Time flies. For example, it seems like only yesterday when socialism as a political and economic theory was thoroughly and utterly discredited, having crashed and burned in the Soviet Union and all across its East European satellites.

But that was then, some 30 years ago. And this is now. A new Fox News poll indicates that Democrats, at least, have forgotten that history. Or perhaps they never learned it. In either case, they seem intent on dooming the rest of us to repeat it with them.

The poll shows that more registered Democrats now favor socialism over capitalism — a jarring upsurge from just a year and a half ago. In this new poll, 59% of Democrats had a positive view of socialism, compared to just 49% who felt that way about capitalism. But in February 2020, when the same question was last asked, only 40% responded positively toward socialism while their views toward capitalism were essentially unchanged at 50%.

The poll also showed that nearly half of Democrats (44%) had an unfavorable view of capitalism, while just 31% had a negative view of socialism. As for Republicans, they at least are familiar with history: 67% of them viewed capitalism favorably, while only 8% had a favorable view of socialism.

If we assume that Democrats have simply forgotten the sad history of socialism, we’re failing to consider the passage of time. Many of the poll’s respondents were no doubt too young to remember the revolutions of 1989 and the Evil Empire’s ultimate collapse in 1991. They may never have heard of the half-century-long Cold War and the competing ideologies that it embodied.

Those respondents may have never learned their history in the first place, and we have the Left to thank for it.

Whether the mainstream media has failed to accurately report, whether Hollywood has failed to accurately portray, or whether the schools have failed to accurately teach, each of these institutions bears responsible for the profound ignorance of our post-Cold War generations. Each of these institutions, whether benign or malignant, has failed the American people.

No wonder ruinous fiscal policies are now ascendant in Washington. Joe Biden and his handlers felt comfortable with an avowed socialist, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in charge of the Budget Committee. No wonder Sanders himself is trying to jam through a $3.5 trillion budget by using the Senate’s sleazy reconciliation process. No wonder the Democrats are paying people not to work. No wonder inflation is now surging like it hasn’t in decades.

All of this points to a crisis of education and a seeming indifference to data, facts, and history. And, again, we have the Left to blame for it.