The History We Forgot

How much do Americans know about some of the most important events and ideas of the last century?

The latest TIPP Poll suggests the answer is not much.

We asked Americans a straightforward question: Karl Marx is most closely associated with which economic or political system?

Only 39% correctly answered communism. Nearly as many, 36%, said they were not sure. Another 12% chose capitalism, and 10% picked fascism.

We did not ask about Marxist theory, Das Kapital, or the finer points of Marx's economic arguments. We asked only for the system most closely associated with his name.

Six in ten did not name it.

Two caveats are worth noting. Marx's major work is a study of capitalism, so some of the 12% may have had that in mind. And among Americans who picked an answer rather than “not sure,” about six in ten got it right. Neither changes the basic picture.

The age breakdown is even more striking.

Among Americans 65 and older, 59% correctly identified communism. No younger group came close. The figure was 35% among those aged 45 to 64, 32% among those aged 25 to 44, and 29% among adults aged 18 to 24. Those three numbers are close enough together that we would not read much into the order.

Americans 65 and older came of age when Marx's name was in the news and the Soviet Union was the adversary. Everyone younger has to be taught both.

We also asked a basic history question: What happened to the Soviet Union in 1991?

Only 40% knew that it dissolved into multiple independent countries. Another 37% were not sure.

Ten percent thought the Soviet Union adopted a new communist constitution, 8% thought it merged with other communist countries, and 6% thought it joined the European Union.

The Soviet Union collapsed only 35 years ago. Many Americans remember watching it come apart, and the Soviet flag lowered over the Kremlin.

These findings raise a basic question about how well Americans know recent history.

There will be plenty of debate about capitalism, socialism and communism in the years ahead. Americans will have different views about each of them. That's to be expected.

But an informed debate requires some understanding of history.

We don't have to agree on what history means. We should at least know what happened.