Rise of socialism among youth

By NATE LaMAR
Guest Columnist

My great-grandmother, Mary (Wampler) Bowers, was born in 1881 to a family of early socialist organizers in Cincinnati. My late father told me of seeing a family photo of her, as a child, seated on the lap of Eugene Debs, the Socialist Party leader from Terre Haute, who ran for President multiple times, often from his jail cell!

Upon graduating from high school, she revolted from her family, moved to Indiana, and got married. She became a Suffragette, then a conservative Republican, and was prominent in Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Presidential campaign in East Central Indiana.

The specter of American Socialism was resurrected in recent years by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), followed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) (a.k.a. AOC) and her Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). But other elected officials who are DSA members now include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). This year, several other DSA candidates nationwide have defeated incumbent members of Congress in primaries and won Democrat nominations for these and other offices.

The first time I visited former Rep. Greg Pence at his D.C. office, it was down the hall from AOC’s office. He told me the people he saw come and go from her office reminded him of the bar scene in the original Star Wars! Why are so many youth smitten by a barista who lucked into election to Congress?! Why are so many attracted to failed socialism? I undertook a very unscientific poll of my adult daughters, their husbands, my adult niece and her husband, and my adult nephew, with the following five questions:

1. Were you ever taught about socialism vs. capitalism in high school?
2. If so, was it taught in your U.S. History, Government, and/or Economics class(es)?
3. If you can recall, did your U.S. History class include the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union?
4. If not, approximately WHERE in U.S. History did the class end (i.e. World War II, Korea, etc.)?
5. Were you ever taught socialism vs. capitalism in college?  If so, in which class(es)?

All seven young adults graduated from public high schools. They include three Purdue grads, a Ball State grad, a Taylor grad (also an Ivy Tech grad), another Ivy Tech grad, and a current Western Governors University student. Interestingly, none of their U.S. History classes included the fall of the Soviet Union. All seven were taught socialism vs. capitalism in high school, although the class teaching it varied, while only two were taught about it in college.

Graphic submitted by Nate LaMar

In this small sample, our public schools seem to be doing their job producing citizens, by teaching socialism vs. capitalism. Evidently, some colleges are not teaching it consistently (others must be misleading gullible youth into socialism).

A March 2025 survey by the Cato Institute and YouGov found that 62 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 view socialism favorably. But more disturbingly, on Sept. 1, 2026, 192 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted “NO” to a resolution condemning socialism in all its forms. Only eight Democrats voted with all Republican members to pass the resolution with 220 votes total. Two Democrats voted “present.”

This honestly makes me wonder, how many Democrat members of Congress have actually visited any truly socialist countries? Beyond some “social democracies” in Europe, I would like to know how many have actually spent time in any of the five remaining officially communist countries (China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam). A quick lesson for those not previously taught: communist countries practice socialism economically.

My Great-Grandma Bowers may have grown up socialist, but she chose better. Today’s youth can, too.

Nate LaMar, a veteran and career international manager, also served as President of Henry County Council from 2009 to 2019.