Socialism in America is on the rise. A recent Gallup poll found that 45 percent of young American adults (aged 18–29) have a positive view of capitalism, while 51 percent of this same group see socialism positively. Older Americans have been consistently more positive about capitalism than socialism; 58 percent of those between the ages of 30 and 49 have a positive view of capitalism, and 41 percent have a positive view of socialism. Of those aged 50 to 64, 60 percent have a positive view of capitalism and 30 percent have a positive view of socialism.
A reason for this rise in the favorability of socialism is due to the fact that young people grew up during the Great Recession, a time when the media did a poor job covering socialism, and a time when socialism prevailed as a popular ideology on American college campuses. Now, too, socialism is extolled by many of the Democratic progressive leaders such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
