A survey from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, and conducted by research and data firm YouGov, claims that half of American millennials say they would rather live in a socialist or communist country than a capitalist democracy.
Here’s where it gets even worse; 26% of millennials viewed Che Guevara as a hero; 22% viewed Russian president Vladimr Putin the same way, and 18% viewed the father of communism, Karl Marx, as a hero. 17% felt that Vladimir Lenin should be venerated; 16% felt that way about Mao Zedong; 13% pointed to Josef Stalin and Kim Jong Un.
Marion Smith, executive director of the organization, was genuinely concerned, asserting, “Millennials now make up the largest generation in America, and we’re seeing some deeply worrisome trends. Millennials are increasingly turning away from capitalism and toward socialism and even communism as a viable alternative.”
The millennials’ attitude could be a product of their own ignorance; 71% could not define communism with any precision.
Smith added that the ignorance of communism’s violent history illustrated the vast historical illiteracy across the country and “the systemic failure of our education system to teach students about the genocide, destruction, and misery caused by communism since the Bolshevik Revolution one hundred years ago.”
53% of millennials agreed that America’s economic system is stacked against them, but 66% of those aged 16-20 felt the system works for them.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation website, states, “Communism isn’t back: It never left. We simply forgot about it. And as it rears its ugly head once more, openly and shamelessly, we seem far less prepared to meet the challenge in this century as we did in the last.”