“[T]here is no future for us under capitalism.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Teen Vogue published an op-ed titled “The Democratic Socialists of America Can Mobilize Gen Z’ers Like Me.”
- The byline argues “that Gen Z has experienced the worst of late-stage American capitalism and needs to embrace an alternative.”
- Generation Z, or “Gen Z,” is the generation born after 1996.
- The author, Calla Walsh, says “I’m a 17-year-old socialist.”
- “As the youngest delegate at this week’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) National Convention,” Walsh goes on to say, “I urge members of my generation to mobilize toward building a socialist future.”
- The author wants her generation to “shift the tide in favor of socialism.”
- “We need to be activated in a socialist way,” says Walsh.
- “We are counting on millennials, Gen Z, even Boomers to guide us into the socialist movement so we can work together to empower the working class.”
- NetWorthSpot says Teen Vogue could be worth more than $54 million under capitalism.
TEEN VOGUE FLOURISHES UNDER CAPITALISM:
- NetWorthSpot approximates that Teen Vogue has a net worth of $13.71 million. “However, some folks have approximated that Teen Vogue is in fact worth a lot more than that. It’s likely Teen Vogue is worth more than $54.85 million when our experts think of earnings sources beyond Instagram.”
- Teen Vogue is owned by Advance Publications, an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr., headquartered in Staten Island, New York.
- Forbes ranked Advance Publications as the 221st largest privately held company in the U.S. as of November 2019.
- Crain’s ranked Advance Publications the 4th largest private company in the New York area in 2012.
CONSERVATIVE PUSHBACK:
- The Media Research Center (MRC)—an American content analysis group—characterizes the Teen Vogue op-ed as “indoctrination of our youth.”
- This indoctrination “begins with media sites like Teen Vogue that are now publishing articles with the purpose of encouraging young adults to become part of Democratic Socialists of America,” comments MRC.
- “It sounds absolutely ridiculous to those who have studied the history of socialism and how it quickly morphs into communist dictatorship and fascism.”
- MRC points out the irony of the fact that Gen Z has “grown up in a time of peace for the United States” and are “the most prosperous and privileged people in the world” precisely “because of capitalism.”
- “The GDP per capita for the largest economies in the world quickly reveals the superiority of capitalism in promoting wealth for all citizens,” MRC adds.
- MRC argues that Walsh’s claim that the “climate crisis” is a threat to humanity is absurd because “[i]n truth, the deaths due to natural disasters has not only decreased in the US over the past 100 years, it has also decreased around the world. In 1900, there were around 1.2 millions deaths caused by all natural disasters, in 2019 that number was 11,719.”
- Pushing back against Walsh’s claim that socialism creates a more “livable” world. MRC notes that non-capitalist nations such as “Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and China all still have slavery.”
- “Capitalism is and has always been the most fair economic system to exist. If Gen Z is really to be the ‘saviors’ of this country then we must educate ourselves on history and stop falling for the socialist lies.”
