This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 9, 2025.

Alex Tokarev grew up in Bulgaria during the Cold War. Life under socialism, he says, was “miserable.” Twenty-five years ago, he and his wife moved to the United States, and he now teaches economics at Northwood University in Midland. Tokarev offers a blunt warning for Americans flirting with socialism.

“Socialism is inhumane,” he told me during a recent discussion. “It will destroy everything you value about your life. It always fails because it is based on flawed anthropology and the naive belief that human nature can be changed at will.”

Tokarev explained that socialism is about control. “Elites, not hard-working people, want socialism,” he said. “Why? Because it gives them complete control over those who produce wealth — entrepreneurs and workers.”

Tokarev has at least two good reasons to be concerned. Self-described Democratic socialists, Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle, just won important mayoral elections.

These elections occurred in left-leaning cities, but illustrate a larger trend. Gallup has measured Americans’ attitudes toward various economic systems for the last 15 years. Americans’ positive view of capitalism fell from 61% in 2010 to 54% in 2025. Meanwhile, positive views of socialism ticked up, to 39% from 36%.

Prompted by the New York and Seattle elections, the U.S. House passed a resolution in November denouncing the “horrors of socialism.” The resolution, which passed by a vote of 285-98, detailed socialism’s brutal record of failures and abuses.

“Socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has, time and time again, collapsed into communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships,” reads the resolution. Socialism “has repeatedly led to famine and mass murders, and the killing of over 100,000,000 people worldwide.”

Michigan’s congressional delegation split on the vote. Every Republican and three Democrats voted to condemn socialism.

Two Democrats voted “no,” refusing to denounce socialism: Detroit Reps. Shri Thanedar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. They were joined by prominent House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. (Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell did not cast a vote, though she recorded her opposition to socialism in a similar resolution in 2023.)

“Republicans call any government spending ‘socialism,’” Thanedar said. “MAGA does this to protect the ultra-rich and stop any spending that goes towards the middle class such as universal healthcare and public housing. This is a dishonest, fearmongering tactic that they have been using for decades to crush policies that would make life more affordable for everyday Americans.”

“A pointless resolution on the House floor today,” Tlaib wrote on X. “Clearly they feel threatened by dem socialists like myself who are unbought and willing to take on the billionaire class.”

Fifty years ago Ronald Reagan warned that freedom is fragile and “never more than one generation away from extinction.” The recent congressional vote is a welcome response to Reagan’s warning, but it’s hard to imagine what more evidence will persuade the one-fourth of House members who voted against the resolution.

Memories of the Cold War and the global fight against communism have faded. Younger generations of Americans experienced the correction of the housing market and the subsequent recession in the late 2000s. Then came soaring costs for cars, homes and education, followed by the devastating COVID-19 lockdowns, which were succeeded by steep inflation of nearly all prices. Young Americans have real economic anxieties. Perhaps these concerns push people toward socialism?

Alex Tokarev says that’s shortsighted.

“You don’t fix a problem caused by big government with a bigger government.”

I asked Tokarev why he thinks socialism is gaining popularity with some Americans.

“They have never tried it,” he said.

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