US college students increasingly favoring socialism – poll
Most US college students prefer socialist economic systems such as those of Cuba and the Soviet Union over capitalism, the results of a nationwide poll reported by the New York Post (NYP) has suggested.
An online survey of 820 students at four-year colleges conducted for Yale University’s William F. Buckley Institute earlier this month found that 46% of undergraduates agreed that socialism offered a better model than capitalism, while 39% disagreed. At the same time, 40% said they preferred to live under capitalism, compared to 36% for socialism.
Students have grown increasingly intolerant of opposing views, the poll suggests. Some 40% said physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech, and 48% approved of shouting down or disrupting campus speakers.
“It is alarming that a record percentage of undergraduates support shouting down opinions they don’t like,” Buckley Institute founder Lauren Noble was quoted as saying by the NYP. She pointed out that the amount of students who think violence is justifiable is “a disturbing reality coming just weeks after Charlie Kirk’s assassination” and warned that “American higher education is in trouble.”
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a sniper on September 10 while speaking at a Utah university. Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with the murder, noting that he has left-wing and pro-LGBTQ views.
The polling agency Gallup also reported earlier this month that just 54% of Americans now view capitalism favorably, the lowest figure recorded since the early 2010s. The survey showed that Democratic voters increasingly prefer socialism, with support climbing to 66% this year.
The survey also highlighted political divides in tolerance. 64% of liberal students said they could not be friends with someone of a different political party, compared with 35% of moderates and 25% of conservatives. Liberal students were also more likely to condone disrupting speeches, with 60% in favor compared to 38% of moderates and 35% of conservatives.
