Young Americans are turning toward socialism because high prices and a rigged-feeling economy have made capitalism look broken to them — a real warning sign for both parties, though the movement itself may be short-lived.

• The anger is justified: years of inflation hit people buying gas and groceries hardest, while high earners barely felt it.
• The blame lands on cronyism, not capitalism — big companies get better access to lawmakers, and health care runs on two tiers depending on what you can pay.
• Heavy government spending and borrowing, especially under Biden, poured too much money into the economy and kept prices climbing.
• Younger voters never saw Cold War socialism, so the word now means a friendly professor promising cheaper groceries and health care for all.
• Democratic socialism reads as a political fad and a backlash to right-wing populism, damaging but unlikely to take over the Democratic Party.

Outlook: Affordability stays the defining political problem, and candidates like AOC keep gaining ground as long as neither party takes it seriously.