Poll Shows Millennials Prefer Socialism Over Capitalism

Annual Report on US Attitudes towards Socialism Shows Americans Still Have a Lot To Learn

Compiled by Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation/October 2017

This year’s centennial anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution has caused many to reflect on the legacies that Marxism and communism have left on our cultural memory. It has been a full century since Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd and communism made its bloody debut on the world stage. Authors, activists, and politicians alike are asking the question: what has America learned from one hundred years of communism?

When the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation published its inaugural study on American attitudes toward socialism and communism in 2016, the results revealed some disturbing trends in American society.

The second annual study tracks how opinions about communism among Americans have changed since 2016.

As of this year, more Millennials would prefer to live in a socialist country (44%) than in a capitalist one (42%). Some even said they would prefer to live in a communist country (7%). The percentage of Millennials who would prefer socialism to capitalism is a full ten points higher than that of the general population.

According to the poll, the majority of America’s largest generation would prefer to live in a socialist or communism society than in a free enterprise system that includes private property and limited government. However, results show that, despite Millennials’ enthusiasm for socialism and communism, they do not, in fact, know what those terms mean.

Participants were asked to choose the best definition for each term. Definitions are commonly accepted and adapted from Wikipedia. (Due to rounding, totals may not equal 100%)

Another finding of the study is that, to a high degree, Americans favor absolute protections for free speech, regardless of their views of communism or socialism. Communists and socialists more broadly have historically and ideologically favored state regulation of the press, speech, and popular assembly. Results suggest that Millennials who favor socialism and communism have not thoroughly considered the implications of their political beliefs.

A full report is available at http://victimsofcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/YouGov-VOC-2017-for-Media-Release-November-2-2017-final.pdf

November 7, 2017 declared National Day for Victims of Communism.

National Day for the Victims of Communism

National Day for the Victims of Communism

From The White House:

Today, the National Day for the Victims of Communism, marks 100 years since the Bolshevik Revolution took place in Russia. The Bolshevik Revolution gave rise to the Soviet Union and its dark decades of oppressive communism, a political philosophy incompatible with liberty, prosperity, and the dignity of human life.

Over the past century, communist totalitarian regimes around the world have killed more than 100 million people and subjected countless more to exploitation, violence, and untold devastation. These movements, under the false pretense of liberation, systematically robbed innocent people of their God-given rights of free worship, freedom of association, and countless other rights we hold sacrosanct. Citizens yearning for freedom were subjugated by the state through the use of coercion, violence, and fear.

Lenin addressing a crowd in Red Square, Moscow, Russian Revolution, Getty Images.

Today, we remember those who have died and all who continue to suffer under communism. In their memory and in honor of the indomitable spirit of those who have fought courageously to spread freedom and opportunity around the world, our Nation reaffirms its steadfast resolve to shine the light of liberty for all who yearn for a brighter, freer future.

Russian-soldiers-marching-in-Petrograd-1917

Background: 1993–PRESIDENT CLINTON SIGNS PUBLIC LAW 103-199

In 1993, a bipartisan bill was introduced by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Robert Toricelli (D-NJ), Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) and Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) to establish a foundation that would educate the American public about the crimes of communism and honor the memory of more than 100,000,000 victims of communism around the world. The law was unanimously passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

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Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, (established in 1994) Statement on today’s White House Declaration

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a Washington-based, non-profit educational and human rights organization devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.

BREAKING: Trump Administration Declares November 7 “National Day for the Victims of Communism”

Presidential Declaration Fulfills Calls by Leading Human Rights Organization to Recognize 100 Million Victims on Centennial of Bolshevik Revolution

Washington, D.C. – Recognizing the Trump administration’s historic statement released hours ago and declaring November 7 “National Day for the Victims of Communism,” Marion Smith, Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), issued the following statement:

“How fitting that the President has declared today, November 7, ‘Victims of Communism Day’ as he travels on the Korean Peninsula, just a few miles from the border of the world’s most vicious communist regime in the world. More fitting still, that he should do so on the day that marks 100 years since communism made its bloody debut on the world stage. Since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, communism has exacted a gruesome death toll of more than 100 million lives.”

“Sadly, communism is not a relic of the past. It lives on in places like China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam, where one-fifth of the world’s population are unjustly imprisoned, where torture is a daily occurrence, and where freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience are denied. Socialism and communism remain alluring for some Americans, and a troubling number of young Americans are more likely to choose living under ‘socialism’ or ‘communism’ than ‘capitalism,’ as we discovered in our most recent poll, the Annual Report on U.S. Attitudes Toward Socialism. It is our hope that by raising awareness about the crimes of communism in all of its guises, we can ensure that the world’s deadliest ideology never takes root in the United States and remains exactly where it belongs: on the ash heap of history.”

Bob Avakian, Refuse Fascism & the Revolutionary Communist Party in the US

Who is Bob Avakian?

Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party in the United States since 1975.

Author of multiple books, including the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

In 2005 Avakian published an autobiography called From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist.

Recent press release calls him “the most radical revolutionary alive.”

Critics call him the head of a “cult of personality.” (MORE ABOUT THIS BELOW)

Former student at the University of California, Berkeley during free speech movement.

Known as “Chairman Bob” or “BA.”

Often spends time in self-imposed exile, though he is not wanted for anything.

Maoist synthesized with Marxism, Leninism and science.

In 2016 Avakian founded Refuse Fascism refusefascism.org, an organization opposed to the presidency of Donald Trump. Previously founded “World Can’t Wait” campaign to overthrow the Bush regime.

BIO

Robert Bruce Avakian, born March 7, 1943 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Berkeley, California.

Previous involvement with the Students for a Democratic Society at Berkeley, the Free Speech Movement, the Black Panther Party, Revolutionary Youth Movement, Bay Area Revolutionary Union.

Charged with assaulting a police officer in January 1979 at a demonstration in Washington DC to protest Deng Xiaoping’s meeting with Jimmy Carter. Fled to France. Charges dismissed but remained in self-imposed exile.

From revcom.us:

To this day, through his talks and writings, and his overall political and ideological leadership, Bob Avakian has continued to guide the RCP, USA, in its fundamental orientation and strategic approach of working for revolution in the U.S. itself and contributing all it can to revolution and the ultimate goal of communism in the world as a whole.

Cult of personality criticism

Described by critics as having created a this mystique of exile (he is not wanted for anything), he is said to equate himself with revolutionaries such as Malcolm X with a target on his back, the subject of death threats and a victim of US government attacks and persecution. Followers said to cherish and idealize “Chairman Bob.” He fights for the oppression of Black people, Latinos, women and other oppressed sections of society.

Bob Avakian posters, in the spirit of Che Guevarra posters, are often posted at the Burning Man festival to create hype and generate interest. (BA t-shirts are also available.)

The Article “Free Bob Avakian! Oh, he’s already free? Never mind” written by Mark Oppenheimer (2008) goes into more detail about the cult of personality.

http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/27/free_bob_avakian/?page=1

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Sunsara Taylor, advocate of Bob Avakian’s new communism, writer for Revcom.us, is a co-initiator of Refuse Fascism. Here she is with Bill O’Reilly in 2007 discussing the “Shout-Down” technique the group often employs.

Bob Avakian is set to speak on the UC Berkeley campus in April, 2018 about freedom of expression and communist revolution. The press release indicates he will be exposing and refuting the lies and distortions of Berkeley’s Chancellor Christ about the Free Speech Movement. This event will be co-organized by Sunsara Taylor.

Revolution Books is a chain of bookstores opened with support of the Revolutionary Communist Party of the U.S. which is spearheaded by activist and political theorist Bob Avakian and which sells his many books and pamphlets.

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