nice with insane liberals; they not only bit the hand but took the arm. You all deserve what’s coming. Hopefully I won’t encounter you cretins in the afterlife.
The problem with Marx’s comment is that when it comes to socialism, history repeats itself so often that it comes down to plain evil.