A new poll about public attitudes toward socialism and capitalism helps explain the surprising popularity of Senator Bernie Sanders despite his proud identification as a “Democratic Socialist.”

A YouGov survey showed 49 percent of Democrats said they looked favorably on socialism, while only 37 percent had a favorable opinion of capitalism &#8212 the system that has made America the envy of the world. Even worse, more Democrats &#8212 by a 3 to 2 margin &#8212 described themselves as Socialists than described themselves as Capitalists.

Results for Republicans showed a clear majority said they were Capitalists, but political Independents seemed badly confused. A full 70 percent said they were neither Socialist nor Capitalist, or weren’t sure where they stood.

This poll doesn’t show Americans leaning left as much as it shows them leaning ignorant &#8212 not understanding that socialism means stifling government control of economic activity and apparently unaware of this discredited system’s long history of wrecking economies and threatening liberty.