OK, apologies for the sensationalist title, but a recent US poll shows a marked increase in US citizens questioning the capitalist system. Only 53% favour capitalism over socialism.
Young Americans (under 30) are the most socialistic. The pollsters say they are "essentially evenly divided", 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided.
It is perhaps unsurprising that people are questioning the capitalist system at a time when its caused the biggest crisis for a generation (and possibly much longer). However, the point is to offer a coherent alternative.
Like in the US, the mainstream political parties are all embedded with neoliberal capitalism - and because of that the mainstream media rarely reports anything that counters that world viewpoint.
It is therefore necessary for those of us who don't want capitalism to articulate a coherent vision for a socialist society. That cannot be wrenched from ancient Marxist tomes, but has to be developed in the contemporary context. That is what LEAP has been seeking to do the last few years - and what our conference on Saturday 25th April will continue.
What would a similar poll in the UK reveal?
Sat 18 Apr update: And now there's even pictorial evidence of the shift to the left in the US - Obama and Chavez warmly embrace. Roll on to the United Socialist States of the Americas!
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