47% of American Socialists Believe “taking violent action against the rich may be JUSTIFIED

[Sentry18]

I am betting they don't think the rich have armed bodyguards and security teams.


https://www.theorganicprepper.com/socialists-violence-against-rich/

SURVEY: 47% of American Socialists Believe “taking violent action against the rich may be JUSTIFIED”

October 10, 2019

by Daisy Luther
In a nation that has prided itself on the “American Dream” – the dream that anyone can become wealthy if they work hard enough and make the right decisions – it’s probably a shock to learn that a lot of folks no longer believe in capitalism.

But the shock goes even deeper than that. A report from the Cato Institute that examined Americans’ opinions on wealth and the wealthy says that 47% of American socialists believe that “taking violent action against the rich may be justified.”

About the report
The Cato Institute is a think tank that performs independent, non-partisan research into a wide range of issues related to personal liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. You can learn more about the Cato Institute here.

The new report is entitled What Americans Think About Poverty, Wealth, and Work.

The survey…investigates attitudes toward the rich and the poor and examines what Americans believe about work, welfare, and social mobility. (source)

Many of the results seem to be right down party lines and in this political climate, are frighteningly predictable.

Let’s take a look at the findings.

Socialism vs. Capitalism
Opinions have taken a shift since 2016.

In 2016, Democrats were about as favorable toward capitalism (58%) as socialism (56%). But after President Donald Trump took office, Democrats became more favorable toward socialism. Today, 64% of Democrats have favorable opinions of socialism and 45% are favorable to capitalism. Republicans continue to have overwhelmingly favorable views of capitalism (77%) while only 13% have favorable views of socialism. (source)

Why did this shift occur?

According to half of the Democrats surveyed, President Trump caused them to dislike capitalism and lean more toward socialism.

At the same time, 44% of Democrats say that Trump has not influenced their views on capitalism vs. socialism. 72% of independents and 64% of Republicans reported that President Trump has not influenced their views on the economic model.

Overall, 59% of Americans favor capitalism and 39% favor Socialism.

Thoughts on Wealth
Opinions on wealth were varied. Here were some of the findings:

84% of Americans believe “there is nothing wrong with a person trying to make as much money as they honestly can.”

• 61% want to raise taxes on anyone who makes more than $200,000.
• 53% want to raise taxes to a whopping 70% on those who make more than $10 million.
• 65% of Americans over age 60 oppose the increased tax on people making more than $10 million, while 62% of those under 30 support the increase.

A worryingly slim majority of Americans do not believe that wealth should be redistributed from the rich to the poor.

• 62% oppose the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. (Where do they intend for that 70% millionaire tax to go?)
• Down party lines, here’s who believes in wealth distribution: 58% of Democrats, 36% of Independents, and 15% of Republicans think that money should be taken from the rich and given to the poor.

More than half of Americans (55%) believe that the distribution of wealth in this country is “unfair.” This is divided by age and political philosophy.

• 79% of Democrats find the distribution unjust.
• 55% of Independents find the distribution unjust.
• 67% of Republicans find the distribution just.
• 70% of people under 30 think the current distribution of wealth is unjust
• 61% of people over 65 think the current distribution is just.

The distribution of wealth (or lack thereof) will probably be a key factor in the next election. It was only a couple of years ago when a group went public about their desire to “expropriate” the assets of the wealthy and redistribute them to the poor.

Young people vs. old people
Let’s talk about younger people’s opinions versus older people’s opinions. Cato reports:

People under 30 are about 20–30 points more likely than Americans 65 and over to:

• believe the rich got rich by “taking advantage of other people” (52% vs. 27%)
• believe billionaires are a threat to democracy (51% vs. 26%)
• feel “angry” when they read or hear about rich people (44% vs. 11%)
• believe it’s “immoral” for society to allow people to become billionaires (39% vs. 13%)
• believe that citizens taking violent action against the rich may be justified (35% vs. 10%)
• support redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor (53% vs. 20%)
• support raising top marginal tax rates (62% vs. 43%)

Young Americans are about equally favorable toward socialism (50%) and capitalism (49%). In stark contrast, Americans 65 and over solidly prefer capitalism (76%) to socialism (34%). (source)

It is not out of line to blame our education system for pushing socialism and leftist professors who promote violence for these attitudes. In fact, the Democratic Socialists of America urge socialists to become teachers to accomplish just this.

However, it might be consoling to note that when a similar survey was undertaken in 1978, more than half (54%) of Americans under 30 believed that wealth should be redistributed from the rich to the poor. The young people who were 18-29 then are 59-70 now, and you can see how their opinions have changed. That should provide some hope that the attitudes of current young people will change as they become more mature and have more life experience.

People have wildly varying views on how rich folks became wealthy.
One of the biggest points of disparity was opinions on how rich people attained their money. Liberals and conservatives are completely at odds regarding this.

• Strong liberals say the top drivers of wealth are family connections (48%), inheritance (40%), and getting lucky (31%)
• Strong conservatives say the top drivers of wealth are hard work (62%), ambition (47%), self-discipline (45%), and risk-taking (36%)
• Strong Liberals say the top causes of poverty are discrimination (51%), an unfair economic system (48%), and a lack of educational opportunities (48%)
• Strong Conservatives say the top causes of poverty are poor life choices (60%), a lack of work ethic (52%), breakdown of families (47%), and drugs and alcohol (47%) (source)

With these differences in perspective, it is easy to see how difficult it would be for liberals and conservatives to come to a consensus regarding policy to “fix” the poverty in America.

What attitudes most influenced people’s points of view?
According to this report, there are two major factors that influence people’s points of view regarding capitalism vs. socialism: resentment and compassion. The report says:

Statistical tests find that resentment of high achievers has about twice the impact as compassion for the needy in predicting hostility toward capitalism and support for raising taxes on the rich. However, compassion is a better predictor of support for increasing welfare benefits. Both resentment and compassion predict support for socialism. (source)

At the same time, 69% believe that billionaires became wealthy by creating value for others, and 65% believe that the nation is better off when people become wealthy because they, in turn, will invest in businesses that create jobs.

Most Americans (82%) believe that people should be “allowed” to become billionaires. However, this really breaks down in the Democratic party, where 54% of them believe that billionaires are a “threat to democracy.” Unsurprisingly, 65% of socialists believe that “allowing” billionaires is immoral.

 

[Sentry18]

And this is where things get kind of scary.
There are more people than you might think who believe that “citizens taking violent action against the rich” is acceptable. Here are the people who believe that it is acceptable in some situations to be violent toward the wealthy.

• 17% of Americans in general
• 47% of socialists
• 36% of liberals
• 35% of those under 30

One must wonder what they mean by “violence.”

Do they mean that violence should be used to expropriate the wealth or violence should be used just for the sake of harming the wealthy for the audacity of being financially well-to-do? Do they want to use guillotines like the people in the French Revolution to enforce their goals of wealth distribution?

Conclusion
At this point, there’s a hard push toward socialism in this country.

Most folks who believe in socialism don’t see the correlation between those policies and the collapse of Venezuela for example. They don’t understand that every time in history that food production was collectivized, people died of starvation. On the other hand, a lot of the vocal people who are against socialism have views that appear to be condescending and judgmental, neither of which is going to win over hearts and minds.

As someone who has been dirt poor despite my very hard work, I find the opinions that cite laziness and drug use to be downright offensive. As someone who managed to dig myself out of poverty, I find the concept of having the results of my hard work “redistributed” to be equally offensive.

Also note: this article is based on the Cato Institute’s statistics – this isn’t an opinion piece.

What do you think of the results of this survey? Do you believe there will be violence against the wealthy? Do you think the push for socialism will continue until we no longer recognize the United States as the land of opportunity?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the findings. Do they seem accurate to you? Do you have any personal experiences that support or contradict the survey? Please share those stories in the comments.

And try to keep it civil – this only has to be volatile if we allow it to be.

Please visit The Cato Institute to read more details of this survey on the state of our union, and share your thoughts in the comments.

 

[Weedygarden]

And then you have to know that what some people define as rich or wealthy, is not what you or I define as such. It is relative. I once had someone tell me that anyone who owns their own home is rich. Okay, good to know what little minds are thinking! If you live around a whole bunch of people living on the system (welfare), then anyone who has a vehicle, owns a home, gets up and goes to work everyday, is fair game.

How many of you fit that definition? I do!

When you are defined as such, then you are watched for when you are home, or not. You are going to be cased for the weak areas of your life and home.

But I also think there is a group of people who think anyone and anything is fair game. If someone lets down their guard with security, protection, anything, and someone else sees an opportunity, they will take it. There are people who walk neighborhoods now, trying every car to see if the driver's door is unlocked. Then there are others who have special devices that drive around and see if their device hits on a key fob code and unlocks cars. Then they can ransack, steal the car, borrow the car, or whatever they choose. Cars get borrowed frequently, without the owner's knowledge or approval, and driven until they are out of gas. Then onto the next.

 

[Meerkat]

The new eich not what they use to be. Whne insurence and pharma take over your life for their profit something is wrong.Plus politicians don't work so how in the hell do they get so rich so quick.
we can't throw out the baby with the bathe wate. Drs, deserve to be rich imo. But now they compete with orighners, pay highinsurence to protect against sue crazy ass people.

 

[angie_nrs]

• Strong liberals say the top drivers of wealth are family connections (48%), inheritance (40%), and getting lucky (31%)
• Strong conservatives say the top drivers of wealth are hard work (62%), ambition (47%), self-discipline (45%), and risk-taking (36%)

In my experience, this seems to match what I have noticed. Only an extremely small percentage of millionaires inherited their wealth, according to Dave Ramsey. For some reason, libs don't want to give any credit to those who have been successful and earned their wealth. Remember the......You didn't build that!......rhetoric from Obama. Grrrrr! It still ticks me off every time I think of him saying that. Spoken by a true hypocrite. What the heck has he built??? Yet, I'm sure he's set for life just for spewing hot air.

Sometimes I think people just want to be mad for the sake of being mad. These days it's hard to determine who is "rich" and who isn't. With credit flowing like rivers, you can't tell by looking at someone's stuff if they are rich or not. How would someone know if that car, snowmobile, diamond ring, home, etc. are paid for or not? There's a big difference between someone who is in debt up to their eyeballs with nice stuff vs. someone who has the same stuff that is all paid for. But just looking at it from the outside, you can't tell who is who, so how do the libs know who to be mad at?

I'm not angry at anyone who is rich as long as they didn't lie, cheat, and steal to get there. Anyone who has made an honest living and has been successful, gets an attaboy or attagirl from me.

 

[Sentry18]

My Dad you used to say "Thank God for the wealthy! Who do you think employs all our family and friends? Sure, some of them have questionable motives; but every store we go to is owned by someone wealthy, every car we drive was built by someone wealthy, our gov't tax base relies heavily on the wealthy, etc. Those people who claim everything is the rich man's fault can't see the forest through the trees".

 

[Amish Heart]

Socialist leaders (Obama, Bernie, Elizabeth...) are all rich. Are they going to take down their leaders?

 

[Meerkat]

My Dad you used to say "Thank God for the wealthy! Who do you think employs all our family and friends? Sure, some of them have questionable motives; but every store we go to is owned by someone wealthy, every car we drive was built by someone wealthy, our gov't tax base relies heavily on the wealthy, etc. Those people who claim everything is the rich man's fault can't see the forest through the trees".

This is true Sentry, but it sure ain't the ploticians ,pharmacyand insurence companies that employ em. its the factories, that left to othe nations. And the "working without a cause "
professors,teachers, roofers, builders, carpenters, electricians, plumbmers,etc,etc,etc,.

 

[SheepDog]

One of the famous authors in the late 70's said in one of his books; "if you don't help someone you will never be wealthy.
He was referring to supplying goods, services and jobs to those that wanted them. Any business that stays in business for more than three years is following that advice.