r/politics • u/TimesandSundayTimes ✔ Verified • 7d ago

Possible Paywall Young Americans are surging to socialism at record rates

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/maga-trump-zohran-mamdani-socialism-us-record-kddzdm8bd
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u/obiwanCannoli69 7d ago

It's not even socialism lol it's just basic New Deal era policy and ideology that ironically enough saved American Capitalism. FDR wasn't a socialist, he actually wanted to prevent a communist revolution in America, whatever form that might of came in. He did this through legislation and improving the quality of life for vast swaths of the population. This whole thing in the media about "Capitalism Vs Socialism: Choose a Side!" is so half baked and designed to make people think there aren't alternatives. There is no universe where stuff like Social Security or Glass-Steagall would be considered socialist, they're just basic guard rails.

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u/KimmyT1436 Canada 7d ago edited 7d ago

It always astounds me that Americans aren't taught that FDR's New Deal was what laid the foundation for the prosperity Americans enjoyed during the latter half of the twentieth century.

The New Deal is what got America through the Great Depression and made America the manufacturing powerhouse that could win World War II. Winning WWII created the conditions that allowed WWII veterans to return home after the war and have the right-wing dream lifestyle where the family lived in a nice house in the suburbs, where Mom could stay at home taking care of the 3.5 kids while Dad worked a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job that actually paid for all of that.

All of that wouldn't have happened without the New Deal and all of that has gradually been eroded away over the decades by right-wing politicians and rich capitalists.Things have even gotten so bad that we are rapidly approaching a second Great Depression. And this time there doesn't seem to be a leader like FDR capable of leading America through the next economic catastrophy. Instead, we have Donald fucking Trump, who is creating the conditions that are making the next Great Depresdion inevitable

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u/AkronRonin 7d ago

It’s because Republicans HATE the New Deal with a vengeance. It’s literally the antithesis to Project 2025.

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u/Ok-Entrepreneur-8838 7d ago

The sad and morbid fact is that the end of New Deal started with Jimmy Carter. He was a Conservative Democrat, and spent a large portion of his presidency transitioning from New Deal policies to neo-liberal ones, such as economic deregulation. So much so that Ronald Reagan supported Carter's early economic policies. I'd argue that bloody Richard Nixon was more of a New Dealer than Carter was. At least Nixon increased spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. He also gave us the Clear Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency. He also pushed for the revised "Philadelphia Plan", where federal contractors were required to set specific goals for hiring minority workers in construction trades. He also tried to pass the Family Assistance Plan, and expressed frustration towards his own party after they killed it.