Red Dawn on Campus: The Alarming Rise of Socialism Among Youth, By Charles Taylor (Florida)
A fresh Yale poll dropped like a Molotov cocktail bomb into the US culture wars: Nearly half of college undergrads, 46%, agree that socialism, "despite imperfections" in places like Cuba and the Soviet Union, trumps the U.S. capitalist model! Another 36% outright prefer socialism to live under, edging out capitalism's 40%. Among self-identified liberals? A whopping 58% tilt red. This from the William F. Buckley Institute's survey of 820 four-year undergrads, timed amid campus chaos where 40% deem violence justifiable against "hate speech" and 48% back shouting down speakers. Lauren Noble, the Institute's exec director, calls it "alarming," a record intolerance spike, eerily post-Charlie Kirk's assassination.
It's not isolated: Cato/YouGov's June 2025 poll pegs 62% of under-30s favourably eyeing socialism, with 34% warming to communism. Gallup's September 2025 snapshot? Overall U.S. socialism favourability holds at 39%, but youth drive the delta, down from 60% capitalism love in 2021 to 54% now. Echoes of Victims of Communism's 2020 shocker: 31% Gen Z, 35% Millennials eyeing capitalism's "gradual elimination." Why the red resurgence? Here I'lldissect the drivers, campus echo chambers, economic angst, historical amnesia, then pivot to the punchline: Even if these starry-eyed socialists sober up later in life (and stats say many don't), the Leftward lurch lingers, as it has since the '60s counterculture cranked the Overton window of public acceptability.
Buckley's Sept. 21 reveal isn't outlier, it's omen. Undergrads split 46-39% pro-socialism over U.S. capitalism, with 15% hedging. Preference poll? Socialism nips at capitalism's heels, 36% to 40%, 24% unsure. Partisan prism: Liberals 58% socialist-leaning; conservatives 63% cap-cred. Yale's own vibe? Jason Stanley fleeing to Canada, decrying Trump as "fascist," with peers packing bags for the same. The Buckley Institute, Buckley's brainchild for ideological inoculation, warns of free-speech famine: 40% violence-okayers, a "disturbing reality" post-Kirk.
Zoom out: Gallup's 2025 youth data mirrors 2019's 52% socialist-positive (18-34s), up from 49% in 2010. Victims of Communism's 2020: Gen Z socialism favourability jumps 9 points to 49% in a year. Cato 2025: Under-30s 62% socialist-sympathetic. Communism? 34% thumbs-up. Pew 2022: 44% youth positive on socialism. Trend? Upward, inexorably.
Campus crucibles brew this brew. Econ envy: Post-2008, millennials entered a gig-economy grinder, student debt $1.7T, homeownership 8% below boomers at same age. Socialism sells as solidarity: "Tax the rich" chants resonate when avocado toast feels aspirational.
Education echo: Yale's "woke Gleichschaltung" (Stanley's Nazi nod) typifies tenure-track tilt; 90% humanities professors donate Democrat. History? Sanitised: Gulags as "not real socialism," Cuba's clinics lauded over ration lines. NPR 2015: Youth socialism stems from "ideals," expecting evolution with "life experience." But WSWS 2020: COVID cratered capitalism's cred, spiking Gen Z Marxism to 30%.
Here's the rub: Even if they "grow out" (and data doubts it), the shift sticks. '60s New Left campus radicals birthing SDS, Black Panthers didn't all don suits; they seeded academia, media, Democrats. Wikipedia: '60s socialists morphed into civil rights warriors, War on Poverty architects, shifting Overton from Goldwater to Great Society. Gallup: Youth socialism steady since 2010, but overall U.S. Leftward: 39% positive now vs. 25% in 1942.
Life-cycle lore? Folk wisdom ("liberal at 20, conservative at 40") crumbles under scrutiny. Chicago Booth 2019: Americans liberal at 25, conservative by 45, a big shift. Journal of Politics 2020: Liberals drift Right more than vice versa, but stability reigns, Michigan panel: Attitudes hold firm. Reddit r/CapitalismVSocialism: Millennials stayed Left; Gen Z follows. Guardian 2015: Aging, not cohorts, drives UK Tory tilt, but the U.S.? Persistent progressivism, per Northeastern 2023: Millennials liberal for life, post-2008 scars.
The ratchet: Youth Leftism normalizes; '60s vets staffed '80s unis, birthing woke waves. Today's socialists? Tomorrow's policymakers, tilting scales without full flip.
Folk tale: Youth socialists mature into suits. Fact? Fable with footnotes. NPR 2015: Older millennials edge conservative, but women hold liberal. Journal of Politics 2020: Shifts happen, but liberals Rightward more, yet stability dominates. Chicago Booth: Liberal at 25, conservative at 45, generational, not just age. But Reddit consensus: Millennials stayed Left; no mass moderation. Northeastern: Post-2008 millennials "lifelong liberals."
The '60s proof: Hippies begat Harvard deans, not Halliburton execs, shifting norms Leftward, per Wikipedia's socialist arc. Today's tide? Same thing: Campus reds staff NGOs, media, Congress, normalising Nordic dreams over Soviet skeletons. Even partial pivots pull policy port-side. The racket rolls on from the 1960s, redder than ever.
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