Millennials Hate Capitalism Almost as Much as They Hate Socialism

Seize the means of production? Meh. Millennials love private enterprise—as long as you don't call it "capitalism."

Elizabeth Nolan Brown|Apr. 27, 2016 9:40 am

It was all over my Facebook news feed yesterday: "A majority of millennials now reject capitalism, poll shows." Libertarian friends shook their heads in scorn or lament while the socialists gloated or posed some variation on, "well can you blame them?" But just like the last half-dozen surveys on millennial economic philosophy, this new poll finds young people torn between "capitalism" and "socialism," with perhaps little—or, to be more charitable, an ahistorical—understanding of what either means.

The Washington Post piece people were sharing starts off with a dramatic statement: millennials are rejecting "the basic principles of the U.S. economy." The base for that claim? A new poll of 18- to 29-year-olds, conducted by Harvard University. Researchers found just 42 percent say they support capitalism, while 51 percent do not.....When pollsters probe young people further about socialism and capitalism, they tend to find that respondents don't have clear concepts of these economic philosophies.......To Read More