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I live in New York City. “Proud Democratic Socialist,” Zohran Mamdani is likely to be my next mayor.
I’m not happy about it. But I am outnumbered.
Mamdani is popular. He won more primary votes than any other candidate in the city’s history.
Minneapolis may also elect a socialist mayor.
Why?! How deluded can voters be?
In my new video, I explain why their socialist ideas are destructive.
Mamdani mocks those of us who fear socialism. He says socialism just means that the state “provides whatever is necessary for its people to live a dignified life.”
Sounds nice.
But socialism doesn’t bring a dignified life. It never has. It’s wrecked lives wherever it’s been tried.
Mamdani says socialism isn’t a threat. It just means “seizing the means of production.”
For example, to provide more housing for the poor, the government should take over apartment buildings.
“Whether you call it the abolition of private property,” said Mamdani, “or you call it just a statewide housing guarantee, it is preferable to what is going on right now.”
No! It’s not! This idea has failed, again and again!
Socialism, in various degrees, was tried and abandoned in the USSR, China, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, South Yemen, Myanmar, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Guyana, Chile, Israel, Sweden, and India.
Countries that didn’t abandon socialism, like Cuba, Bolivia, and North Korea, stay poor.
Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. Now it’s the poorest.
“Socialism destroyed Venezuela,” says Venezuelan-born economist Daniel Di Martino. “No government has the capacity to run thousands of businesses.”
People need capitalism — a profit motive — to do that.
Yes, China and Vietnam have done well economically, but that only happened because they mostly gave up on “owning the means of production.” Only then did they begin to prosper.
Leftists claim Scandinavia is an example of “successful socialism.” Sen. Bernie Sanders shouts, “Look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people!”
But Scandinavia is not socialist! Today, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are capitalist countries with big welfare systems.
Denmark’s prime minister was so annoyed by the ignorance of American politicians that he traveled to Harvard to say, “Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy! Denmark is a market economy.”
Yet Mamdani says he’ll “create a network of city-owned grocery stores … whose mission is lower prices, not price-gouging … we’ll pass on those savings to you.”
“No profit motive” appeals to people. But the profit motive is exactly what keeps stores stocked and groceries relatively cheap. It’s why Americans spend much less on food than we did 100 years ago.
Capitalism works because businesses must compete to get your dollars.
Compare your experience at profit-seeking stores to waiting in line at your state’s DMV.
Even if Mamdani’s state-run groceries work well, they’ll still consume tax dollars while taking customers from businesses that pay taxes.
Mamdani says he’ll cover those losses by raising taxes on the rich even more. But that’s never worked either!
Economist Art Laffer is known for illustrating that at a certain level, higher taxes stop bringing in more money. That’s because people work hard to escape high taxes.
“They’ll change where they earn their income,” he told me. “Change how much they earn, when they receive the income. They’ll change all those things to minimize taxes.”
Maryland found out he was right. Democrats raised taxes on the rich. They expected to bring in $106 million. The state lost $257 million.
Europe axed its wealth taxes for the same reason. Millionaires just left.
Even NPR called it an “exodus.”
In America, it’s even easier to escape high-tax states and cities. Millions have already left California, New York, and Illinois.
Mamdani once acknowledged this: “Our tax base is growing smaller and smaller each day with New Yorkers leaving.”
He doesn’t talk about that now.
Mamdani has so many bad ideas, I can’t fit them in this column. Next week I’ll write about his other feel-good ideas, like raising the minimum wage to $30, rent control, and free buses.
This Maniac needs voted off the Island Period
The people in the photo background are not very diverse.
I have noticed that, when elected people of color are being interviewed there are mostly black men, black females and the token white male or female karen for balance, standing there grinning like an idiot.
I am so tired of seeing this socialist fraud’s picture every morning. But at certain angles he has the look of Satan in that smarmy smile of his. Many Muslims have that look. People had better wake up, but I fear they won’t. They will when it’s too late.
I don’t live in NYC so I don’t have to worry about him………for now.
Stossel, you are probably rich enough to live anywhere you want.
Why The Eff are you still living there? High taxes, crime and over crowding, courtesy of the lib dems. And now you will get outright socialism/islamism good and hard if this Son of Satan wins.
The day of the lib elite is rapidly coming to an end. Get with the program.
New York City teetered on the brink of bankruptcy half a century ago. The federal giovernment (reluctantly) bailed it out after forcing it to institute reforms under the Municipal Assistance Corporation.. You could possibly argue that that the malfeasance was hidden from the voters by Lindsay cooking the books to conceal a spending spree to benefit the underclass (although the number of welfare recipients in the city increased from 350,000 to 1,200,000 on his watch). If New York elects a loud and proud socialist who advocates government run groceries (they worked so well in the USSR, Ceausescu’s Romania, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela) and who’s an obvious antisemite and racist (also a racial impersonator like Elizabeth Warren or Rachel Dozelal), it is getting what it deserves. I just hope New Yorkers who don’t support this insanity can find greener pastures elsewhere. Let it sink. Bailing out New York City a second time would be a travesty
The problem with Socialism, including that illusive Democratic version, is that it always sounds good to a lot of people. But there is a big difference in sounding good and reality.
Sorry John, but telling people Socialism never worked isn’t convincing. People will believe the rosy pic that charlatans will paint for them. Too few people look ahead far enough, or take the time to read and investigate, to see the dilemmas.
Gov. owned grocery stores are just a beginning. Next will follow Gov. gas stations.
It’s all bad, but getting certain people to reject the scam will be frustrating. Many people want to work and provide for themselves, but far too many want a “free ride”.
Government owned gas stations already exists in Mexico, where PEMEX has a monopoly all the way down to the gas pump. There used to be a similar state monopoly in Argentina under YPF (wags said it stood for “you poor fool”). Then there is Petroleos de Venezuela which was so well run that Venezuela (which has the largest oil reserves in the world) had to import oile from Russia and Iran.
The greatest disinfectant is sunlight. If this degenerate assumes office, it will be a good lesson for the liberal white women and the beta male libs. The game will be out in the open for all to see. It will fall out of the sky like a lead balloon. New York will utterly collapse and there will be the libs with egg all over their face .
Americans were enamored with Marxism in the first decade of the 20th century. . Marxism was gaining much popularity until WWI. The Marxist movement collapsed and order was restored. The problem with utopia is that it really doesn’t exist.
Thing is, although it will be a dismal failure and bankrupt NYC, libs will stand around saying it is a resounding success and if you disagree, you’re racist and islamaphobic.
The greatest disinfectant is sunlight. If this degenerate assumes office, it will be a good lesson for the liberal white women and the beta male libs. The game will be out in the open for all to see. It will fall out of the sky like a lead balloon. New York will utterly collapse and there will be the libs with egg all over their faces. .
Americans were enamored with Marxism in the first decade of the 20th century. . Marxism was gaining much popularity until WWI. The Marxist movement collapsed and order was restored. The problem with utopia is that it really doesn’t exist.
Problem is (among oh so many others) is that guess who gets to bail NYC out if & when it collapses?
As for sunlight, Socialists don’t allow it. Democracy may die in darkness. But socialism & communism thrive in darkness. No sunlight allowed.
Comparing the economies of Denmark, Sweden and Norway to the US is comparing apples to uranium. Those countries have populations smaller than some American states. Managing a little Scandanavian country is nothing like governing the United States. Not one bit.
Time will tell if NYC voters are just tethered to the satanic demoncRats or can see the writing on the walls of other tagrs –
What is the opposite of: 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land ?
If the voters are lame enough not to call on their very own Creator and thereby see the demons in people and their machinations.
NYers get what they want….rank choice voting is the issue here and communism is the future of NY.
I guess the only way they are going to learn is to actually live through a marxist state, New Yorkers have no idea how bad it is about to get for them. And this guy has never had job, so not only is it going to be a socialist hellscape- it is going to be a badly run Socialist hellscape.
The only thing worse than inequality is forced equality. Forced equality leads to misery, starvation, death and genocide every time. Every single time.