I was standing in a line outside a polling station in a college neighborhood (actually at the college) once upon a time. Two college-age guys were standing behind me, chattering merrily away.
"Who are you voting for?" one asked the other.
"I don't know. I'm kind of torn between the Libertarians and the Socialists".
On the one hand, I thought, those are mostly diametrically divergent beliefs ("mostly" because orthodox Libertarians don't care about secure borders any more than Joe Biden did).
On the other, I thought ... College kids. Sheesh.
I say this by way of reminding the world that most people spend most of their lives regretting the things they were absolutely positively sure about in their teens and twenties, and that maybe, just maybe, not everything that's wrong with the current younger generation is the fault of a collapsing school system..
That being said, Someone's gotta have a word with the kids.
Recent polling shows young Democrats really, really hate "Capitalism" - but strongly approve of free markets:
Young democrats being +22 on “Free market economy” and -31 on “Capitalism” is both funny and bleak https://t.co/5kC8Xs34Bo
— 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊 🕯 (@atlanticesque) July 17, 2026
And Ilya Somin at Reason points out that this is not just random demographic noise, either:
A recent Echelon Insights poll finds that the "free market economy" is more popular than "capitalism." 53% of respondents say they have a "very" or "somewhat" favorable view of the former, while only 12% have an very or somewhat unfavorable view. By contrast, "capitalism" is viewed very or somewhat favorably by 49%, while the two unfavorable categories combine for 29% (more than the double percentage for "free market economy").
Other polls show similar results. For example, a recent Gallup survey finds 54% have a positive view of "capitalism," but 81% say the same of "free enterprise." A December 2025 Napolitan News Service poll conducted by prominent conservative pollster Scott Rasmussen found 64% of respondents have a favorable view of the "free market," but only 53% say that of "capitalism." A Reason-Rupe poll reached a similar result back in 2015. In Echelon and some other polls, "capitalism" polls unusually badly among younger people, while "free market" mostly does not.
Now, you could point out that part of the problem is rhetorical - the Marxists have spent the past century and a half turning "capitalism" into a dirty word, and words matter:
It's never been easier to influence the voters by picking the right words. Lefties are more Les ahead in that with their nu-speak pic.twitter.com/WlcN2ffseT
— ED RELIGHT ⚡ (@Ed_Relight) July 17, 2026
And if you actually are a free-marketeer, you can easily point to some problems in the way things have been practiced recently:
Maybe not - an awful lot of "Capitalism" in recent years has been crony capitalism, with the Govt picking winners and losers. The fact that even young democrats are significantly in favor of a free market is a good sign.
— RememberStirlingMoss (@MossRemember) July 18, 2026
And there might be some good news tucked in between the nervous chuckling:
The less gloomy takeaway, though, is that this is really young democrats not understanding the meaning of capitalism but actually supporting the idea behind it!
— Max Talwar (@max_talwar1) July 17, 2026
As Somin points out, it's probably something to take into consideration if you are (glances around the Hot Air newsroom) given to evangelizing:
In a better world, people's reactions to ideas should not be so susceptible to variations in wording. But in the world we actually live in, libertarians and other free market advocates (notice I did not say "capitalism advocates"!) should take note. As much as possible, we should use "free market" and similar wording (e.g. - "free enterprise"), while abjuring "capitalism." I myself have largely been following that practice for many years. I urge others to do the same.
I mean, it's some hope...
