Socialism, Capitalism Seen in New Light by Younger Americans
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Young people across the generations tend to be viewed as more left-leaning than their elders. Underlying the millennial generation’s leftward tilt is angst about the future, Mr. Della Volpe said. In a new smaller Harvard survey, released Tuesday, 67% of those polled said they are more worried than hopeful about the direction of the country. The fall survey sampled 2,037 peopled aged 18 to 29 in live interviews.
“If something unites these young people,” Mr. Della Volpe said, “it’s fear,” driven by their perception that they have limited economic opportunities and that society as a whole has become more unequal.
The 2016 poll also found that the millennial generation is less religious than their parents and losing faith in institutions—a finding consistent with other polls that track some of that loss of faith to the slow recovery from the deep recession that began in 2008.
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In the view of Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster and the author of, “The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America and How Republicans Can Keep Up,” the idea that young people tend to be liberal and become more conservative with age is misguided. “The oldest millennials are actually the most left-leaning,” she said. “If you came of age, graduated college and were job hunting around the time of the financial crisis, you might be asking, What have free markets done for you? The easy rhetoric that ‘markets are bad, government is bad’ is appealing.”
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Still, millennials polled say they want a bigger role for government in making conditions better for their future. The number of young people who believe that tax cuts spark economic growth, which had held fairly steady for years, fell seven points over the past two years, according to the 2016 Harvard survey. “We are on the verge of a very significant political movement led by millennials,” Mr. Della Volpe of Harvard said. “This generation does not believe in trickle-down economics.”
Democrats may appear poised to capitalize on these trends in midterm elections next year and the presidential election in 2020. An NBC News poll of millennials released last week showed that just 19% of young people identify as Republicans and 71% don’t believe the GOP cares about people like them. By comparison, 53% said Democrats care about people like them.
But in the most recent survey for Harvard, Mr. Della Volpe asked the same question and found that just 34% of millennials believe the Democratic Party cares about them.
More..
https://www.wsj.com/articles/socialism-capitalism-seen-in-new-light-by-younger-americans-1512561601
Role of Government Younger groups are more likely than older ones to say the government should do more to help people.
Source: WSJ/NBC News telephone poll conducted April,2017 of 900 adults. Margin of error is +/- 3.27 pct pts.
Government should do more Government does too much
Ages 18-29 63% 35%
Ages 30-49 55% 41%
Ages 50-64 54% 41%
Age 65 and older 53% 40%
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Still interesting that all groups more than 50% think government should do more. So what are they doing voting for a party that promotes less government?
