Zohran Mamdani

Well, they did it. Everyone expected the people of New York City to elect Zohran Mamdani, who calls himself a Democratic Socialist, the new mayor of the city. Mamdani had been leading by significant margins in the polls, even after incumbant Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race, presumably to give Andrew Cuomo a better chance of winning. Many people were begging Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, to back out of the race, as well, in hopes that Cuomo would sneak by Mamdani and grab the golden ring. Not a chance. Based on the numbers, it seems that Mamdoni would have won regardless. And how many Republicans preparing to vote for Sliwa would have cast a vote for Cuomo? So, Zohran Mamdani will be the new mayor of the country’s largest city, the city that never sleeps, the Big Apple, come January 1. You know the difference between a Democratic Socialist and a Socialist? The Democratic Socialist works on getting elected to public office, then drops the “Democratic” part, while the Socialist doesn’t even bother with pretending to be Democratic.

In an opinion piece for Fox News, Lee Hartley Carter claims that Mamdani didn’t win for his socialist policies. Rather, he won using much the same strategy as his alleged nemesis, Donald Trump: he tapped into the anxiety of voters who no longer believe that the system works for them. I can understand the angst. The Democrats have basically given up on the average Joe and Jane of America, who really only want to earn a sustainable salary for the work they do, believe that paying their fair share of taxes is a reasonable expection, and want government to keep them safe, then mostly leave them alone. But salaries aren’t keeping up with expenses, and tax dollars are being wasted on government projects that bring no good to anyone, except maybe illegals ( and the politicians who get the pet projects for their districts), and that the government has abandoned its responsibility to keep its citizens safe in favor of criminals who commit crimes with impunity. Now, most of that may just be perception. But in politics, as in many other things, perception is everything.

In any case, Carter may be right that New Yorkers didn’t vote for Mamdani because he’s a socialist. It doesn’t matter, though, because that’s what they got. Some of the policies Mamdani advocated during his campaign include universal childcare, free buses, publicly-owned grocery stores, and freezing the rent for a million rent-stabilized tenants. He wants to pay for this by taxing the rich, so that even more wealthy New York businessmen will leave the city. He doesn’t have the authority to raise taxes, however. That requires support from Albany, and Governor Kathy Hochul is not keen on raising taxes for the wealthy, just to encourage even more to leave her state. Of course, universal child care will cost a pretty penny, and Mamdani has no way of getting those funds. Free buses aren’t really free. They’re just free for the people who want to ride them. Somebody’s gotta pay the salaries of the drivers and dispatch workers, the maintenance on the buses, on the roads, etc. When will people get over the delusion that anything is free? Not likely, so long as politicians keep promising free stuff.

A recent Gallup Poll reports some disturbing results. Fully 39% of Americans view socialism positively, while 54% view capitalism positively. This isn’t so alarming, since roughly the same percentage viewed socialism positively in 2012, when Obama was in office and promising free stuff (remember the Obama phones and the doctor you like that you can keep?), and again in 2019 when Trump was president and people were basically just mad at Trump all the time. What I find truly alarming is that 66% of Democrats view socialism positively, while only 42% view capitalism positively.

The Democratic Party has been ruled by Statists for most of this century. By that I mean politicians who believe that a citizen’s relationship with the State is and ought to be the primary relationship in his or her life, certainly more primary than the Church, and even the family. Obama is a Statist. Biden is a Statist. Schumer is a Statist. Certainly the likes of Pelosi, Warren, Walz, AOC, Harris, and Sanders are all Statists. Statists believe that, if there is a problem to be solved or a project to be started, the main player in solving the problem or building the project is the State. Not families. Not Church leaders. Not buiness people. Not private investors. Not even the people who are trained to handle those matters. Nope. It’s the State. If schools are failing their students, the State should step in and take charge. If poor people need a lift, it’s the State that should provide it. Not the Church, even. In fact, the State ought to be in charge of writing the standards by which the Church does her job of caring for the poor. If people need jobs, the State should provide them. If people need healthcare, the State should provide it. If there’s a question about how healthcare resources ought to be allocated, the State should be the one to decide. Anyway, you know the drift. The State is the first and final entity in a person’s life, and it ought to be that way, according to this political worldview.

Statism isn’t far from socialism. In fact, socialism is just a subset of statism. Socialism, according to the AI definition, is “an economic and political theory that advocates for collective or government ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” Socialism means the State is in charge of the economics of a community. Statism is the idea that the State is in charge, and ought to be, of all aspects of the life of a community. This was well demonstrated during the COVID pandemic, when the State set limitations on the activities of the community. The State determined who could be open and when. They determined if a church could hold a service, and even how many could attend. They arrested people for breaking their rules, even if those rules were ludicrous, like a father and son playing catch in a park with no one within five miles of them. The purpose of many of the restrictions placed on businesses and individuals was not for the health and well-being of the people. After all, Andrew Cuomo demanding that nursing homes take in COVID patients resulting in the deaths of many elderly people was not for the health and well-being of those people. No, the purpose of the rules and the ridiculous application and enforcement of those rules was to communicate to the public who was in charge. And that would be the State. This was made abundantly clear by the fact that those who represented the State did not regard the rules as applying to them. So, you couldn’t get your hair done at a salon, but Nancy Pelosi could. You couldn’t have a dinner party for your friends, but Gavin Newsom could. During the Thanksgiving holiday in 2020, the mayor of Denver at the time, Michael Hancock, got on TV and made a public service announcement to the citizens of Denver, asking them not to travel or have people over for Thanksgiving so as not to spread COVID. He then left the TV studio and proceeded immediately to the airport, from where he flew to Mississippi to have Thanksgiving dinner with his extended family.

I certainly do understand the frustration people have over politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them, and the corporations who they believe are running the politicians. But think about. Out of frustration for the politicians and the miserable job they’re doing, NYC just decided to put the politicians in control of even more aspects of their lives. If Mamdani is a true socialist, then his administration will demand control over nearly every aspect of New Yorkers’ lives. Schools, jobs, grocery stores, transportation, sporting activities, healthcare. Pert near everything will be subject to control of Gotham’s socialist mayor and its City Council (unless Mamdani figures out a way of getting rid of the City Council).

My prediction? Mamdani will not be able to implement much of his program at all. He simply doesn’t have the resources. He can’t raise taxes on the wealthy like he wants to. Any attempt to put up publicly owned grocery stores will be met by lawsuits accusing the city of trying to create a monopoly and push out privately-owned businesses. Unfair competition, you know. His free buses are dead on arrival (no pun intended!), because the money will run out faster than Mamdani’s nice-guy persona. So, Mamdani will be a failed mayor. Crime will continue to escalate because is platform has little to do with keeping his citizens safe because he’s likely more committed to the criminals than the victims of their crimes. The gangs of New York will love that! Homelessness will surge because there will be no money put into services that help homeless get off the streets, but plenty of money will be put into services for the homeless to support them while they’re on the streets. So, New York will become ground zero for any homeless people in the eastern US who are looking for a better deal. And, remember, they’ll have those free buses to get them around town. Poverty will increase because jobs will decline because investments in the city are going to take a nose dive. What innovator or investor will want to stay in a city that only wants him or her for their tax bracket and regards them as the incarnation of evil?

And after four years of failure after failure, Mamdani will be re-elected. Why? Because he will blame Trump. He will blame the system. He will blame the Democrats. He will blame the City Council (if NYC still has one). He will blame Albany and the cowardly politicians who refuse to support his socialist dream. And the people will eat it up. They will attend his rallies, cheer his speeches, and believe him when he talks about all the wonderful things he’s done for New York City that he didn’t actually do.

The Democratic Party is in shambles right now. The old establishment, represented by Cuomo, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer, is collapsing. In its wake is the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA has its sites set on taking over the Democratic Party, and they’re succeeding, if recent events indicate. Everyone is all impressed with how the Dems ran the board in NYC, New Jersey, and Virginia. Not me. Who really expected a Republican to be elected as governor of New Jersey? And Virginia has been solidly purple for many years now. It was a bit of a surprise when Youngkin won four years ago, so it’s no surpise at all that a Republican didn’t win this time. Even though Youngkin was a popular governor, Virginia just couldn’t see themselves investing in the long haul with the elephants. Virginia voters were so adverse to Republicans, in fact, that they booted out of office what, by all reasonable measure, was a perfectly good Republican Attorney General and replaced him with a Democrat who fantasized in a public forum about killing his political opponent and his opponent’s children. So, I personally don’t think these wins are revealing of a Democratic comeback. What they are revealing of is that the Democrats remain entrenched in their bizarro social policies, like letting boys play in girls sports and use girls locker rooms and bathrooms (because it’s perfectly fine to have a fourteen-year-old freshman girl showering next to an eighteen year old senior boy). The real news is in New York City. Mamdani’s win means that the Democratic Socialist of America have taken a big leap forward in their goal of taking control of the Democratic Party. During the celebration at Mamdani’s headquarters, those in attendance weren’t chanting “U-S-A!” or even “N-Y-C!” Nope. They were chanting “D-S-A!” What are the Democrats going to do to wrest their party out of the hands of the DSA? Will they be able to? The future doesn’t look bright, for the Democrats or for New York City.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.