 So, if you've been tuning into this program for a while now, you already likely know that capitalism is decreasing in its popularity. And I think that there are a plethora of reasons as to why that's the case. I mean, it has completely failed and it has brought society to the brink of extinction. So, how can you be a young person strapped with student debt, unable to purchase a car or pay for rents and support this economic system that put you in this predicament? I mean, the answer is you can't. So, I mean, it's not necessarily surprising to think that younger people disapprove of capitalism and are, you know, more supportive of socialism in higher numbers. But this poll really is shocking to me because even people who I wouldn't necessarily expect to lose faith in capitalism are. And look, young people are driving this change on both sides of the political aisle. So, let's talk about this poll. Laura Ronsky of SurveyMonkey writes, A majority of Americans continue to have a more positive than negative view of capitalism with 57% in a new poll from Axios and Momentov, saying they have a positive view and 36% saying they have a negative view, a slight narrowing from the 61 to 36 split in January of 2019. But young adults' perceptions of capitalism have been the real driver of top-line change in the past two years. Today, 18 to 34-year-olds are almost evenly split between those who view capitalism positively and those who view it negatively, 49% versus 46%. Two years ago, that margin was agaping 20 points, 58% versus 38%. By contrast, views among adults ages 35 and older haven't budged with wide margins of 35 to 64-year-olds and 65 plus, saying they view capitalism in a positive light. Among adults in Gen Z, ages 18 to 24, perceptions of capitalism are truly underwater, 42% have a positive view and 54% have a negative view. And more specifically, young Republicans have seen real movement in the past two years. In 2019, 81% of Republicans and GOP leaners age 18 to 34 had a positive view of capitalism. Today, that number has fallen to 66%. Wow. Among Republicans 35 and older views haven't shifted as substantially. While perceptions of capitalism have changed rapidly among young adults, perceptions of socialism have changed more incrementally among all age groups. Slightly fewer young adults now than in 2019 say they have a positive view of socialism. 51% now versus 55% in 2019. But that dip is offset by slight increases in the number of adults ages 35 to 64 and 65 plus, who say they have a favorable view of socialism. Overall, perceptions of socialism are still underwater nationally, with 41% of Americans saying they have a positive view and 52% saying they have a negative view. There's a lot about this poll that is surprising to me, pleasantly so. But two findings in particular really stood out to me. The first is that when it comes to Gen Z, capitalism is just, it's a goner. And what this tells me is that we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in the United States. 54% of Gen Z 18 to 24 year olds have a negative view of capitalism compared to 42% who have a positive view of capitalism. That means that when this generation takes power, their view of capitalism is going to drive policy in the United States in a substantially different direction. And that's not to say that we're going to see some sort of like socialist or communist revolution. Of course, that's not the case. A lot of these folks are probably social democrats. But the fact that capitalism in their view has such a negative view, that's really important to me because it's never been acceptable in the United States of America up until recently to really question capitalism. And we haven't seen anti-capitalist sentiment until recently. But it seems as if anti-capitalist sentiment is really growing exponentially because capitalism is failing to meet even the most basic needs of American people. But you know, that to me, like knowing that young people are more open to socialism than capitalism, that's not necessarily what's surprising to me. What is truly shocking to me is the fact that young Republicans have seen real movement in the past two years, according to this poll. So two years ago, 81% of Republicans and GOP leaners had a positive view of capitalism. But today, that number has fallen to 66%. That folks is very, very interesting to me because if you are a Republican, their entire ideology is neoliberalism. It's market-based solutions to public problems, you know, the privatization of public issues. So I don't even know why you'd identify as a Republican if you have a negative view of capitalism. I mean, that's not to say that most Democrats are, you know, pro-socialism. Of course, that's not the case. You have a couple of social Democrats who are very vocal. But the majority of Democrats are, you know, neoliberal as well. But it's odd to me that even young Republicans have a negative view of capitalism to that extent. Now, I would like to pick the brains of these folks. Why are you a Republican if you have a negative view of capitalism? I mean, is it that you rank other issues higher on your scale of priorities? Do you think that social conservatism is more important than economic conservatism? Is it that, you know, you actually, you think capitalism is bad, but the GOP pushing for a wall in particular, that's the most important issue or your anti-immigrant? Like I really want to know because this is truly weird. And I do think it's the case that we are on the cusp of political realignment in the United States of America. I don't know what that's going to look like. Hopefully it doesn't end up worse than it is right now. But either way, something in America is happening. Things are changing rapidly. And very clearly capitalism is failing to meet the needs of many and approval for capitalism is dropping and approval for socialism is increasing. So to me, as someone who is a socialist, I think this is good news. But, you know, it's, you know, we'll have to wait and see how views continue to shift. Because trust me, folks, this might look good right now, but there's nothing a little bit of propaganda can do to change people's hearts and minds. So, you know, this is a really good positive development for me as someone who is an anti-capitalist, but we'll have to wait and see. But man, this next election that's coming up in, you know, 2024, primarily the presidential election, which is when most young people pay attention, it's going to be really interesting to see what happens there. Right. I mean, well, perhaps not necessarily 2024, because assuming Biden is, you know, the Democratic Party's nominee, like what the Democratic Party puts up, you know, if moderates are going to be able to skate through as they did, you know, I mean, they didn't necessarily skate through super easily in 2020, but if they're going to be able to get away with making neoliberal arguments when it comes to healthcare and hawkish arguments when it comes to foreign policy, if so many people now are identifying as socialists. And that's not to say that, you know, you can't be socialist and be in agreement with Biden on foreign policy. I think that would be a little bit weird. And, you know, you don't have to fit all of those views perfectly in a box. But basically what I'm trying to say is that, like, as presumably the Democratic Party electorate younger people, as more of them become eligible to vote and they shift to the left, like, how is the Democratic Party going to respond to that? It's going to be really, really fascinating to see. But I would imagine that if Biden really doesn't deliver, then we're going to see another situation, like we saw in 2016, where people are hungry, especially young people, for a really strong change-making candidate. So, look, I'm babbling at this point, but long story short, this is phenomenal news, and I find this just incredibly fascinating.