Millennials like socialism — until they get jobs

Millennials are the only age group in America in which a majority views socialism favorably. A national Reason-Rupe survey found that 53 percent of Americans under 30 have a favorable view of socialism compared with less than a third of those over 30. Moreover, Gallup has found that an astounding 69 percent of millennials say they’d be willing to vote for a “socialist” candidate for president — among their parents’ generation, only a third would do so. Indeed, national polls and exit polls reveal about 70 to 80 percent of young Democrats are casting their ballots for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who calls himself a “democratic socialist.”

Similarly, a Reason-Rupe poll found that while millennials still on their parents’ health-insurance policies supported the idea of paying higher premiums to help cover the uninsured (57 percent), support flipped among millennials paying for their own health insurance with 59 percent opposed to higher premiums.

When tax rates are not explicit, millennials say they’d prefer larger government offering more services (54 percent) to smaller government offering fewer services (43 percent). However when larger government offering more services is described as requiring high taxes, support flips and 57 percent of millennials opt for smaller government with fewer services and low taxes, while 41 percent prefer large government.

Source.

Was Churchill right!?

Popeyes fried chicken

not surprising. until you make things personal for people they do not always see things from all angles.

Yes it's a fact that people don't particularly enjoy taxes being collected because it means money out of their pocket. On the other hand many people still recognize the importance of a country that looks to solve the issues within it. For example I don't currently have a drug problem, but I recognize that meth addiction is a growing problem for many in the country. I may not like the fact that my tax dollars are being collected, but I do agree that something needs to be done to help those people both from an economic standpoint and a human standpoint. Same goes for healthcare for the poor, and elderly.

Where things get contentious is new problems large segments of the population are dealing with, but the government has yet to do much to alleviate said problems. When it comes to millenials this new issue tends to be student loan debt. There are people who don't want to do anything about it because tax dollars. People who are faced with huge debt, perhaps a lifetime of it are being told that not only should nothing be done, but also facing a refusal to even acknowledge that there's a problem in the first place. It's a difficult thing to simply have your problems straight up ignored, and it's going to cause some stress on other segments of society when their is a refusal to come up with an acceptable solution for it.

I'm shocked by these findings.

@dave123321: "Popeyes fried chicken"

Don't remember the last time I had Popeye's. Thanks for reminding me where should I go in the near future.

@Master_Live:

Where is your MLB 2016 thread?

Where is your thoughts on Adam LaRoach retiring because his son couldn't hang around the ballpark anymore.

I'm not so sure; they've coined millennials the "service" generation, and I think that is apt. We (millennials) seem to have a greater concern for others in addition to ourselves, and I think that lends itself well to socialist policies*.

I feel my peers have a greater awareness and concern for community, well-being of others, and so forth, even while consistently being labeled as "entitled". In my experience, I see a lot more of my peers volunteering and working full time, whereas I know very few baby boomers that do, even in retirement. A lot of us graduated college during two pretty serious financial crises as well (housing crash, wall street crash), so I think we have a lot of empathy for people in bad situations.

Money is always important and, sadly but understandably, a priority for most people, but I think millennials right now realize that the capitalist policies have been the source of a lot of problems, and that it's time to do something about it. I think that's the biggest part of it; capitalism, for pretty much 2000 to now, has screwed over a lot of millennials, and now it's time to change some things.

Just my $0.02, not trying to make a fact-based argument, just my experience with the subject.

*I refuse to blatantly say "socialism" because it perpetuates the misconceived notion that the US will suddenly, overnight, turn into a socialist state...the US will never be 100% socialist. Many of the best-working and most-loved aspects of our government stem from socialist policies, such as national parks, the military, police and fire departments, and so on. I support socialist policies to an extent, but I'd rather not scare off people if I don't have to say "socialism".

I'd be interested to see the numbers from 10-20 years ago. I know not too long ago the idea of an atheist as president was in the single digits (approval-wise, or rather % of people that would vote for an atheist) and now it's at 58%! Not sure where we were with socialist presidents a few years back.

Yeah, the socialism vs capitalism talk is ridiculous.

Some places don't make the Popeyes right. They come all soggy and stuff. I think only once have i got some Popeyes which was crispy and good.

• There will not be a 2016 MLB Thread, the Sports section is deserted and depressing. (Like I have stated before) I have taken my talents to Operation Sports.
• Well, did Kenny Williams made a written or verbal agreement with LaRoche? Extremely doubtful it was written, more likely verbal, if so, I would first need to know the details of the agreement and depending on what exactly was promised (I doubt it was "bring your kid 100% of the time) to him then decided who was in the wrong. It is such a strange situation; apparently the kid has taken weeks upon weeks to be with his father and not going to school but he also isn't being tutored privately or anything. But when you do this:

Things might get out of hand.

@magicalclick: actually, concerning prop 8's passing, it's been shown that was more due to religious minorities (blacks and hispanics, specifically....Catholics, in essence) than any social or political source. So you have these often liberal, democratic voters suddenly acting like conservatives for this one thing. Was very shocking, and very disappointing.

yeah people act like its an "either/or" thing, and it is not. What do they say? Only Sith deal in absolutes?

^^^^ Which was a contradiction.

Glad I could be of service

Yeah, especially when you're young. As was told to me as a young man, every decision you make today will either be a benefit or repercussion tomorrow.

I hate taxes. I paid $20,000 last year in State and Federal taxes, $3,000 in property taxes, etc. My wife pays about the same.

But taxes are necessary. Public schools, transportation, other infrastructure, etc.

I just hate knowing I support a guy I know because he refuses to get a job and keeps popping out kids to get more money from the state.

It all comes down to how the survey is conducted. This is an old British comedy sketch, but it really does reveal how skeptically surveys should be regarded.

Unless he was a Sith in disguise.

#TheGeniusOfGeorgeLucas

@Master_Live:

He asked LaRoach to shorten the length of time he can be around the ballpark. I guess the white Sox didn't know he meant everyday.

My beef is that this didn't happened sooner because we could of used that $13 million towards free agents.

@magicalclick: its funny in a sad way. I mean I know a lot of generally liberal folks, but am at certain times shocked to hear what they vote/believe sometimes. I mean, these are smart, educated, kind people I am talking about, and it makes me sad when I hear that they vote how their church wants them to vote.

@Stesilaus: I don't disagree with that, however I would like to add that if people believe paying slightly more in taxes will return itself in benefits that are relevant for them, they are much more likely to agree to pay more taxes. However if there is a strong belief that the government wastes all tax money, then nobody wants to pay more in taxes.

I'm personally all for a slightly higher tax rate if it means better health services or improved higher education, however if it means improving the "social care office" (really trying to extend it to cover everything from pension to unemployment benefits) then I would say no. Having had far bit of negative experience with said service I think it is one that desperately needs to be reformed. Prove they can cut down on unnecessary bureaucracy before they get more money....

Socialism is bad so sayeth the GOP.

Now excuse me while I send my children to a publicly funded school on taxpayer funded roads with taxpayer funded police and fire/ems on standby just in case I get into an accident all the while being protected by our taxpayer funded military that way my children can grow up, go to publicly funded colleges and obtain careers so that they can pay for my taxpayer funded social security. Oh and did I mention that I'm using my EBT card because my job underpays me while my company's CEO makes big bucks?

Socialism isn't bad and neither is capitalism. Both have their positives and negatives. We live in a large country that demands services necessary to the stability of our country. The problem is when those services become too bureaucratic and/or underfunded which lead to inefficiency later on.

@drunk_pi: I couldnt have said it better so I'm glad you stopped me from making a more awkward attempt at saying the same thing.

quit stealing my bits. lol.

Naturally people love programs that help others.....until they have to pay for it themselves.

I'm happy to pay for it. Iv'e worked an upper middle class job for 20 years and one month and three days. I may need these programs one day. I have a little less than ten years to go until I get a minimum pension. twenty more years to go until I can retire without worry. The company I work for is a manufacturer and doing very badly. I could get lucky and continue to live a comfortable life or become homeless in a few years. Safety nets are important!

Yeah, just about everyone loved socialism when FDR was using it. They had to invent term limits because that mofo had benefitted everyone so much, they were probably never going to vote for someone else.....

They think socialism means getting something for nothing.

Safety nets are one thing. But what we have in this country is a system that supports not working, more than actually working for much of the population. In some states you can make as much as twenty dollars an hour by not working and not seeking employment.

On the flip, many people love socialist ideas but don't know they do. I like when they poll people who use social services and they respond that they never used a social service before.

Maybe they just need to get ahead enough in economics class to understand why socialism sucks

It's really because the narrow-minded, individualist, self-proclaimed "intellectuals" don't even have the perspective to entertain the idea of socialism.

They think that an entire society should act according to their personal interests. They apparently fail to identify as ever being a member of the society that will serve them. Non-conformist socialism isn't a thing.

Socialism just doesn't work for human beings because human beings are too imperfect. Public schools get all these budget cuts yet they're funded by taxes and still do worse than private schools.

The government didn't force anyone to acquire student loan debt. The government didn't force anyone to buy a new car and acquire that debt either. In what way is student loan debt any different than any other bad investment that no one forced them to make. The "poor" already have subsidized healthcare that they pay nothing for. That would be nothing new.

The government is one of the most inefficient organization in America per dollar spent, yet people still believe that giving them more money is the best way to "solve our problems". Society has to learn to function without the intervention of the government. Would you:

• Volunteer at a Drug Rehab Center to solve the meth problem?
• Volunteer at a Retirement Home?
• Help a friend pay a portion of his student loans?

All 3 scenarios above are multitudes more efficient than paying the government to do the same thing.

You don't take initiative because you really don't care. While acknowledging the problems and trying to convince society that it's their debt to reconcile may feed your personal moral construct, the fact that you currently do nothing and wait for the rest of society and/or the government to act is equally as immoral than if you expressed personal indifference altogether.

By asserting that society should be willing to inherit the debts and financial troubles of others, you're placing a burden on folks that may already have their own financial problems. Take your willingness to contribute and do something about it. Until then, assertions regarding what members of a society can and should be financially obligated to pay is none of your business.

What you say sounds good, but relying on straight volunteer work to solve the big issues faced by large portions of the country has shown to be a drop in the bucket historically when it comes to actually turning the tide. You don't like the government because it's "inefficient", but refuse to recognize the historical inefficiency of the volunteer labor that you hold up as the big solution to people's problems, especially when compared to the amount that has been done through the arm of the government.

Your argument sounds tough and honest, but doesn't hold up to actual data so I have very little patience for it. And frankly Americans have never given enough money in private charitable donations to ever replace the social safety net.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-11-20/no-callous-americans-private-giving-can-t-replace-obamacare

As far as student loan debt goes, you are correct that it was a bad investment made largely by young people at behest of the promises of society. My point however is that so much debt among that many people is a problem for the economy, and we as a country have an interest in solving our issues. People like you who do not wish to solve problems such as these because they don't include you directly are part of a separate problem that holds us back as a nation. If you, and people like you, refuse to even acknowledge that a problem exists people will get angry and mobilize to get their issue addressed to try to resolve it (see the Bernie Sanders campaign for evidence).

@still_vicious :

Because so many are just so outraged that "lazy people" are getting money, countless good and hard working people will loose their homes. Doesn't matter how many worthy people get assistance, if one or two "lazy bums" get a dime we have to shut it down. Sad really. And corporate welfare is just fine.

I don't know about your twenty dollars an hour example. Where I live they get nowhere near that and I'm in super liberal Chicago. That said, 20 dollars an hour wouldn't buy you a shack to live in.

@Gaming-Planet: You think budget cuts are the reason public schools do worse than private schools?

@sayyy-gaa: private schools do not always do better than public schools.

All I will say is, I have read hardline conservative hats where someone said the should get rid of public schools because they are gun fre liberal indoctrination zones. Every group is ridiculous.

Socialism itself isn't that great. There's too much of an idea that Nordic europeans countries are socialist,a nd that they're in great shape, but they're not pure socilist countries.

That said, America's ruthless capitalist model is pretty bad.

20 an hour is more then most people around my area make and they have homes not shacks.

As for me, I'm sick of taxes, sick of wasteful spending by a dishonest and corrupt government, and tired of people, lots of people, living off of my hard earned dollars that could just as easily work but have found loopholes etc and are burdens to society.

I understand that any government needs some tax money to operate, and we need some of the services they offer, and yes there are a lot of people who actually do need the help and I would have no problem being taxed a lot less for those things. But I'm sorry, I don't care if some kid is in debt because he went to college and got a worthless degree, how is that my problem and why should I pay for that? Sorry if I don't have compassion but I've worked my ass off and EARNED my money and I don't want to hand it over just to have it pissed away by idiots who have no idea what not being a millionaire is like. I just don't care, nor should I as I EARNED THAT MONEY, the government didn't.

Millenials tend to be a very spoiled group.

It's one of the problems that lead to less programs. Common core is another and so is lowering the standards of general ed.

If the government has to force society to do what society is unwilling to do itself then chances are most people don't support it because they disagree or can't afford to.

Taxing the middle class won't solve anything. Less disposable income > a decreased consumer-base > less demand for consumer goods > Less Jobs > Less Disposable Income > Etc.

The issues do include me, however, as having acquired debt, having bad credit, etc. I, however, recognize that the problem isn't having people pay for the injustice of a select few. If everyone can claim to be a victim of society, who actually pays?

1. Why are schools able to use arbitrary figures to derive a fictitious job market, false promises in terms of income, and sell you a degree? Should the schools not be held accountable for issuing such false promises?
2. Should banks be able to create fiat currency, money out of nothing, and charge me interest on top of it?
3. If I'm required to pay mortgage insurance, am I insured that if I default I still get to live in my home? No. I'm insuring the bank and their figurative currency in the event that I default.

So no, we don't disagree. The difference is that I know who the actual culprits are. The culprits are not "society" or the American people. Why should I feel responsible? Why is there never any blame on the unregulated financial sector of America? Why is a $700 bailout on financial institutions such old news?

The main problem is that whenever additional funding is granted to public education, it never trickles past teacher's salaries and pensions.