The Social(ist) Network

There's a lot of screaming, laughing, and pointing from the right about this latest Gallup poll on Democrats and "socialism".

For the first time in Gallup's measurement over the past decade, Democrats have a more positive image of socialism than they do of capitalism. Attitudes toward socialism among Democrats have not changed materially since 2010, with 57% today having a positive view. The major change among Democrats has been a less upbeat attitude toward capitalism, dropping to 47% positive this year -- lower than in any of the three previous measures. Republicans remain much more positive about capitalism than about socialism, with little sustained change in their views of either since 2010.

These results are from Gallup interviewing conducted July 30-Aug. 5. Views of socialism among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are particularly important in the current political environment because many observers have claimed the Democratic Party is turning in more of a socialist direction.

Socialist Bernie Sanders competitively challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, and more recently, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a candidate with similar policy views and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic nomination in New York's 14th Congressional District. Several candidates with socialist leanings lost their primary bids in Aug. 7 voting, however, raising doubts about the depth of Democrats' embrace of socialism.

As several people have pointed out, "Socialism" to anyone older than myself means "The failed Soviet states, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and crippling poverty brought on by corrupt Communism" while "Socialism" to anyone younger than myself means "Scandinavia, the European Union, Australia, the UK, Canada, and a government that provides many basic services, the US being the one developed country on Earth that hasn't taken this route."

Right-wing bad faith critics all believe that Democrats want the former and not the latter, conveniently ignoring the fact that Europe and Oceania and our northern neighbor that we share thousands of miles of border with, you know, exist.

But that's how the right rolls, guffawing at the "stupid socialists" (You ever notice how Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is always called "stupid" or "ignorant" by these clowns?)