Mamdani Has So Many Bad Ideas, I Can't Fit Them In This Column!

John Stossel on Aug 6, 2025

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? I want to 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, 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 very occasionally claim Scandinavia as 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, 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 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.

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At JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts about the battle between government and freedom!