Words
matter. The word "new" is so
highly motivating to some that we have regulated its use. Legally a product can only be called
"new" for six months.
Last
February, the Republicans announced that their strategy for winning the 2020
election was to label anyone who votes Democratic as a Socialist. (Stolberg, 2019)
All I
could think of was a woman who I saw holding a sign at an anti-Obamacare rally
in 2010 which said - "Keep your government out of my Medicare."
But as
we said, words matter and if the wisdom of the tribe says that Socialism is
wrong, then there are many people out there who will accept that statement at
face value and not bother to figure out what it means.
This
week YouGov released a new poll suggesting that the word Socialism might not be
the lever that the Republicans are looking for.
What it showed was a huge difference in perception among different
generations.
Here
are the percentages who say they would support a socialist candidate by
generation:
Silent
Generation: 33%
Baby
Boomers: 36%
Millennials:
70% (20% extremely likely)
Gen Z
(over 16): 64%
(Derysh,
2019)
That's
some difference. But it brings me back
to the original question. What is
Socialism? And why would the older
generations be against it and the younger generations for it? How do the tribes people associate with impact these views? Would a change in wording change
perceptions? And if so, what words might
be used and what would the impact be?
Stolberg,
S. (2019, February 17) Republicans Hope
to Sway Voters With Labels That Demonize Democrats. nytimes.com. Retrieved October 29, 2019, from
Derysh,
I. (2019, October 29) Here's why
millennials are ready to go socialist. rawstory.com. Retrieved October 29, 2019, from
11 comments:
I think socialism is the anther idelogy to build a better world. Instead of individual-oriented capitalism, production, distribution, and exchange should be controlled/ owed under the community.
Currently, the generation system is divided by the major events of the time. Silent Generation experienced the World War II, and baby boomers lived under the Vietnam War. It was the battle between the capitalism countries and the communist countries. In my opinion, they were raised under the pure education of capitalism theory. On the other side, Millennials and Gen Z was born at the peaceful age. They are unable to have the same feeling as the previous war generation. They are intended to look for a society that is united and benefit.
In my opinion, the cap between the younger and old generation was caused by those historical events. A single word difference will defiantly change the whole story. If the Republicans choose to use the word “syndicalism”, it may even can not caught any attention from the Democratic. However, if they do want to make a hit, “communist” will be a brilliant choice.
Socialism is a leftist economic and political theory that states, “everyone in society equally owns the factors of production” (Amadeo, 2019). The factors of production include labor, entrepreneurship, capital goods, and natural resources and these resources are allocated using central planning. In theory, socialism provides people with their share of production after the greater common good has been taken care of, such as those that are disabled and cannot work. This means that theoretically, socialism should end poverty. The older generations may be against socialism as history has taught them to be that way. Older generations look at previous socialist movements such as the Soviet Union. This one example of a socialist economy brought hardships and suffering to the bottom classes and thus people assume capitalism is the only successful theory as it has been the most successful for them. After all, under capitalism the older generations do hold a majority of the world's wealth. Those that are younger and may not be as well-off, look to positive socialist examples such as Norway or Sweden, where the lower classes have been significantly boosted and the wage-gap closed due to socialist actions. Those positive examples give young people that may not be benefiting from their current political climate, hope that a new political theory may benefit them further.
Sources: https://www.thebalance.com/socialism-types-pros-cons-examples-3305592
LH
Socialism is a political theory with the goal of bridging the gap between the rich and the poor by giving everyone an equal opportunity in gaining a portion of the country’s wealth; main businesses usually being owned by the state. Older and younger generations have different thoughts on socialism because they grew up in different times with different worldviews. I believe the older generations would be against socialism, because they’d associate it with the Soviet Union and its decline. I believe the younger generations would be for socialism, because they are supporters of egalitarianism, have less money and more debt than older generations, and they’d be more likely to associate socialism with learned misconceptions of idyllic countries like Sweden and Norway, which both have a social economy. The tribes people associate with will determine whether socialism will be accepted or rejected by them, for example, the “haves” who want to keep the money and power within their tightly knit circles and the “have nots” who feel they don’t have equal access to wealth and want that to be different. A change in wording may change the perceptions of people who follow trends and don’t research the causes for which they choose to fight. Some people often fall victim to the use of euphemisms and I think socialism is fair play. Some euphemisms thought to be associated with varying degrees of socialism that already exist are “collectivism,” “liberalism,” “freedom,” “democratic socialism,” “state ownership,” and “leftism.” The impact of each change in wording will differ depending on the audience; the word chosen to replace socialism or the words chosen to describe it may be used to soften the harsh sound of socialism and bring people in favor of it or it/they may give off a negative connotation, bringing people further away from being accepting of socialism.
https://www.npr.org/2015/11/21/456676215/why-do-young-people-like-socialism-more-than-older-people
https://reason.com/2019/01/02/sweden-isnt-socialist/
Socialism refers to the political or economic theories in which the community owns natural resources and manage property and not individuals. Production in this case is owned by the public through which wealth is distributed equally. Socialism is against capitalism which focuses on private ownership and a free market system. Younger generations support socialism more than the older generations because younger generations feel that the current economic system has worked against them and is an unfavorable system. They have grown up in a capitalist system in which economic inequality is prominent. Many of them go through job loss, struggle to find work and are buried into college debts that they struggle to pay. Most of the older generations fall in the 1% that continues to accumulate wealth which may be a reason for them to be against socialism system. The older generations may be against it because they identify with Soviet Union which led to food shortages and much suffering. A change in wording would definitely change perceptions and words they may use could be communism. The impact of the word would cause many to refrain from joining the Democrats because communists in the past led to mass murder and oppression in their efforts to collectivize property and agriculture.
To analyze this question, we should make sense of socialism and capitalism. From the economy point, socialism leads to the economic dictatorship of the elite. Capitalism leads to economic democracy. It seems totally different from my original understanding. Actually, in capitalism, they start a business to make things or provide services for others. The money consumers spend like the vote. The business should change its strategy to satisfy its consumers every time, or they will be eliminated in the free market. In socialism, the government has the ultimate power. The government can decide what you get from a limited supply. The young generation may praise socialism because they should against their interests. They also want to have free healthcare, free college, and stronger unions. In capitalism, you have to create enough wealth in order to generate enough tax revenue to pay for social benefits. In my opinion, the young generation’s capital is commonly less than the old generation, so they may prefer socialism. Here is some connection between socialism and capitalism, that is the more capitalism, the less socialism a country need. All is about common sense. I think the word “union” should be used. Whatever capitalism or socialism, a country should be union. Whatever democratic or republican party, all should be based on a peaceful environment.
Huiwen Xu
Socialism is when individuals work and provide to others in order to be equal in society. Also, be united to fix any issues. There are rules to follow so no one will cross the line and everyone remain equal. Socialism is basically trying to solve everyone’s economic issues.
I believe that older generations would be against it because they do not feel that they should share what they have worked because after obtaining and achieving their dreams they would be able to retired and rest.
For example, candidate Bernie Sanders who is a socialist is trying to make public college for free. A lot of people agree because there is a lot of students who are wanting to be able to afford college and can’t. Others don’t agree with Sanders idea because all of that money comes from tax payers.
These and other issues may continue because America have different views and too many political parties that makes our country divided.
- Vanessa M.
According to Merriam Webster, socialism is “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership.” I think socialism is on the opposite side of capitalism, which advocating individualism. The research result of the percentages who say they would support a socialist candidate by generations is quite surprising for me since I thought younger generations might prefer more individualism. The reason why younger generations support the socialism candidates more might be that they are overall more open minded and able to accept new things quickly. Millennials are pretty special; based on my previous research, millennials have more distinct values and attitudes; they are more opened than the older generations, but not as rebel as younger generations such as Gen Z.
I do believe tribes people associate with impact their political views; the way we defined tribes is based on their common attitudes, values and social behaviors and those values definitely have influence on forming of political views. A single world will defintiely change the climate, the wording is somehow leading people’s minds; this is how propaganda works.
Yes, I believe that words do matter, and some people don't necessarily know what Socialism really means. Thus, the Republican party during the elections generalizes the term and groups it with Democrats because Republicans favor many capitalism aspects, so they thus believe Democrats favor many socialism aspects. Millennials and Gen Z may not really understand what socialism is, because they have not gone through the same experiences as Baby Boomers and Silent Generation. Socialism is an economic and political system where everything is controlled by the government, and there are no privately-owned organizations. The younger generation has not yet seen the negative aspects of socialism during the Cold War. To the younger generation, socialist beliefs can mean more affordable healthcare, education, and housing. It does not mean communism. In addition, capitalism can be what created the financial crisis, so many younger people are more in support of socialism. The tribes people associate with definitely impact these views because different tribes have different views on Socialism/Capitalism. A change in wording may definitely change perception. The wording that the republicans made was purely grouping everything together. It is very vague. Instead of grouping Socialist views and Capitalist views, it can be purely reworded by saying that times have changed and the world is different now. Instead of saying democrats are supporting capitalism, they should say these people want cheaper education/healthcare/housing.
In my understanding of things, socialism is one of the very few political movements that aim to set everybody on the same stance. In fact, during elections you usually see far-left candidates wanting more taxes for high-income people, a higher minimum wage salary (which the taxes would help cover) and globally just having the government be able to help more the people in need.
My theory as to why older generations would be against socialism and younger generations for it is because usually younger people tend to have less assets and money in the bank than older people. They are still starting/in the midst of their careers making money is probably their number one concern. The end of month can be tough and a little extra help from the government can surely be appreciated which is why younger generations are more attracted to socialism. As to older generations, they worked all their lives and now that they're retired/towards the end of their careers, they don't want to pay any more taxes.
Wording and communication is a gift. If you know how to talk, you will find that doors open pretty easily for you. All the great speakers of the past: Mandela, Malcom X, Luther King were all great speakers. Wording can definitely change your perception of things. Also, if it's someone of your tribe speaking, it doesn't take much for you to be convinced without even questioning and reflecting about the actual matter.
Allan C.
Christopher Diaz
"Socialism" to me always has always been a theory of political or economic social structure which states that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be regulated by the community. In researching this topic and better familiarizing myself I found some interesting points as to the advantages of socialism. "Advantages of socialism relating to social equality include a focus on reducing wealth disparities, unemployment and inflation (through price controls)(courses,online)". "Advantages of socialism related to economic planning include an ability to make good use of land, labor and resources, as well as avoiding excess or insufficient production(courses, online)". "Additional benefits of Socialism: Nationalization of key industries, redistribution of wealth, social security schemes, minimum wages, employment protection and trade union recognition rights(courses,online)". I also watched an YouTube where president Trump was critical of socialism saying the Dems were not being productive. I think the younger generations like Gen Z and Millennials would be more for Socialism because it stands for social and economic equality and wealth could spend more to the masses with better opportunities for the communities all over the country. The older generations seem like more hard working people that have made a living through their sweat equity or labor and would like to have people earn their success more than getting what they could potentially view a handout.
courses.lumenlearning.com, International Business
Multimedia, Online
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-internationalbusiness/chapter/reading-the-benefits-of-socialism/
Socialism speaks about the community and how the community should be evenly spread out within production, distribution, and exchange. This has positives to it but also many negatives. Back when my parents were children they got brought up in a time where Socialism was an extremely scary thought. It was linked to the Cold War era which was a very vulnerable time in America. In today's current political climate people like Bernie Sanders have rebranded the term socialism and what it is to be a socialist. Rebranding is extremely important when it comes to something like Socialism. Overall, it has the ability to change the political views of a younger generation. As the political race keeps heating up it will be interesting to how Bernie will keep rebranding the face of Socialism.
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