A Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation poll released on October 28 found that 70 percent of millennials are somewhat or extremely like to vote for a socialist candidate.
The foundation’s fourth “Annual Report on US Attitudes Toward Socialism, Communism, and Collectivism” was conducted in early September and was compiled from 2,100 people’s responses.
Of that 70 percent, the percentage of millennials who say they are “extremely likely” to vote for a socialist candidate has doubled from 2018 to 2019 (20 percent vs. 10 percent). The other 50 percent said they were “somewhat likely” to vote for a socialist.
Perhaps even more disturbing than millennials’ increasing favorable attitude toward socialism is their apparent ignorance of the brutal history of communism, which is viewed favorably by more than one-in-three millennials (36 percent), up eight points from 2018.
The poll also showed that most Americans (72 percent) incorrectly said that communism has killed less than 100 million people in the past 100 years. The late professor R. J. Rummel, author of Death by Government, put that number at 110,000,000.
“The historical amnesia about the dangers of communism and socialism is on full display in this year’s report,” said Marion Smith, executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. “When we don’t educate our youngest generations about the historical truth of 100 million victims murdered at the hands of communist regimes over the past century, we shouldn’t be surprised at their willingness to embrace Marxist ideas. We need to redouble our efforts to educate America’s youth about the history of communist regimes and the dangers of socialism today.”
Only 57 percent of Generation Z (the generation after the millennials, born in the mid 1990s to early 2000s) and 62 percent of millennials believe that China is a communist country and not a democratic country (compared to 88 percent of baby boomers and the Silent Generation).
Other responses reveal an appalling lack of education about U.S. and world history. Only 57 percent of millennials (compared to 94 percent of the Silent Generation) believe the Declaration of Independence better guarantees freedom and equality over the Communist Manifesto. Twenty-four percent of millennials said they “don’t know” in response to this question, compared to only five percent of the Greatest Generation.
Historical ignorance was not limited to millennials, the survey revealed. An overwhelming 76 percent of respondents were unaware that the Hitler-Stalin pact started World War II.
Other results revealed a lack of appreciation among millennials of the free-enterprise system that has created prosperity for generations of Americans. About one-in-five millennials (22 percent) believe that “society would be better if all private property was abolished,” compared to one percent of the Silent Generation.
Writer Raven Clabough observed in an article in The New American in 2016:
Changes need to be made, but not toward transforming a capitalist system into a socialist one. Instead, they need to be made at the schools that are failing to teach students about the free market.
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Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
