Marx was a Founder?

A More Perfect Blog, the blog of the Bill of Rights Institute, recently posted an entry entitled, "Do you think teens know the difference between Madison and Marx?" I'll bet you can guess the answer, you cynic, you.

Sadly, a new national poll reveals that 42 percent of Americans wrongly attribute Marx’s famous communist slogan, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” to one of the country’s Founding documents. Nearly one in five Americans believe this phrase can be found in the Bill of Rights, of all places.

What I'd like to know is whether the respondents who thought that principle originated with the Founding Fathers actually understood what it meant. I'm prepared to believe that some percentage of respondents heard a phrase they knew must have been uttered by a famous someone, and simply decided that anything that portentous had to have been uttered by one of the revered Founders. However, the meaning of the quotation never crossed their minds.

The rest understood. They understood exactly what Marx meant, if not that he said it, and they attributed the underlying principle of Communism to Washington, or Jefferson, or Madison, or Franklin, or ... well, pick your favorite Founder.

That flopping noise ... I think it's Ayn Rand in her grave.

Okay, most of the foregoing was intended to lead up to that gibe. I doubt that more than the tiniest percentage of respondents actually thought about what the phrase meant. Anyway, I still think we poll ourselves too much.

By the way, you might have noticed that the piece's title referred to "teens," but the poll referred to "Americans." That's because the Bill of Rights Institute is geared toward teachers: it attempts to help them educate their students about the Constitution.