Comments:One in five Americans finds socialism superior, poll says

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1 out of every 4 Americans is also a complete retard. Probably a correlation there. The remaining 5% is occupied by Truthers —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 99.231.211.103 (talk • contribs)

3 of 4 doesn't equal 5%. Either you have bad grammar, need a math lesson, or you are just a troll. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.70.152.27 (talk • contribs)

The article mentioned 1/5 of Americans finds Socialism superior, whereas the first comment asserted that 1/4 Americans is a complete retard. Assuming that the implication is that all Americans who find Socialism superior are complete retards, all truthers are retards, and no truthers find Socialism superior, then the math gives 1/4 - 1/5 = 1/20 = 5% as he asserted, thus his math should be correct. Since I'm not sure how to respond specifically to a particular comment, I'll sign off with the comment I like turtles.

Ugh. Fephisto (talk) 15:40, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Looks like that One in Five never read a History book either.--66.229.11.230 16:14, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Did you? They have socialism in such wretched places, don't they? Like Sweden. --Brian McNeil / ^talk 16:32, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Yeah Cuba too. Wonders for my people! I mean the gov run heath care dos wonders for us *smirks.--66.229.11.230 17:18, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Ah, if you want to bash socialised healthcare, you should try starting with France - after you've looked up some of the statistics showing the stark difference between their treatment, US treatment, and the cost per-capita.

As to Cuba, their nearest neighbour has run a decades-long embargo against them and tried to pressure others to do the same. No wonder they're kinda poverty-stricken and not readily able to get expensive drugs and treatments. --Brian McNeil / ^talk 17:49, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

27% were unsure

That's an awfully sizable amount of people who are conceding to be totally uneducated about politics. 70.153.112.56 18:58, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Or maybe they just aren't as retardly naive zealots for any one ideology as you are. Kudos to Wikinews for balanced reporting. --80.163.2.104 01:18, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Any person who is educated in political sciences is bound to have a strong opinion about most major forms of social organization. Obviously, you feel strongly about political matters yourself, given that you're badgering me about the neutrality of independent media coverage. (bearing in mind, I'm not even an editor here!) 70.153.109.127 20:58, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Useless info

20% IS NOT A MAJORITY IF YOU CAN COUNT. And like the comment above me says, 27% don't really care or know. This is not news. Let's not start a ruckus about how Obama's going to change our nation by becoming socialistic. This is just stupid. This is like saying that 20% of human beings brush their teeth up and down instead of side to side. Great job Wikinews, keep it up on useless information!

1. While 20% is not a majority, it is a pretty sizable number. Should one be in a room with nine other people two of those people prefer socialism (overly statistically correct of course; in reality that number could fluctuate quite wildly).
2. Political tide is significantly more important than teeth brushing patterns.Spud ^Collab/_{Opinions 15:30, 13 April 2009 (UTC)}

What do you mean this isn't news? Everyone is aware where the world where the American public generally stands on the political spectrum? I'll give you a hint: it's not near socialism. --78.147.2.70 15:38, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Did I miss something? 80% understand that socialism is spending other folks money till they run out. We are headed down a slippery slope of socialism under the new president, he and Hillary have an agenda and it is not good for our country

rclawrence

Don't put words in other peoples' mouths. It's just as likely that 80% have been subjected to Capitalism exclusively, and have no idea what Socialism is in the first place. It's natural that they would voice support for Capitalism, as the only form of government they've witnessed in application. These kind of polls do not account for the general ignorance or personal bias of their participants. 70.153.123.245 01:51, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

In a Cultural Context...

Of course a poll would show over 50% of US people favor capitalism and free markets, we are saturated with pro-capitalist/anti-socialist media from morning till night. Such responses depend heavily on HOW the questions are phrased. If you simply ask, capialism or socialism? Americans will predictably respond "capitalism!", out of pure automatic nationalism. Such a question does not measure understanding of the terms, only trained reactions. But if you phrase the question without the idealogical terms, and focus on specific actions instead, you will get a different result. For instance, if you ask: Do you feel the banking industry needs to be more regulated by the government? In todays climate of recession blamed on banking misdeeds, its easy to predict that most people will respond "Yes, regulate those banks!", although such an action is clearly socialistic. Similarly, if you ask, should government intervene in the health insurance industry to provide more equitable healthcare coverage? With its appeal to equality, this question leads many people to respond in the positive, although its another socialistic action.

Polling questions are rarely neutral, but have to be considered in their cultural context, where they often evoke predictable results, and sometimes are intentionally phrased to do so.

In fact we already live in a mixed capitalist/socialist economy, as do most other nations. Taking the poll results with a grain of salt, I believe that if 20% are willing to favor "Socialism" as an ideology, then an even higher percentage of Americans would favor more socialistic government control in certain sectors of our economy. As long as it isnt called it socialism out loud, people like a certain amount of government control.

This is an excellent article, kudos to the author. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Solviva (talk • contribs)