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A majority of millennials now reject capitalism, poll shows
Washington Post ^ | April 26, 2016 | Max Ehrenfreund

Posted on 06/28/2016 5:00:42 AM PDT by BradtotheBone

In an apparent rejection of the basic principles of the U.S. economy, a new poll shows that most young people do not support capitalism.

The Harvard University survey, which polled young adults between ages 18 and 29, found that 51 percent of respondents do not support capitalism. Just 42 percent said they support it.

It isn't clear that the young people in the poll would prefer some alternative system, though. Just 33 percent said they supported socialism. The survey had a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.

The results of the survey are difficult to interpret, pollsters noted. Capitalism can mean different things to different people, and the newest generation of voters is frustrated with the status quo, broadly speaking.

All the same, that a majority of respondents in Harvard University's survey of young adults said they do not support capitalism suggests that today's youngest voters are more focused on the flaws of free markets.

"The word 'capitalism' doesn't mean what it used to," said Zach Lustbader, a senior at Harvard involved in conducting the poll, which was published Monday. For those who grew up during the Cold War, capitalism meant freedom from the Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes. For those who grew up more recently, capitalism has meant a financial crisis from which the global economy still hasn't completely recovered.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: District of Columbia; US: Massachusetts; US: New York
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; california; capitalism; demagogicparty; districtofcolumbia; elizabethwarren; fauxahontas; freedom; harvard; lieawatha; massachusetts; maxehrenfreund; memebuilding; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; prop209; proposition209; quotas; racenorming; socialism; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost; zachlustbader
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To: BRL

One thing that concerns me a lot is that there seem to be fewer and fewer honest paths available to ‘climb’ the socioeconomic ladder in an effective way. It used to be that if you studied hard, and got a degree in engineering, math, etc., or went to professional school (medical school, law school) you could raise yourself up significantly. That’s just not true anymore, for a variety of reasons.


41 posted on 06/28/2016 5:52:04 AM PDT by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: a fool in paradise

They are the ones that brought about goofy stuff like “artisan” doughnuts. “Craft” beer, and locally-sourced (more pricey)goods that are not mass-produced.

All of which cost far more than average to buy!


42 posted on 06/28/2016 5:55:49 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: pieceofthepuzzle

Biggest reason is supply and demand + globalism.

When a kid in India can apply for a job in Ohio, it inflates the talent pool, and drives down wages.


43 posted on 06/28/2016 5:58:04 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: BradtotheBone

Let ‘em go live in Venezuela for a year, they’ll change their tune.


44 posted on 06/28/2016 5:59:38 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: smartyaz
Reminds me of the story "The Children's Story".
45 posted on 06/28/2016 6:00:14 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Warning: This post has little to do with reality, and nothing to do with polite society.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
“What’s good for Wall Street is not ALWAYS good for America.”

Unfortunately true. In part this is because making money on Wall Street doesn't depend upon the market doing well as much as it depends on the market ‘moving’.

You just know that a fair number of traders made money after the Brexit vote, and they probably didn't even have to ‘bet’ one way or the other. Trading can be done literally in microseconds now, and you could time sells and trades in such a way to both contribute to the precipitous decline, and profit off of it. This makes the market into a game, not a place to make wise long-term investments based on solid economic principles. Most of us who are in the market (I am) are just along for the ride, hoping to catch the crumbs that fall off the table.

46 posted on 06/28/2016 6:02:17 AM PDT by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: BradtotheBone

Lil’ snowflakes need their Potemkin village safe space.


47 posted on 06/28/2016 6:04:19 AM PDT by TADSLOS
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To: BradtotheBone

Capitalism was originally coined as a pejorative term.

Better IMO to focus on “free markets” and a “free economy”.

I wonder how those would poll and whether the GOP has tested various terms like this. I would think they would have.


48 posted on 06/28/2016 6:06:43 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: BradtotheBone

This is telling.


49 posted on 06/28/2016 6:08:20 AM PDT by sauropod (Beware the fury of a patient man. I've lost my patience!)
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To: BradtotheBone

“Dude! Where’s my paycheck?”
“Oh, we took what you would have earned and gave it to some of the folks behind you. It’s better that way.”


50 posted on 06/28/2016 6:09:23 AM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: pieceofthepuzzle

They have younger brothers and sisters who will be turning 18. And there is absolutely no reason to think they’ll believe any differently.

This country will elect someone just like Bernie within 2 election cycles.


51 posted on 06/28/2016 6:09:35 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Does capitalism mean your savings are diluted to squat through a combination of low interest rates and inflation?

Worked & saved my entire life. I don’t see the same opportunities for my children despite their better educations. I do see them getting $20T in debt dumped on their generations plate to service. Is that capitalism?


52 posted on 06/28/2016 6:12:28 AM PDT by zek157
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To: BradtotheBone

More of them might support “capitalism” if it was of the “market capitalism” variety and NOT the “crony capitalism” variety.


53 posted on 06/28/2016 6:12:39 AM PDT by baltimorepoet
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To: Stepan12

My HS economics and government teachers were at best socialists and I didn’t fall for their line.

I wished that I read Ayn Rand then. No one would explain or let alone mention the name.

I would have seen at least a long suspension if I had a copy of Atlas Shrugged on me then.


54 posted on 06/28/2016 6:15:49 AM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: Petrosius
Then let them live in Venezuela or North Korea.
One of the negatives of not having a draft is ungrateful, spoiled children never get to see third works countries.
Even a couple of years in civilian service for both men and women, would change a lot of their hate-America attitudes
55 posted on 06/28/2016 6:16:28 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: VanDeKoik
goofy stuff like “artisan” doughnuts. “Craft” beer,

A wise person once told me that it was better to have a little bit of something very, very good, than a lot of something mediocre.

Think, "piece of Grandma's famous apple pie" vs "generic gargantuan hunk of Chocolate Lava Cake for three from RubyAppleChili's". I know what I'd go for, every single time.

Thus the rise of "craft" and "artisan" stuff. But, it's not a self-supporting market. If I lose my job, the very first thing to go are "artisan donuts", "craft beer", etc.

Actually, I use frivolous stuff like that as a market barometer. So long as people are willing to pay five bucks for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, I figure the economy is doing pretty well. When McDonalds starts cleaning up with its "One Dollar Coffee Deal" ... time to start keeping an eye on my portfolio.

56 posted on 06/28/2016 6:21:00 AM PDT by wbill
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To: kabar
The 42% support capitalism.

Right, my error. However, while I intended my comment to apply to the pro Socialists, it also seems to fit the Capitalists as well.

57 posted on 06/28/2016 6:21:43 AM PDT by Lion Den Dan
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To: BradtotheBone

Replace the word “Capitalism” with “Free market” and suddenly they are all for it.


58 posted on 06/28/2016 6:22:07 AM PDT by READINABLUESTATE ("If guns cause crime, there must be something wrong with mine." -Ted Nugent)
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To: smartyaz

Key player in our takedown: The Frankfurt Shool.
Their Marxist-socialists led the infiltration of our schools, unions, parties, churches, media.
They instigated this slow but steady core rotation.


59 posted on 06/28/2016 6:22:27 AM PDT by polymuser (Enough is enough!)
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To: BradtotheBone

Do they even know what true capitalism is?


60 posted on 06/28/2016 6:24:18 AM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man a subject)
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