Red is Back: Socialism’s Return into Political Dialogue

By Athena T ‘27

Over the past decade, the political vocabulary of young Americans has shifted—and one word once considered a political career-ender is now entering the mainstream: socialism.

Long associated with the specter of the Soviet Union and Cold War politics, the term carried deep stigma for generations. Even in freshman-year Asian Worlds, we were taught how McCarthyism and the Red Scare shaped mid-century anti-radical sentiment, cementing socialism as a political taboo. But for young adults who came of age after the fall of the Berlin Wall—facing widening inequality, unaffordable housing, and mounting student debt—socialism increasingly signals solutions, not threats. 

Recent polling reflects the trend. A recent survey by the Cato Institute and YouGov shows that 62 percent of Americans aged 18–29 say they hold a “favorable view” of socialism, and 34 percent say the same of communism. Surveys from organizations like PRRI and Teen Vogue paint a similar picture: younger Americans overwhelmingly believe corporations wield too much power, the economic system favors the wealthy, and the American Dream feels out of reach.

As we track the last decade of American politics we can see moments where the tide has shifted. The rise of Bernie Sanders in 2016 introduced a new generation to ideas like universal health care and tuition-free college—policies many respondents now associate with socialism. The shock of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory prompted thousands to join the Democratic Socialists of America. And the pandemic cemented a sense of economic fragility that has never fully faded. Most recently we’ve seen the rise of Zohran Mamdani, the self-labelled Democratic socialist New York assembly member, who was recently elected New York City Mayor. His growing national profile has become a bellwether for the movement’s future, and what he does in office will likely serve as an important reflection of socialism’s ability to succeed here in current government frameworks. 

What’s more important to note is that the very qualities that made Mamdani—once an under-the-radar politician—gain momentum so quickly are the same qualities driving young Americans toward socialism itself: his emphasis on economic justice and transit equity, an unapologetically anti-corporate posture, a willingness to name identity-based inequalities, and his framing of economic policy in human rather than technocratic terms. On social media, people often joked that Fox News had to take down his policy positions when covering him because they were so broadly appealing—even to many viewers on the right.

The joke not only unsettled conservative politicians, but also underscored a larger point: socialist-aligned policies genuinely resonate with Americans across ideological lines. In many ways, Mamdani’s popularity serves as a microcosm of this broader ideological shift, or perhaps the broader realization that socialism and communism have genuine prospects outside of autocratic regimes. 

Meanwhile, many young progressives have begun to express deep frustration with the Democratic Party’s establishment wing writ-large. While they continue to vote blue by sizable margins, they are starting to see traditional party leadership as perhaps a bit too chummy with corporate interests, and uncomfortably, too hesitant to pursue beneficial economic change— with figures like Gavin Newsom, who has largely avoided challenging Big Tech and sided with companies like Google and social media giants on key legislation, front and center in the party’s image, it certainly hasn’t helped.

And colleges—often cast by conservatives as incubators of radicalism—have also played a complicated role. Student debt, pandemic disruptions, polarized campus debates, and the high cost of living have made higher education a flashpoint for grievances that push students toward alternative political frameworks, including democratic socialism.

Yet experts caution that the meaning of “socialism” remains fluid. For many young Americans, it doesn’t describe the government ownership models of the 20th century. Instead, it’s shorthand for policies that guarantee economic security: accessible health care, affordable housing, labor protections, and investments in public goods.

Whether this shift remakes the Democratic Party—or American politics more broadly—will depend on elections in the coming years. But the trajectory is clear. After decades on the political fringes, socialism has become, for many young voters, less a radical alternative, than a pragmatic response to a system they believe no longer works for them.