OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As the Biden economy heads deeper into a recession, more Democrats see socialism as a ‘solution’ to their problems. A Fox News poll conducted from Oct. 9-12, 2022 shows a trend that many conservatives are finding disturbing.
The polling of 1,206 registered voters nationwide shows that over half of American voters believe the country is heading away from capitalism and towards socialism — up from 47% in June 2011. Over half of Democrats believe that American turning socialist would be a ‘good thing,’ while Republicans and Independents overwhelmingly reject it.
The overall numbers show that Democrats, at least statistically, have become radical ‘extremists.’ 60% believe America turning socialist would be a ‘bad thing,’ while only 32% believe it would be a ‘good thing.’
FOX NEWS POLL: U.S moving away from Capitalism and more towards Socialism would be:
Good Thing: 32%
Bad Thing: 60%Socialism: Good/Bad
Democrats: 𝟱𝟯/35
Republicans: 14/83
Independents: 24/63 pic.twitter.com/EIpnB0Shnb— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) October 16, 2022
Socialism is an economic system of state-managed economy, where citizens are deprived of individual rights, such as the right to own property, to sell their labor as they see fit, to earn a profit, to buy the goods they want, and ultimately, to criticize the government for taking the fruits of their labor, while leaving them only a subsistence living.
When you move away from the politically charged terms, however, many Americans react to economic disruption by seeking out government help. This is particularly true of Democrats.
In the Fox News poll, 69% of Democrats want the government to ‘lend me a hand,’ while only 26% want the government to ‘leave me alone.’ Republicans, on the other hand, tend to want the reverse: 38% want the government to ‘lend me a hand,’ and 60% want it to ‘leave me alone.’
Interestingly, such a poll disproves the Biden administration’s claims that conservatives and MAGA Republicans are ‘far right extremists’ and ‘semi-fascists.’ It is politically impossible for a ‘fascist’ or ‘extremist’ movement to hold the consensus view that the government should ‘leave me alone.’
Fascism is the state-led unification of the economy and society under a nationalist ‘strongman.’ Some of the confusion that Democrats have about conservatives being ‘fascist’ is because they confused ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism.’ Patriotic American support Constitutionally limited government and individual rights, such as the rights to private property and free speech.
The American Left also confuses admiration for Donald Trump as support for an ‘authoritarian’ dictator. When Trump was president, he respected free speech rights, slashed taxes and cut burdensome regulations, while maintaining a peaceful foreign policy. ‘Dictators’ don’t do behave this way.
Historically aware Americans know that socialism has many more similarities to fascism than American patriotism. Both socialism and fascism support big government coercion to ‘solve’ problems and elevate the collective over the individual, while patriotic Americans support limiting government and respecting individual rights.
But as the Biden economy as grown worse, Americans tend to jettison ideology and simply desire government help: This supports the Marxists’ thesis that the economy is a determinant force in ideology.
In 2016, as Obama was leaving office, only 39% wanted government to ‘lend me a hand.’ During Trump’s tenure, the economy was booming up to the Covid pandemic disruption, most wanted to be ‘left alone.’
Amid skyrocketing inflation and higher gas prices under President Biden, however, many more want the government to ‘lend me a hand,’ which conflicts with reported majority opposition to ‘socialism.’
The Biden administration remains deeply unpopular and Democrats face a sound rejection of their dysfunctional policies in the 2022 midterm elections. In July 2022, a near-record-high 75.5% of Americans believe that that country is on the ‘wrong track,’ which was only beaten out by 76.5% in October 2011.
Beyond the background polling, there are signs the Democrats are about to lose big in the midterms. As Axios reported on Sunday:
House Republicans are increasingly confident they can make unexpected inroads into some solidly Democratic congressional districts, including in some of the bluest states in the country: California, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
The American people will continue to elect politicians who support socialism, so long as they do not understand how asking big government to ‘help’ leads to socialist policies.
As former President Ronald Reagan put it: “The top 9 most terrifying words in the English Language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
