Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism

[inthebrain]

Another example of just how much the banter on news shows and in Washington differ from the people.

Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism


Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

Investors by a 5-to-1 margin choose capitalism. As for those who do not invest, 40% say capitalism is better while 25% prefer socialism.

There is a partisan gap as well. Republicans - by an 11-to-1 margin - favor capitalism. Democrats are much more closely divided: Just 39% say capitalism is better while 30% prefer socialism. As for those not affiliated with either major political party, 48% say capitalism is best, and 21% opt for socialism.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/just_53_say_capitalism_better_than_socialism

[booley]

1. Ok so how many know what socialism is?

Or that capitalism can be more then lassaize faire?

I mean isn't Sweden supposed to be a socialist country? Yet they do have capitalism.

So why do we even have to choose one or the other?

This somehow feels like a loaded question.

[inthebrain]

7. The poll isn't stacked

To say that it is while there is tons of "rad baiting" going on is a little ridiculous.

Socialist literature and ideas have been gaining popularity slowly over the last 20 or so years. A lot of people are looking into the labor struggles of the past. Howard Zinn has also seen a major renaisance over the last foew years.

I'd like to see what happens after "The People Speak" airs on the history channel.

[booley]

10. That really didn't answer my question

So what if "socialist literature" has been around lately?

That doesn't mean most people understand what socialism is.

We've had even more books on Capitalism for even longer and yet we still have lots of people who don't seem to understand what that is either.

But the question itself seemed like a false dichotomy.

Why do we have to choose one or the other? Aren't most countries MIXED economies?

And what is "rad baiting"?

[inthebrain]

12. You could have read the article and most of this would have been answered

You didn't read the article.

[onehandle]

2. The people who answered that poll have no idea what capitalism and socialism mean.

Most people think they know, but all they can picture is Wal-Mart and Soviet Russia as definitions.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. But 70% prefer a "free market" economy. This means...

only that a lot of people who answered the surveys have no idea what any of the terms mean, but 27% were honest enough to say so.

[inthebrain]

6. That was also six months ago

Things change a lot.

That poll may be down to about 65% or 55%. Socialism also wasn't an option in the poll. It was a managed capitalist economy vs a government managed capitalist economy. Given the latest rounds of handouts and the anger across the board it's no wonder why.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Makes little difference-- the polls are flawed because...

nobody agreed on definitions.

[inthebrain]

14. Where's the evidence for that?

[TreasonousBastard]

15. In the questions themselves-- no defintions, just yes or no.

[Starry Messenger]

4. And what percentage of that 53% thinks Obama is the next Chairman Mao? n/t

[theoldman]

5. No one wants to live in a country that is pure

Capitalism, Communism or Socialism. The best government is a combination of all three.

[billyoc]

8. Wait until the "march toward socialism" stabilizes the economy.

THEN we'll see how many say capitalism is better.

[avaistheone1]

11. How many people understand that the standard of living is higher in

European socialist democracies than it is here and that the people who live there are actually happier.

I would imagine that very few people know that in the USA.

[inthebrain]

13. How many people understand that we've returned to the pre WWII economy

Where the majority of Americans are forced to eat shit while slaving at their jobs and batteling against each other just to live as slaves.

The post WWII economy was more of a mistake given that the US capitalists had wiped out all their eurpoean competitors. Even Germany had bombed the shit out of England into oblivion.

The post WWII economy was a blip on the radar of capitalism. Nothing more and nothing less.

That's all over.