…but I do not think they means what you think they mean…
So the blogs were all a-twitter over the Gallup Poll last week that showed that 53% of Democrats/leaners have a positive view of socialism (I was going to do this post Friday but was busy buying a car…).
But you know, when you look at the poll, what it shows (I think) is just an American public that’s somewhat confused about labels…and actually a liberal American public that’s a bit more confused about what it believes.
Here’s the breakdown by party:
…what jumps out at me?
53% of the Democrats (and leaners) say they have a positive reaction to socialism. But 95% are positive on small business, 85% on free enterprise, 82% on entrepeneurs, and 53% on capitalism. Notice a contradiction??
Let’s look at the breakdown by ideology:
Socialism is positively viewed by 20% / 39% / 61% (conservatives/moderates/liberals). But…
Free enterprise is liked by 89% / 82% / 87%.
Capitalism 68% / 52% / 60% – more liberals like capitalism than moderates!!
Interestingly, conservatives/Republicans were more consistent in their answers – 20% liked socialism, and 90% liked free enterprise.
I think that what this says is that the broad base of American voters aren’t really all that comfortable with the fine meaning of broad political economy labels; I think the scare factor of labels like ‘socialist’ and ‘capitalist’ has been pretty thoroughly devalued and that the American public – correctly – doesn’t know where the government’s role in the economy ends and business’ begins. They are correct because our national leaders don’t know either.
And that’s not a terrible thing. Governments have been meddling in markets to some extent here since the Founding.
But while it’s not terrible that they are confused, I think it’s problematic; problematic because I think we need a clear vision of our society, economy, and politics that resonates with the people and helps clarify the turbulent times we’re in.
If only we had leaders who were visionaries and great imagemakers…oh, wait…
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Jon Stewart had an interview with Bill O’Reilly last week. In the (unedited version) of the interview, O’Reilly pulled out the ‘socialist’ card, and Jon rebuked him:
“What about medicare? What about medicaid? Social Security?”
It’s like the old joke…
Would you sleep with that man for $100 dollars… (the woman answers no)… Would you sleep with him for a million dollars (well… ok).
Well now that we know what you are, we’re just haggling over the price.
But I think words like ‘socialism’ have become overloaded with different meanings. I think we all agree that there’s a vast difference between Europe & China. I’d be curious to see how the polls came out if the word ‘socialism’ was removed, and instead just responded to governments of actual countries (although… they might struggle to find participants who had actual experiences with governments in other countries)
When “progressives” imagine socialism, they picture Sweden. When “the right” pictures socialism, they imagine North Korea.
I’ll admit that I’m more inclined to think North Korea, China under Mao, or (somewhat) less unpleasantly Venezuela under Chavez than a “nice” Nordic country when I imagine “socialism”, but I’m an evil rightie too…
Objectively, the Norks are closer to “real” socialism than Sweden, but there you go.
Americans are notoriously confused about political labels, especially terms like “liberal,” “conservative,” or “left/right.” That’s sort of understandable, given that it’s an ideologically defined nation (which the population, therefore, tends to unconsciously take for granted). Rather than asking people what label they accept, the better practice is to use a series of questions that compel people to make an ideological choice. You then use this series of questions to create an ideological scale.
The defining ideology is also complicated, because there’s a “dominant” and a “recessive” aspect to it. On the dominant side, Americans tend to be anti-statist, individualistic, and religiously sectarian. On the recessive side they tend to be progressive or even transcendental. The dominant and recessive traits of the American Identity are usually at odds, which makes us a very difficult people for outsiders to gauge.
Maybe now Conservatives will stop slurring liberals as having a favorable view of socialism?