A sizable proportion of young Americans lean heavily to the left, often with limited understanding of history, moral grounding, or the foundations of Western civilization. Whether it's the result of leftist indoctrination on college campuses or the intellectual decay sparked by endless hours on social media, the effect is apparent: radicalism is here to stay.
Mark Penn, a pollster and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990s, and Andrew Stein, who served as New York City Council President from 1986 to 1993, penned a Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling Gen Z "the Useful Idiot Generation."
Their concerns about youngsters stem from the Democratic mayoral nomination of Marxist Zohran Mamdani, who has proudly and explicitly stated he wants to seize "the means of production." It seems some New Yorkers have forgotten the history of communism—an economic system that has never worked and, in fact, has led to the deaths of tens of millions.
Yet Mamdani's promises of free bus rides and government-run grocery stores, among other initiatives, have been enough to attract some New Yorkers burdened with student loans and no savings.
Penn and Stein drilled into why a growing number of youngsters aren't outgrowing leftist radicalism, which usually occurs after marriage and having a family...
Penn and Stein noted:
Put all this together, and it's little wonder that about half of 18- to 24-year-olds tell pollsters they support Hamas over Israel. By and large these young adults aren't hard-core ideologues; they're merely ignorant. About half of young Hamas supporters say they don't want to wipe out Israel and prefer a two-state solution. Call them the Useful Idiot generation, mouthing slogans and causes they don't understand and from which they would recoil if they did.
The two said the older generations are to blame here:
We created the environment that produced this unmoored generation. Socialism and antisemitism will continue to fester and grow if we don't stand up and reform our universities, reinforce our basic values, and balance our social media.
Our take—one Penn and Stein didn't mention—is that leftist radicalism didn't begin with Gen Z. Gen X led the political correctness movement, while Millennials served as foot soldiers in the woke crusade. Blaming Gen Z alone for their views misses the broader picture. This has been a long socialist march through institutions—academia, corporations, and government—spreading progressive ideology at every level and shaping younger generations into radicals.
The good news? The Trump administration is now taking steps to roll back DEI and begin reversing the damage.