Mayur observes that "the mdeia bridle when the 's' word is brought up." Well, I do as well. Most of the time, it is used incorrectly. Considering wording in the questions in his survey, I would prefer he use welfare-statism, or some other term rather than socialism. Even with these criticisms, the survey results are interesting. Mayur finds that,
Socialism in the U.S. appears to be in a formative stage. For most Americans, the idea is fairly new, and many have yet to take a firm stand on policies such as income redistribution and government control of industries.
Yet, we've come a long way in just seven months. Last August, only 25% of Americans surveyed in our IBD/TIPP Poll agreed with the statement, "The U.S. is evolving into a socialist state." But when asked again this month, the number jumped to 39%.
This included leaps to 63% from 35% for Republicans and to 47% from 23% for Independents. Only 13% of Democrats, on the other hand, agreed with the statement vs. 20% in August.
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I thought that the results of the survey were very interesting. Although I believe that most of the people surveyed do not have a clear grasp on what the actual definition of socialism is, it is easy to see why the media has picked up on using this word. To the vast majority of Americans the "S" word is the absolute opposite of what they desire for the economy. Hence the reason so many people decided to view Obama's plan as acting toward socialism. If the plan is actually looked at correctly, turning America into a socialist state is nowhere to be found. The government will not control every aspect of the economy, and many decisions will still be left up to professionals and citizens. I think that before people get fed up with Obama's "socialist" regime they should educate themselves on actual socialism.
ReplyDeleteTrey Graham
While most Americans are slightly ignorant regarding the economic plan, it doesnt take a genius to see that while Obama's actions are similar to Socialism, the control the government will have over the economy will still be rather small. However, these small steps towards having a more involved government with the economy is what most economist fear as the United States was formed under the idea of the "free market." If companies make bad decisions, then they should face the consequences of their mistakes because bad business is bad business regardless of who they are.
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