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The death of capitalism? Survey shows American citizens’ support waning

by on Apr. 11, 2011, under Arizona Legislature, Capitalism, Congress, corporatists, economy, jobs, Tea Party, Trickle Down Economics, unions

Is the sleeping giant of the American electorate awakening to the destruction of our country by greedy corporatists? Well, maybe.

A new poll released by a Toronto company shows that Americans’ enthusiasm for capitalism has dropped from 80% in 2002 to 59% in 2010.

Since 2002, Globescan has been asking the question “Is the free market the best ecomonic  system in the world?” every year to citizens in 23 countries.

According to an article in Globalpost, Americans are less happy with the free market than citizens in Germany (the happiest capitalists at 68%), China (aren’t they supposed to be communists? 67%), or Brazil (67%).  Those socialists in France, of course, really don’t like capitalism; only 30% of the French said capitalism was a good economic system. From Globalpost…

“America is the last place we would have expected to see such a sharp drop in trust in the free enterprise system,” Globescan chairman Doug Miller said in a statement announcing the results. “This is not good news for business.”

The U.S. figure dropped 15 percentage points from 2009. It was led by a huge decline in America’s poor and women. Here’s how Globescan parsed the decline in these two groups:

“Americans with incomes below $20,000 were particularly likely to have lost faith in the free market over the past year, with their support dropping from 76 percent to 44 percent between 2009 and 2010. American women have also become much less positive, with 52 percent backing the free market in 2010, down from 73 percent in 2009.”

I find it telling that the Germans are the happiest capitalists, since Germany has the strongest unions in the world + has a thriving economy (because they didn’t dismantle their manufacturing base, as the US and the UK did). Comparing the Germans with the low-income Americans, you find that happy, well-paid workers who have universal healthcare say that capitalism is a good system, which underpaid and/or underemployed US workers with little or no healthcare say capitalism is not working for them.

By oppressing unions in the US and trying to squeeze every once of productivity out of workers while cutting wages and benefits, the capitalists are unwittingly breeding unrest. Now that the capitalists own the US House of Representatives and several state Legislatures, I don’t see the greed train slowing down any time soon. If Teapublicans continue to cut jobs in the name of fiscal responsibility while freely doling out corporate welfare, Americans are going to continue to be disgruntled. Is it November 2012 yet?

More in Pol. & Govt.:

Is War Dead In America?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 7:47 am and is filed under Arizona Legislature, Capitalism, Congress, corporatists, economy, jobs, Tea Party, Trickle Down Economics, unions. Tags for this post: , , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Eldensword

    Of course Capitalism is losing popularity! There aren’t anymore hard working, do-it-yourself type people left! Hand-out after hand-out, generation after generation of kids that don’t even know where their food comes from, who the 1st President was and that would fold like a bed sheet at the first sign of an economic meltdown. Moms and Dads, teach your kids accountability and self reliance! THEN they’ll see that Capitalism is the best thing since sliced bread and bottled beer. Socialism is for a weak people. Give me a nation where there is opportunity around every corned for those strong enough to take it.

    • steve

      Harumph!

  • brad85719

    Eldensword is right.
    He’s got plenty of time to complain. Get to work. Are you lazy or what?
    I guess Eldensword thinks that working two-minimum wage jobs counts as being lazy and ripping people off counts as “hard work?”
    What a pervert.
     

  • Fraser007

    Ask the Chinese what they think. That would be before you go to your free-enterprise/capitalistic/for profit job.

  • leftfield

    Interesting that the nations cited above are all in the “developed” category.  I am curious what the response would be if the people of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, etc, were asked, “What is your opinion of globalized capitalism”?

    Of course the happiest would be those who are sitting pretty right now.  But capitalism is based on exploitation and that exploitation is global now.  Let’s ask those upon whose exploitation and misery our relative comfort is enjoyed what they think.  Where to start?  Just go into your closet and read the labels telling you where your clothing is made. 

    • dft

      leftfield has hit on the heart of the matter.  Well said.

  • Jim Hannley

    Thank you for the very interesting post. I was not aware of this very important poll. It is interesting to note that the benchmark for the poll is one taken in 2009. Mr. Eldensword above asserted that “they” would fold at the first sign of an economic meltdown. Well, 2009 was the heels of a very near global meltdown and the effects of the “Great Recession” were still very sharp. To have a some 72% approval rating at that time is amazing. The Chinese I am sure characterize their economy as capitalistic not socialistic at this juncture, so it’s not surprising they have such a high approval rating for it. They are also witnessing economic growth at a pace nearly twice that of the US so they likely see opportunity for significant personal economic advancement. The French have a very good understanding of socialism and their workers will go to great lengths (witness shutting down major freeways) to preserve their very broad and generous “entitlements”.  Not mentioned in the article is Finland. This is a very mixed capitalist/socialist economy. At a recent global forum on education, their educational system was a shining example for the rest of the world (http://educationworldblog.com/2011/03/what-can-american-education-learn-from-finland-2/). A more socialist economy is not inevitable for the USA but we are facing extremely brash and well coordinated efforts to severely disrupt the American economy and prospects for future growth and development, all in the name of “anti-socialism”.

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  • jd

    “..China (aren’t they supposed to be communists? 67%)..”

    That about sums up how seriously this research should be taken.  If you want to live in a socialist country, please feel free to move.

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The Tucson Progressive

Pamela Powers Hannley writes the Tucson Progressive blog on the TucsonCitizen.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post and Salon.com. She has had more than 30 years of experience in written, visual, and electronic communication—including freelance writing, photography, graphic design, and consulting. In addition to blogging for the Citizen, she is the Managing Editor of an international medical research journal.

Hannley has authored medical research articles, print magazine and newspaper stories, and numerous cancer prevention and self-help publications.

She has been a blogger since 2006, joined the ranks of Tucson Citizen bloggers in October 2010, and started contributing to the Huffington Post in 2011 and to Salon.com in 2012.

Hannley holds a masters’ degree in public health from The University of Arizona and a bachelors’ degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a native of Amherst, Ohio but has lived in Tucson since 1981.