Skip to main content

I'm excited for New Yorkers to try socialism – and watch it fail

Nicole Russell   Paste BN

I’m excited for New Yorkers to try socialism – so they can see it fail firsthand.

Socialism has failed everywhere it’s been tried, but that didn’t stop Democratic primary voters in New York from picking a socialist as the party’s candidate for mayor. 

Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral primary on June 24.  

"Tonight, we made history," Mamdani, who currently serves as a state legislator, told a crowd in Queens. Cuomo conceded the race soon after polls closed. 

Mamdani campaigned to make New York more affordable for the working class. "With a vision of a city every New Yorker could afford, we have won," Mamdani said. 

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Mamdani has pitched a bevy of bad ideas such as freezing rent, providing free bus transportation and free childcare.  

He also posted a video on social media that addressed the high cost of groceries. His solution? City-owned grocery stores that operate like a “public option.”  

If you’ve ever waited for hours at the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew a license, you have an idea of what awaits New York grocery shoppers if Mamdani carries out his plans. 

Mamdani says he is running to help the working class, but those were not the voters who supported him.  

The New York Times published a detailed map of voting patterns in the primary. Middle and high-income voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for Mamdani. Lower income voters cast their ballots for Cuomo.  

It’s frightening to see socialism become more popular in the United States. A 2022 Pew Research poll found that 36% of U.S. adults say they view socialism somewhat or very positively. While 57% continued to view capitalism favorably, that is 8 percentage points lower than in 2019.

It’s unfortunate that a form of government that is so restrictive and harmful to the people it tries to help is becoming more popular, especially in places like New York.  

In a way, I hope Mamdani wins the general election and then tries to implement his ideas. It would not go well. Taxes would soar even higher to pay for all the “free” services Mamdani has promised, and New Yorkers’ quality of life would decrease.  

The city would begin to self-destruct. What would New Yorkers do then? Turn to a Republican to fix it?

Here's what else we're writing about this week:

Facebook Twitter Email