Americans are shocked by the election of “socialists” to high public positions in New York and elsewhere. How did this happen? A recent survey explains the context: 62% of American young adults have a positive view of some form of pop Marxism.
What’s going on?
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After 30 years of teaching at the high school and college levels, here are five things I hear from students.
First, they know nothing about the crimes of communism.
Newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to supporters on election night. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
When it comes to the period 1945 to 1990, many have virtually no historical knowledge. It seems that many history lessons jump from the victory over the Nazis (1945) to current events, perhaps due to teacher exhaustion in the last weeks of the academic year.
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The result? Few know of the crimes of communism that resulted in the murder of 100 million men, women and children. Moreover, they know nothing of heroic dissidents who stood up against tyranny, nor of the costly efforts of their ancestors to contain communism and save democracy.
Second, pop Marxism is attractive because of its seductive promise to care for everyone.
In the past, America’s youth grew up working and were responsible for paying for their own part-time and summer jobs. They understood how their own ideas, labor, and efforts were rewarded financially, and then they chose how to spend the fruits of their labor: movie tickets for a weekend show, saving for a car or college, etc. Over time, they took on greater responsibilities as they matured.
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Most young adults I meet today have never done any of these things. Their summers and weekends were filled with camps and “enrichment” activities. They never really worked for money. They have never provided excellent customer service, at McDonald’s, Subway or Men’s Wearhouse, to flesh and blood customers.
So how should they learn about the relationship between personal responsibility and the many opportunities to contribute through family, the PTA, service clubs, church, private businesses, and charities? For today’s students, most of this is handled by faceless government bureaucrats, and so it should be.
Moreover, it is no wonder that they are shocked by the real costs of rent, food and transport, having to pay for their own living costs for the first time after studying or university!
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A third thing I’ve learned from students is that they value privacy and efficiency differently than previous generations.
A protester from London’s Uighur communities is seen holding a large sign in support of the rally. Hong Kongers in London gathered at Parliament Square on the 4th anniversary of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. (Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Older Americans have long demanded restraint from government and corporate interference in their personal affairs. Immigrants from abroad, in particular, fear the pervasive, pervasive surveillance they have experienced under communist and socialist regimes.
None of this matters to most of today’s young adults and teens, whose entire lives are online. They have no idea that they are being watched 24/7 by adversaries such as the Chinese Communist Party.
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Furthermore, they demand a level of immediacy and efficiency from Amazon.com. Arguments about privacy, security, processes and procedures make no sense.
Consequently, democratic institutions appear inefficient, ineffective and unwilling to meet all their needs. Enter candidates like newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, with his simple platform: “New York is too expensive. Zohran will cut costs and make life easier.”
Few know of the crimes of communism that resulted in the murder of 100 million men, women and children.
A fourth thing I have learned is skepticism about the American experiment in ordered freedom.
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The Founders defended individual and public morality, as well as the need to protect basic individual rights against all forms of tyranny.
Young adults, on the other hand, think that democracy means we can vote on everything.
So ‘majority wins’ means deciding what is right and wrong.
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Imagine a society in which the all-powerful majority has no ties to transcendent moral truths, but always gets to vote on what is right and wrong. The Founders called this “tyranny of the majority.”
Economics: Somehow we have taught students that capitalism is at best a lesser evil than an economic expression of moral responsibility. They do not believe that freedom (free markets and limited republican government) is the engine that increases human flourishing and limits the possibilities of totalitarianism. Pop Marxism teaches that the “invisible hand” is the work of career bureaucrats.
Fifth, many of today’s young adults know little about international affairs, especially about the despicable regimes that are America’s chief adversaries.
Younger Americans see themselves as advocates for social justice, but when was the last time you heard of students organizing a 5K race or other charity project for the victims of communism in Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela, Laos, Eritrea or elsewhere? Likewise, the atrocities of the Chinese communist regime, such as organ harvesting, forced sterilization, torture, murder, and the more than 300 concentration camps for Muslim Uyghurs, are common knowledge… except to those who grew up in [Chinese-owned] TikTok.
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Furthermore, they demand a level of immediacy and efficiency from Amazon.com. Arguments about privacy, security, processes and procedures make no sense.
Is it their fault that they are quasi-Marxists? No. They learned what we as a society have taught (or failed to teach) them. We taught them to expect that authority figures would provide whatever they could to make their lives profitable, joyful, and easy.
Here’s the good news: it’s not too late. We can do better. Look at the success of our anti-Nazi and Holocaust education. We have succeeded in making the images and ideas of Nazism an abomination.
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We must make the portraits of Marx, Stalin and Che as odious as the image of Hitler. We must make the hammer and sickle and other symbols of communism as odious as the swastika.
At the same time, we can revive the true American story—with its scars and its greatness—and teach it to our rising generation of citizens. It’s not too late yet. We can do that!
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