The GOP is figuratively licking their chops, awaiting the new socialists in the Democratic Party to put their socialist extremism on full display for the entire country in the upcoming Democratic presidential debates.

A 2018 Gallup Poll indicated Americans aged 18 to 29 are more positive about socialism (51%) than capitalism (45%). And, in the most recent May 2019 Gallup Poll , more than four in ten Americans believe socialism would be good for the country.

Has the GOP forgotten that the avowed socialist Bernie Sanders won 23 states and 19 million-plus votes in the primary? Could that result be a larger and significantly more important indication of a political trend than the non-politician and populist Trump winning the presidency?

While the GOP is gleefully anticipating these Democratic presidential debates, they should be mindful that younger generations (and many independents) view socialism entirely differently. Older Americans (translation: baby-boomers) typically define socialism as when government owns all means of production and where history has proven it is a stepping stone to communism. Even Lenin stated socialism’s ultimate goal is communism.

The new democratic socialists believe socialism is about “equality.” Translated, they mistakenly believe corporations are inherently evil, Wall Street and banks are modern-day Robber Barrons, capitalism hasn’t addressed gender income inequality, and the top income earners don’t pay their fair share in taxes. To them, those of privilege have only gotten that way by taking from the middle/working class and the poor.

For those who have studied history, the desire for “equality” is exactly how socialism took root in Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, and other places – only to lead to totalitarianism. For an example of how political winds can change rapidly in our new information age, consider the fact that even Obama did not support same-sex marriages as late as 2012, yet it’s acceptance became almost universal overnight.

When President Trump claimed, “We will never be a socialist country” in his State of the Union address, the GOP members in Congress stood up and gave boisterous applause, all nodding their heads in agreement.

I’m sorry Mr. President – we already are.

The GOP has somehow forgotten that our progressive graduated income tax is a Marxist ideology, and is the 2nd tenet of the communist manifesto. The income tax was always intended to be used as a social justice tool and it has succeeded.

What we are seeing now is history is once again repeating itself. The American Progressive Era, commonly referred to as the period between 1890 – 1920, had many of the same tell-tale signs we see today, yet the GOP doesn’t recognize them. At the time, giant trusts (the Robber Barons) were similar to today’s giant tech companies, anti-trust laws were ignored, and monopolies thrived. Large corporations had undue influence in elections for the very first time. Citizen politicians became full-time bureacrats who made careers out of public service, enriching themselves along the way.

In 1908, the GOP, which had majorities in both houses of Congress and a Republican in the White House, passed the 16th Amendment Resolution for ratification to the states with the full intention it would never be ratified, only to be shocked it was eventually ratified four years later. Yet, here we are 106 years later with a 77,000 page tax code, a KGB-style IRS enforcement agency that is is the quintessential “Deep State” and a nearly complete revocation of our Bill of Rights in all tax matters.

The American Revolution was an anti-tax revolt, but that’s not taught in academia or public schools anymore. America needs schools that teach entrepreneurship and lionize those who have been successful in business whether it be the corner dry cleaners store, the home-based business, or the next big thing in nano-technology.

The GOP should embrace our anti-tax heritage and meet the new socialists on terms they can understand, that nothing is free, there is no such utopia, and stealing tax revenues from one group to give to another, however well-intentioned, eventually leads to bloodshed, fiscal collapse, and ultimately totalarianism.

The GOP needs a messaging wake-up call before it’s too late.

David Thomas Roberts is author of The Death of Liberty: The Socialist Destruction of America’s Freedoms Using the Income Tax and the CEO of Teligistics, a telecom financial management company.