More Americans Have a Positive Reaction to ‘Progressive’ Than ‘Capitalism.’

Source: Pew Research Center/Think Progress

More Americans have a positive reaction to ‘progressive’ than ‘capitalism.’

Despite Fox News host Glenn Beck’s conspiracy theory about progressivism being a “cancer” that is secretly plotting to destroy the country, Americans have a largely positive view of the word “progressive.” Meanwhile, “capitalism” appears to not have fared so well following the Great Recession. A new Pew poll of nine political words and phrases found that a strong majority — 68 percent — of Americans have a positive reaction to the word “progressive,” while only 52 percent have the same response to “capitalism”:


Of course, capitalism and progressivism are not opposites, but perhaps Americans view one as the cause of the economic crisis, and the other as the solution. ThinkProgress has noted that the tea party movement hasn’t proven popular in recent polls either, with socialism and even the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) receiving more favorable ratings.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/04/poll-capitalism-progressive

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http://people-press.org/report/610/socialism-capitalism

May 4, 2010

"Socialism" Not So Negative, "Capitalism" Not So Positive
A Political Rhetoric Test

“Socialism” is a negative for most Americans, but certainly not all Americans. “Capitalism” is regarded positively by a majority of the public, though it is a thin majority. There are certain segments of the public – notably, young people and Democrats – where both “isms” are rated about equally. And while most Americans have a negative reaction to the word “militia,” the term is viewed more positively by Republican men than most other groups.

These are among the findings of a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press that tests reactions to words and phrases frequently used in current political discourse. Overall, 29% say they have a positive reaction to the word “socialism,” while 59% react negatively. The public’s impressions of “capitalism,” though far more positive, are somewhat mixed. Slightly more than half (52%) react positively to the word “capitalism,” compared with 37% who say they have a negative reaction.

A large majority of Republicans (77%) react negatively to “socialism,” while 62% have a positive reaction to “capitalism.” Democrats’ impressions are more divided: In fact, about as many Democrats react positively to “socialism” (44%) as to “capitalism” (47%).

Reaction to “capitalism” is lukewarm among many demographic groups. Fewer than half of young people, women, people with lower incomes and those with less education react positively to “capitalism.

IMO many who call themselves "Progressives" espouse "Socialism" that has only 29% support.

All the other words/phrases are definable isms or are law-based, whereas 'Family Values' is a newly-coined talking point that has no intrinsic, definable meaning. Otherwise...interesting! :)

.............ain't too bright. We already know from the teabaggers that they don't know the fucking difference between socialism and fascism, so I wouldn't put too much in this "poll" of what words mean. Remember, most Americans can't find Mexico on a fucking map.

apparently not used in the early years.

Sad, really.

not too bad if these numbers are true.

I find that a much bigger worry than Socialism...

Libertarianism is Fascism on an individual basis.

they just think it means, in a general way, to make progress. They dont know its politically liberal or left wing. If they knew that it would probably be negative.

Just imagine where liberal would rate, and thats where progressive woudl if people understood that thats what it really means.

<>

AKA Stephanie Courtney

From a post of mine on the Sanders amendment thread:


MODs: In the source, the quote below is only 2 paragraphs total. I broke it up for readablity.
became a plutonomy.

Plutonomy:

"Economic growth that is powered and consumed by the wealthiest upper class of society.

Plutonomy refers to a society where the majority of the wealth is controlled by an ever-shrinking minority; as such, the economic growth of that society becomes dependent on the fortunes of that same wealthy minority

Investopedia explains Plutonomy
This buzz word was initially coined by analysts at Citigroup in 2005 to describe the incredible growth of the U.S. economy during that period despite increasing interest rates, commodity prices and an inflated national debt.

Citigroup analysts argued that as such an economy continues to grow in the face of contradictory elements, the more important the society's ultra rich become to maintaining such growth. The analysts also believed that in addition to the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and China are also becoming plutonomies."

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/plutonomy.asp


The 2006 Citigroup memo where the word plutonomy appeared for the first time--they had to invent a new word, because we had gone well beyond plutocracy by then--will curl your hair. If you have none, it will curl your scalp. Read 'em and weep.

If it's too hard to read, even with the virtual magnifying glass, you can find it on the net in pdf if you google.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6674234/Citigroup-Oct-16-2005-Plutonomy-Report-Part-1

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6674229/Citigroup-Mar-5-2006-Plutonomy-Report-Part-2