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53% of Democrats Have a Positive View of Socialism, Gallup Poll Claims

Nov. 30, 2012 7:40am Billy Hallowell

A Gallup survey released this week is sure to spark some partisan debate. The post-election study found that more than half of Democrats and left-leaning Americans (53 percent) have a positive view of socialism. This is almost identical to the proportion of left-of-center individuals who respond favorably to capitalism (55 percent).

These findings are particularly striking, especially when compared to Republicans’ views on these economic systems. While 72 percent of right-of-center Americans have a favorable opinion of capitalism, only 23 percent share similar sentiments when it comes to socialism.

Many Republicans have dubbed modern-day Democrats “socialists,” a title that is often-times rejected by liberal Americans. While 53 percent certainly doesn’t constitute the entire party, it’s likely that these results will ignite further controversy and renewed claims that liberal Americans have a greater penchant for embracing income redistribution and socialistic tendencies.

Gallup: More Than Half of Democrats Have Positive View of Socialism

On other issues, too, the differences are stark. When it comes to views about big business, 75 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning Americans have a positive image; only 44 percent of Democrats and left-of-center individuals share the same ideal. However, both Republicans (95 percent) and Democrats (94 percent) hold strongly-positive views about small businesses.

Another large-scale issue is the term “the federal government.” While only 27 percent of Republicans react favorably to it, 75 percent of Democrats do. Based on these findings, Gallup summarizes the results as they pertain to the current sociopolitical climate as follows:

The differences between Democrats and Republicans in how they view these terms provide an important window into today’s political realities. Democrats have a more positive image of the federal government than they do of capitalism, by a 20-percentage-point margin, while Republicans are more positive about capitalism than the federal government, by a 45-point margin. This difference is not surprising — particularly given that a Democrat currently occupies the White House — but underscores the divergence in the ways in which Republicans and Democrats look at the appropriate role of the government in relationship to business.

These responses were collected from Nov. 18-19. Respondents were asked, “Would you say you have a positive view or a negative view of the following?” Then, they were presented with seven economic indicators and issues (as seen in the above table).

A random sample of 1,040 American adults ages 18 and older were consulted for the completion of this study. The maximum margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points.

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Comments (100)

Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:13am
Socialism is an illusion. The utopia it promises only exists in a liberal’s mind, it can never really exist on Earth. Just name one state where Socialism has really succeeded in all its promised glory. It is an illusion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfCCUd8mFtg

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- vox_populi
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:23pm
  Socialism doesn’t promise utopia, only improvement. Great damage has been done to the Earth and the people who live on it by a few men with a vast concentration of wealth and power. We intend to spread that wealth and power around.
  
  In 1776 we brought democracy into the political realm; by 2016 we’ll have brought democracy into the economic realm as well. The People’s Revolution will merely be the latest in a long string of struggles for a better world. If you lot would like to side with 21st-century monarchists, however, be my guest.
  
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- thegreatcarnac
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:39pm
  VOX…..give it up. Socialism is the government of the ignorant and the lazy. It is a dinasour. It is pushed by the rich as something to take down the rich….but the super rich stay rich nonthe-less. Example……Soros, Buffet…etc. All of them and more….are rich yet left wing.
  
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- UNALIEN
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:41pm
  @Vox
  
  Promises, promises,, many naive people have good intentions, but Socialism is a Utopian scam.
  
  Socialism does not spread wealth around, it does the opposite, it concentrates power and wealth with the few privileged elites who redistribute some of their plunder in return for support. It is a redistribution of misery.
  
  Socialism sounds great to an idealist but it is legal plunder by and for the elites. Don’t kid yourself.
  
  Report this comment
- No_Lables
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:49pm
  A recent study found the top ten places to be born today all have heavily socialistic governments. All had socialized health care and some even had government run higher education. In addition, these weren’t countries in economic turmoil like most of the EU or here in the USA.
  
  “The EIU, a sister company to The Economist magazine, determines quality of life based on surveys of the population covering 11 factors including wealth, crime, family life, trust in government and the stability of the economy.
  
  Income estimates for babies born in 2013 are based on projections for the year 2030, when those children will come of age.
  
  The top ten best places to be born in 2013:
  1. Switzerland
  2. Australia
  3. Norway
  4. Sweden
  5. Denmark
  6. Singapore
  7. New Zealand
  8. Netherlands
  9. Canada
  10. Hong Kong ”
  
  Socialism is not evil. Many of you reading this enjoy the fruits of socialism. Military, police, fire departments, education, and so on are elements of socialism. Providing a service, paid for by all, for the benefit of all.
  
  Report this comment
- UNALIEN
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:26pm
  @NO_LABLES
  
  Socialism is evil.
  
  It is illegal in Canada to pay for your own healthcare,, if a diagnosis or test is refused by bureaucrats due to rationing you are screwed unless you have the connections (unions) or money to seek healthcare outside the country..
  
  You can get tests or medical treatment for your dog or cat immediately however..
  
  So, is that a civil society where its citizens are forced by law to have less access to healthcare than your pet.
  
  Coming to America….
  
  Socialism is evil because it never stops, it never has enough of your liberty, of your property, its goal is to continue to grow like a parasite and it is a privileged cabal of elites that get all the control.
  
  What makes anyone think that this group can make better decisions than the free interchange amongst all individuals. Free market principles put decisions in the hands of the many, socialism puts the decisions in the hands of the few. Those few are no more motivated by virtue than anyone else, they are also motivated by greed and self interest. To believe otherwise is irrational.
  
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- Uranium Wedge
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 10:48pm
  It has gotten to the point where people like “VOX and NO_LABLES” are completely hopeless, and brain dead you just have to leave them behind. Maybe one day they will actually educate them selves.
  I pity them and their small hopeless minds.
  
  Report this comment
- Uranium Wedge
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:00pm
  Communism and socialism only work in theory PERIOD
  Our founding fathers recognized that mankind is fundamentally flawed. So they crating a government where mans power is limited.
  What do men with power want??? More power.
  
  Report this comment
- zman173rd
  Posted on December 1, 2012 at 10:55am
  @ VOX If that were true why didn’t the Soviet Union propser? Corruption will always be at the center of any government. Your concept of “Improvement” means misery loves company. “If I can’t have it nobady can!”. If it’s such a great thing whay aren’t people flocking to Cuba and Korea and Russia and China? Why do folks remain here instead of rushing toward those utopian contries? My guess is that even the poorest here live better then the above average in those. I believe as you do that’s it’s only a matter of time before we are completely socialist. It’s too late for the last free country on earth. When we are gone who will be the leader because there will always be a country who wants to lead, it’s human nature. Do you think it will be benevolent or dictatorial? Will the world be better off? My guess is that folks like you will be on the inside looking out. You’ll have the bread jam and the other “citizens” will be fighting over the leftovers on the spoon. You are selfish and self centered to think that you have a better concept than the Constitution. That you know what’s better for us than the Declaration of Independance. Just think that on some lonely street in the middle of the night people will know who you are.
  
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UNALIEN
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:04am
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
Ronald Reagan

The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.
Karl Marx

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- Gold Coin & Economic News
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:14am
  Socialism is an illusion, it will never work:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfCCUd8mFtg
  
  Report this comment
- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:29am
  No, it’s real. Just ask the 66 million killed by the Bolshevik revolution of international socialism, or the millions killed by national socialism of Nazism and Zionism.
  
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- IndyGuy
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:58am
  Love the Reagan quote…
  
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- Detroit paperboy
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 10:02am
  Only 53%…..
  
  Report this comment
- UNALIEN
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 10:15am
  Private property represents individual liberty.. Socialism is the State sponsored and organized plunder of private property..
  
  Therefore, Socialism is the theft of individual liberty.
  
  and in socialism eventually you run out of other peoples liberty…
  
  Report this comment
- VanceUppercut
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 10:33am
  Socialism ≠ Communism.
  
  Report this comment
- UNALIEN
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:00am
  Socialism is the strategy, Communism is the goal
  
  Report this comment
- DEMOCRATS.ARE.EVIL
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:14am
  VANCEUPPERCUT – That “Socialism ≠ Communism” lie doesn’t work anymore. A Socialist is nothing more than a Communist terrified to admit it.
  
  Report this comment
- Gold Coin & Economic News
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:42am
  @VanceUppercut Communism is the final result of Socialism.
  
  Report this comment
- kaydeebeau
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:05pm
  Well if you ever listen to Glenn Beck radio on Friday for the More-On Trivia questions – every person they ask “what is socialism” the answer always has to do with be friendly / sociable so I would guess that the 53% in the poll have the same cluelessness about what socialism really is
  
  Report this comment
- vox_populi
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:28pm
  “A Socialist is nothing more than a Communist terrified to admit it.”
  
  “Communism is the final result of Socialism.”
  
  Ugh – wrong, wrong, wrong. Socialism is a vast set of political and social theories relating to relating to the problems of industrial capitalism. It includes everything from Medicare to credit unions to farmers’ cooperatives. Communism is Marx’s theoretical end stage of human history where there is no government nor inequality in social class or access.
  
  Marx thought socialism was a transitionary stage, but Marx is far from the only social theorist. It’s not like he invented socialism; that term precedes him by several decades.
  
  Report this comment
- UNALIEN
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:44pm
  @VOX_POPULI
  
  You are falling for theory,, the reality shows that socialism leads to increased oppression and a break down of the civil society…
  
  Too much power in the few,,,
  
  Report this comment
GuruMeditation
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:54am
and half of that 53% probably don’t pay taxes.

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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:07am
  This is why we can’t coexist. Split the nation now before it splits violently.
  
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IndyGuy
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:36am
“53% of Democrats Have a Positive View of Socialism”…And 47% lied when they said they didn’t…

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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:10am
  it is funny, 94% indicated support for small business, but they hate capitalism….how does that work? you are either for making money on your own (small business) or you are for letting the government give you your “fair share” taken from the backs of your neighbors.
  
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- KMM
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:50am
  WARMUNGER_AL: it works because they don’t understand what capitalism is. No one really taught them correctly and they didn’t bother to look it up. It’s ignorance plain and simple.
  
  Report this comment
leasecommander
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:32am
And then who is the most informed? Has socialism ever worked? It apparently gives the democrats a warm fuzzy feeling to take money from someone else , “Atlas Shrugged” is upon us all in the name of “Social Justice”.

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- futureatstake
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 9:17am
  Historically, socialism always implodes on itself. Capitalism, on the other hand, must be destroyed.
  
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futureatstake
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:31am
The real scary figure is the one next to this. 23% of REPUBLICANS have a positive view of socialism? This is why Obama won!

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:37am
  i would have thought it higher…Perhaps the republicans dont know that socialism includes the government dictating morals
  
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- Crazyotto
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:46am
  You wonder how hey could consider themselves Republicans. Perhaps they are Chris Christie supporters.
  
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Tickdog
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:30am
yep. just sit back and watch what happens next..

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watashbuddyfriend
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:26am
Ok, Gallup, why not show them by State?

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BlackCrow
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:24am
53% of Communists approve of Socialism. Is this news? I have a flash for you; the sun is rising.

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HKS
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:23am
Dumb poll, democrats are socialist that’s never been a secret.

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lessoneleg
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:22am
That’s a pretty sad state of affairs when a Democratic country with it’s current government of liberals sides with socialism as “the answer” to all the ills of the world. Pretty darned sad. If anything or anyone saw or read the failures of socialist countries in the last half century between 1950 to 2000. The socialist governments everywhere failed, and failed miserably for those people suffering under that particular style of government.
If there is any one reason why socialism is being promoted with this “New & Improved” version of socialism, it’s our Public Education System and University/College education. Those people are boarding on contempt for the democratic process, and warping the minds of students that socialism will solve all their dreams. That’s where the bread crumb trails point to, and where it must be stamped out. The promotion of State everything caring for the person. The ship will never be turned so long as State socialism is exclusively sold to the young minds and new voters. And the statistics proves it out now more than ever.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:29am
  Almost too late. UNESCO’s partner, the International Baccalaureate program, IB, is spreading like wildfire through our schools. The curriculum is written in Switzerland. Testing is done through Switzerland. And, disputes are settled by Swiss law. All we do is pay the money. Schools must teach their curricula, their way.
  
  It’s indoctrination, not education.
  
  Report this comment
Rickfromillinois
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:18am
The party of those who want more and want someone else to pay for it. If someone has more then them it is not fair.

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ellietoo
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:15am
Maybe conservatives need to wake up to the fact that the country has be taken over by communists and Marxists. It has happened in the open for all to see. Our schools, colleges and universities have been run by these people for many years now. Leftest unions now have control over all of our tax payer funded services like police, fire departments and the public school systems. All of the mainstream media is run by the left. Why would anyone be surprised by the last election and that most of our population has moved toward a communist dominated philosophy? For the past 30 years the public has been spoon fed rewritten history and leftest ideals on television and other media outlets. The war is already over and the right is still sound asleep.
Most of the country is brain dead. They sit in front of their flat screen televisions as the left continues to feed them a godless outlook on life that has no regard for the sanctity of life or respect for those who defend a righteous life style. Everything is a joke. Ha! Ha! Ha! Laugh at people like Mitt Romney that work hard and don’t have vices like alcohol or drugs. Incite hate for those who have made a success of their lives. They don’t deserve to keep what they have earned now do they? How about we take from those bad working people and give that money to the government to decide how to spend it? Yeah! That sounds like a good idea to people “educated” in a school system so devoid of values and that fails really educate the mind.

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- zman173rd
  Posted on December 1, 2012 at 11:11am
  Very well stated ELLIETOO. problem is the conservatives won’t wake up. It’s too much trouble. Why do that when they can buy flat screen tv’s and veg out? No one really wants to work hard for anything outside thier bubble. When I say “hard work” I don’t be labor intensive, I mean taking a stand and doing the right thing when those around you want to watch weekend football. NO one will get involved in our problems. I’ve hear time and time agian that our contry will never fall into tyranny or socialism because we have too many safeguards. To that I say look around and smell what’s left of the coffee because that too will soon be a thing of the past. Remember that movie “what did you do in the war daddy?” Now it will be ” What did you do to kill our freedom daddy?” Among other inroads, ever since they got away with the “DIVERSITY” thing here it was too late.; Divide and Conquer. I hope all of you know, that those who post here will soon be hearing a knock on a door near you.
  
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SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:15am
This is very disturbing but not surprising. I find it creepy.. there are people out there who look at what I have worked hard for, and EARNED… and they believe I should give it to them! They feel they are simply “entitled” to it.

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RightUnite
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:12am
Well of course the party of Gimmedatthing is going to have a positive view of something when you get pretty much everything free!

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GuruMeditation
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:12am
Pathetic fools.

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jackact
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:58am
Not just a positive view ~ a WORLD view.
Therein lies the danger.

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arbeauchamp
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:57am
That’s interesting…100% of them voted for it. I guess it’s the portion of the democrats that still haven’t figured out that their party has been hijacked by socialists and they really don’t even know what it is or what it entails.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:11am
  These people know and don’t care. They’re lazy and weak. They don’t want to think. This is what welfare produces.
  
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- Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:13am
  Bread and circus beau…bread and circus.
  
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Truth and Justice
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:57am
I guess they don’t see whats playing out in Europe!

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:09am
  Yes they do. Problem is, they are the same, weak and lazy.
  
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TheMajority
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:56am
It takes more than 53% of one party to move the USA to communism (the goal of socialism). Understand, the other party can stop it, so it takes a 2-party system to move the USA into communism.

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- Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:12am
  What’s the “other party”. I look around and I’m only seeing a one party government.
  
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- BlackCrow
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:28am
  You have the galloping Communists a.k.a. Democrats and the strolling Socialists a.k.a. Republicans/ RINOS. There are your two parties.
  
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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:36am
  authoritarian party – that is all we have
  
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ares338
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:53am
Well duh…..this is fairly by god apparent. This is because they are ignorant of the facts. Socialism does NOT work and will never work. It always degenerates into a dictator led society and NO everyone is not equal. This has been coming since I was in school.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:00am
  Public education = Socialist indoctrination
  
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- Nlitend1
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:22am
  No, I think this has been in the works even before your grade school days. It probably dates back to the humble beginnings of our nation, and has its basis in the invention of government and the ‘modern’ society. Every time we pay a single dollar in taxes, bailout a farm or auto manufacturer, build a road and rebuild a city washed away by a storm, we are participating in socialism . . . just like we participate in capitalism when we purchase groceries, gas or a home. The US has a mix of the 2 and both are good in moderation. If I was asked the same gallup poll, I would have to answer in approval as well.
  
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soybomb315_II
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:52am
53% of democrats have a positive view of socialism….But i bet only 30% of republicans have a positive view of libertarianism

Based on that, which direction do you think the country will go?

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- Stoic one
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:09am
  I did a survey online (& blind to me ) and found a 92% similarity to the libertarian viewpoint. and I thought i was conservative….
  
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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:30am
  most people, including independents and democrats, are libertarian. Nobody likes the idea of someone taking their money and telling them what to do
  
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TheePolitinator
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:52am
And I will have to smack the crap out of them all!!!!!!!

Traitors all of em!!!!

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The_Jerk
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:51am
If you poll communists about communism, you’d find the same; because they are the same. If you polled women, you’d find the same; because they need someone to take care of them, and socialism will. Weak people need a mommy state.

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- TheMajority
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:58am
  47% would not admit it.
  
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- Texas_Hawkeye
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:01am
  That is a great point! So true about people that are weak need a nanny state!!! I feel like I am living through the Zombie Apocalypse, except the zombies aren’t after my brain, just my wallet!!!
  
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sizzlinsexybeckster
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:50am
These people today don’t even know what “Socialism” means… they think it’s being “social” on the government babysat websites Facebook and Twitter. Can someone write an article or a book on what it actually means… oh wait… these people taking this survey don’t know how to read. Never mind.

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