How Comrade Zoomers Are Re-Branding The American Dream Into A National Nightmare

Many Americans are terrified that the socialist movement is gaining steam in the United States. If socialist Congressional candidates fare well in the midterms, they will deliver both the House and the Senate back to the Democrats. That would all but guarantee another impeachment witch hunt, disastrous economic policies that harm the American people, and restrictions on oil and gas production. What’s also certain is that if the socialist political advances many are forecasting come to fruition, Gen Z will be responsible for this tectonic shift.

Sadly, my generation has opted out of normalcy as the most pro-socialist generation in history. Over 60% of Americans aged 18-29 hold a “favorable view” of socialism, while 34% hold a favorable view of communism. Suffice it to say, socialism is going mainstream.

Those who blame affordability challenges for the rise in Gen Z socialism aren’t seeing the whole picture. Gen Z activists aren’t primarily motivated by high prices. Unlike the far-left ideologues of the past, they have self-serving dreams. As buying a home becomes increasingly out of reach for Gen Z, financial fulfillment is falling down that generation’s list of priorities. While 73% of Gen Z said the American Dream matters to them, about half believe the traditional concept is outdated. Gen Z is redefining the American Dream by rejecting the pursuit of material wealth in favor of a never-ending search for personal fulfillment. It is true that money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does provide basic needs. Forcing others to throw away the more traditional financial definition of the American Dream is authoritarian. Without a merit-based society, socialists leave no opportunity for everyone to pursue their own version of the American Dream. The socialist dream, history suggests, will turn into national nightmares if the socialists and communists get their way.

Young people have spent nearly a century trying to make revolutionary politics work, but without any success. Young Marxist activists were behind the 1917 Russian Revolution and the 1936 Spanish Revolution. In 1953, revolutionary socialist Fidel Castro first attempted to violently seize power in Cuba at the age of 27, and upon coming to power, shattered the promising Cuban economy. In West Africa’s Benin, a youth revolutionary Marxist movement seized power in the 1970s and nationalized the country’s key industries, plunging it into decades of poverty. The list goes on — and includes the events of today’s America.

Gen Z movements against fossil fuels, mining, and AI have all negatively impacted society. For example, former President Joe Biden halted the Keystone XL Pipeline as a campaign promise amid growing pressure from primarily Gen Z protestors. When America or Europe arbitrarily limit their use, production, and exploration of fossil fuels to buy votes from young people, they have no other choice but to use Russian and Chinese hydrocarbons. So much for going green.

What is especially troubling about the socialism trend among young people is that it has no end in sight. America’s youth will search for ever-more radical policies and ideas that give them meaning and, for the more deranged or criminal elements, can easily shift into justifying or even conducting acts of violence.

The next youth movement should be counter-cultural. It should focus on helping young Americans opt out of socialism and reenter a society that requires young people to contribute. When young people choose to contribute to one of the freest countries in the world, they can divert America from a movement that leads to abject decline.

Vice President JD Vance noted, “a lot of universities sold these kids a bill of goods,” including the false notion that high-paying jobs would be waiting for them at the finish line upon graduation. The universities gave them “a lot of debt” and no “useful skills,” the vice president said. Will the next trend for some Gen Z be opting out of the crony university system and embracing blue-collar work, like welding, that reliably pays high salaries? Unlikely. Manual labor is not the preferred tradecraft of today’s youth. Professional activism is.

To make capitalism chic, it needs to be branded as edgy and different from the mainstream. The easiest change is to replace the term with “free enterprise,” which polls significantly better. Socialism has failed everywhere it’s been tried. Nostalgia for a nonexistent utopian system isn’t chic. Mainstream oppression globally has been from communism and socialism, but uniquely prosperous nations have embraced capitalism and meritocracy.

Soon, the veil of American superiority will be lifted, just as Europeans who traveled to America for the World Cup found a country that felt like a worse version of their own. A recent WIRED story revealed that Americans who fled the U.S. for Europe to enjoy free things in supposedly socialist nations experienced unfriendly welcomes and nightmarish living conditions, only to return stateside. In both instances, they realized America truly is the land of the free, unlike anywhere else in the world.

Gen Z wants to be different, and their socialist craze is the most dangerous manifestation. Many parents have said things such as, “It’s just a phase.” Yet that phase, if it is indeed taking shape, can have long-lasting repercussions. The radical fervor of the 1960s still reverberates today. The United States can’t afford a repeat of 1960s radicalism. The fight for the youth is the fight for America’s future.

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Sydney Rodman is a visiting fellow at Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation. Follow her on X @EnergySyd