Capitalism Is Slipping — And So Is America’s Compass

Originally published on Substack. 

Gallup just released a sobering poll: only 54% of Americans now view capitalism positively, the lowest level since they started tracking it in 2010. Can you believe it?

Support among Democrats has collapsed to 42%, while two-thirds now say they prefer socialism. Independents are slipping too, barely above 50%. Republicans remain strong at 74%, but even there, confidence in “big business” has eroded.

What’s happening? Why is the system that has lifted billions out of extreme poverty around the world now viewed with suspicion here at home? The answer is simple: what most Americans see today isn’t real capitalism. It’s a messy blend of crony corporatism, bloated government, and populist handouts — dressed up as “market solutions.”

Capitalism, simply put, is freedom. It’s people making choices, taking risks, and bearing the consequences — good or bad. It’s voluntary exchange, competition, and innovation. And it has worked better than any other system in history.

But across the political spectrum, we’ve drifted away from that foundation.

• National conservatism has embraced tariffs, subsidies, and industrial policy — picking winners and losers instead of trusting markets.
• Progressivism promises endless programs in the name of “equity,” growing government far beyond its proper role.
• Populism has fueled calls for protectionism, bailouts, and “free money” — all of which destroy the discipline of profits and losses.
• Socialism has crept further into mainstream discourse, particularly on the left, where two-thirds of Democrats now say they prefer it to capitalism.

Each of these ideologies, in different ways, replaces individual choice with political power. And each leads to the same result: less growth, more dependency, and declining trust in our institutions.

We can see it clearly in the states:

• In Texas, leaders boast about surpluses but funnel billions into new constitutionally dedicated funds like the Texas Energy Fund and Texas Water Fund. Only $6 billion of a $24 billion surplus went to tax relief. That’s not free enterprise — it’s central planning in cowboy boots.
• In Kansas, revenues beat projections by $248 million, yet taxpayers got nothing back because an arbitrary “trigger” wasn’t met. Meanwhile, the state keeps losing residents — nearly 100,000 in the last decade — to freer, faster-growing neighbors. That’s not capitalism — that’s bureaucracy.
• In Louisiana, lawmakers still shovel money into pork projects and corporate subsidies while families wait for the LA GATOR Scholarship. Over the past decade, Louisiana lost 120,000 people to other states. That’s not opportunity — that’s failure.

These aren’t outliers. They’re symptoms of a national disease: forgetting the basics of Econ 101.

• People act on incentives. If taxes are high and opportunity is low, they move elsewhere.
• Profits and losses guide progress. Bailouts and subsidies destroy that feedback loop.
• Government spending doesn’t create new wealth. It only redistributes resources, often from the politically powerless to the politically connected.

The result? Declining confidence in capitalism, stagnating growth, and a political class on both sides doubling down on the very policies causing the problem.

Closing

The path forward isn’t complicated. We don’t need “industrial policy,” “stakeholder capitalism,” or “democratic socialism.” We need freedom. We need capitalism in its purest, simplest sense: people free to create, compete, and cooperate without politicians tilting the playing field.

As Gallup’s numbers show, the image of capitalism is slipping. But the problem isn’t the system itself — it’s that we’ve strayed from it. If we return to the basics, both Kansas and Texas, Louisiana and Washington, can prosper again.

Because at the end of the day, capitalism is just another word for letting people prosper.