With Americans’ interest in socialism rising, we need to seriously consider alternative designs to the current system, argues Alperovitz, in this practical critique of some known models.
Little noticed by most Americans, Merriam Webster, one of the world’s most important dictionaries, announced a few months ago that the two most looked-up words in 2012 were “socialism” and “capitalism.”
Traffic for the pair on the company’s website roughly doubled from the year before. The choice was a “kind of no-brainer,” observed editor at large, Peter Sokolowski. “They’re words that sort of encapsulate the zeitgeist.”
Leading polling organizations have found converging results among younger Americans. Two recent Rasmussen surveys, for instance, discovered that Americans younger than 30 are almost equally divided as to whether capitalism or socialism is preferable. Another Pew survey found those aged 18 to 29 have a more favorable reaction to the term “socialism” by a margin of 49 to 43 percent.
Note carefully: These are the people who will inevitably be creating the next American politics and the next American system.Dangerous Minds
The Question Of Socialism (And Beyond!) Is About To Open Up In These United States
Gar Alperovitz | Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland and co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative
(h/t Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism)
"Merriam Webster, one of the world’s most important dictionaries, announced a few months ago that the two most looked-up words in 2012 were “socialism” and “capitalism.”
ReplyDeleteRevealing!!!!
FD: I increasingly find myself outside of BOTH of them...
rsp,
If Americans age 30 years and younger are equally divided between capitalism and socialism, it probably suggests that a significant percentage is also warming up to fascist alternatives although they may not recognize it as such.
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