Democrats are moving toward socialism while increasingly dismissing capitalism, a five-alarm fire of a poll released on Tuesday found.

The results of a Gallup survey showed a persistent shift in Democrats’ support for the two economic ideologies over the past 15 years, with socialism rising and capitalism falling.

The poll, conducted by telephone Aug. 1-20 among a sample of 1,094 U.S. adults, showed a strong majority of Democrats view socialism positively. (The margin of error was +/- 4 percentage points with 95% confidence level.)

Only 42 percent of Democrats viewed capitalism favorably, while 66 percent had a positive view of socialism.

In 2010, 50 percent of Democrats viewed socialism favorably.

Just over half of U.S. adults, 54 percent, had a positive view of capitalism, according to the survey, a decline from 61 percent in 2010.

Democrats have driven most of the overall shift, but favorable opinions of capitalism have also fallen among independents — from 61 percent in 2010 to 51 percent this year.

Seventy-four percent of Republicans held a positive view of capitalism, which was actually up from 71 percent in 2010.

Gallup partially attributed Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, for bringing criticism of capitalism into the mainstream.

He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, but gained massive followings during both runs, while referring to himself as a Democratic socialist.

Gallup noted:

“Americans overall continue to be skeptical of socialism, but Democrats are the exception. Since 2016, more Democrats have held positive views of socialism than of capitalism, with the gap expanding to 24 points today. Democrats’ more positive views of socialism occur at a time when many high-profile Democratic officials — most notably, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — have identified themselves as Democratic socialists and advocated policies calling for a significantly expanded government role in economic matters.”

Mamdani, who is considered likely to win New York’s mayoral race after winning the Democratic primary, is evidence that Sanders’ ideas have caught on and do not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

This is alarming, and should concern anyone with an interest in defeating the ideas of the far-left of the Democratic Party.

Capitalism is the bedrock of individual liberty and economic prosperity.

The country embraced free-market ideas from its founding, which has driven innovation, unimaginable wealth creation, historic standards of living, and opportunity for centuries.

Socialism, by contrast, has repeatedly led to government overreach and redistribution schemes that punish productivity.

Historical examples are everywhere. From Venezuela’s collapse to the Soviet Union’s, socialism’s promises of economic equality always end in poverty and death.

The Gallup poll is a red flag that the U.S. is at a turning point.

The free market has always been America’s engine of progress, and conservatives had better be prepared to go to bat for it in the coming years.

This is more than a policy debate.

It’s a fight for the soul of the country.

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