In what seemed to be a direct response to this dire situation, progressives and socialists accomplished sweeping electoral victories throughout the U.S. on November 8. These included the election of Larry Krasner (a civil-rights attorney and Black Lives Matter supporter) to the position of Philadelphia’s District Attorney, the election of Seema Singh Perez (an open socialist and Bernie Sanders supporter) to a seat on the Knoxville city council, and the election of Justin Fairfax (a progressive and environmentalist) to the position of Virginia’s Lieutenant governor. (Fairfax also became the second African American in Virginia’s history to be elected to statewide office.) In Maine, a Medicaid expansion referendum that was supported by Our Revolution was overwhelmingly passed by voters. Among the additional victories on the Left were 14 candidates who were endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, an organization whose membership has quadrupled during the past year (and, in full disclosure, I am a member).

This leftward trend seems likely to continue into the future, if the attitudes of Millennials are any indiction of the trajectory of American politics. For instance, a recent YouGov poll found that 44 percent of Millennials would like to live in a socialist country (42 percent favored a capitalist country). This specific poll was conducted by a right-wing propaganda effort called “Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,” so let’s review a few others as well.

A 2014 poll conducted by libertarian think tank Reason-Rupe found that 58 percent of those between 18 and 24 years old have a positive view of socialism (56 percent viewed capitalism favorably). And, while a 2016 Gallup poll did find a slightly higher preference for capitalism among Millennials (57 percent, versus 55 percent for socialism), the results for these two options were within the poll’s margin of error.

Although Millennials seem evenly divided between their espousal of capitalism and socialism, it’s clear that this younger generation has a much more favorable view of socialism than Baby Boomers, who, as studies indicate, overwhelmingly support capitalism (only about one forth veiwed socialism positively). A concrete verification of this fact was the widespread Millennial support for candidate Bernie Sanders — a self-described democratic socialist — during the 2016 presidential primaries (Sanders received more votes from those under age 30 than Trump and Clinton combined).