What makes voters chase the latest shiny object, in this case, a new kid on the block named Zohran, who unabashedly calls himself a Democratic Socialist?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #218 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
New York City voters have elected Zohran Mamdani as the NYC Democratic nominee for the fall mayoral election. Mamdani has served since 2021 as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens.
This gives him a total of four years’ experience in politics. He has never served as an executive at any level for any organization. Mamdani calls himself a Democratic Socialist, but he overtly espouses communist principles and policies.
So why would NYC Democrat primary voters opt for Mamdani over current Mayor Eric Adams or former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo? Well, seemingly because Mamdani checks all the progressive chic hot buttons:
- Mamdani is youthful, only 33.
- Mamdani is foreign born in Kampala, Uganda.
- He is from a well-to-do family.
- Mamdani has composed and produced rap music.
- He is, according to many women, handsome and attractive.
- He is charismatic and articulate.
- He is Shia Muslim.
- Mamdani positions himself as caring and fighting for the poor, minorities, and marginalized.
- He is or has been anti-police and anti-prisons.
- Mamdani promises a lot of “free stuff.”
So, hey, what’s not to like?
Well, one is that Mamdani is anti-Israel and antisemitic. He claims not to be now, but he’s on record numerous times making negative comments about Israel or Jews, including refusing to condemn the phrase, “Globalize the Intifada.” He is also on record saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes.
Mamdani is anti-capitalist, calling for the abolition of private property. He has said that “one of his goals is ‘seizing the means of production.’”
Mamdani is anti-prisons, and he has called for defunding, or at least dismantling the police in favor of social workers. In a tweet on X, Mamdani said, “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD.” Yet following a mass shooter in Manhattan killing four including a police officer, Mamdani tweeted “I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts. Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground.” It's not clear how calls for defunding the police align with being grateful for first responders on the ground, nor what it amounts to for him to hold victims “in his thoughts.”
Mamdani argues for protecting gender-affirming care, is pro-LGTBQ+, is pro-sanctuary city and has said ICE will be resisted. Of course he is all in on climate change. Mamdani’s proposals include “rent freezes, free bus fare, and city-owned grocery stores.”
Mamdani is a self-described Democratic Socialist. “In (a) resurfaced clip — from a 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America conference — Mamdani argues that the ‘purpose’ of ‘this entire project’ is ‘not simply to raise class consciousness, but to win socialism’ and elect leaders who are ‘unapologetic about our socialism.’”
Meanwhile, New Yorkers who have lived under socialist regimes have other ideas. “Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a native of former Soviet-controlled Ukraine, argued that Mamdani was being deceptive about his true politics. (She says,) ‘This is exactly why Zohran’s whole song and dance about ‘Democratic socialism’ somehow being different from communism is pure deception,’ Vernikov argued, when asked about the resurfaced clip. ‘Those of us who grew up under communism know this all too well. Our home countries were destroyed by ideas that came dressed in pleasant, persuasive packaging…’ New Yorkers,” she said, ‘need to wake up before it’s too late.”
Mamdani denies he is a communist and defends the term Democratic Socialist, saying Sen. Bernie Sanders use of the term in the 2016 presidential election first attracted his attention.
The term “democratic socialist” originated in the mid to late 19th century, emerging out of the broader European socialist movement. In the U.S. especially, Democratic Socialist has at times been used as a surrogate for Communist. This does not mean that every politician who identifies as a democratic socialist is indeed a communist, but in U.S. political rhetoric the terms have often been blurred or equated. The popularity of politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America reignited the term. Critics, particularly from the political right, have at times labeled democratic socialism as “communism in disguise,” although the platforms in philosophically purist terms are different.
Broadly, a democratic socialist supports:
- Democratic political systems (elections, civil liberties)
- Social ownership or regulation of key industries
- Strong welfare states and worker protections
- Universal health care, free tuition at public colleges and higher taxes on the wealthy. Mr. Sanders has pushed for such measures for decades.
- Theoretically, democratic socialists reject authoritarianism and one-party rule.
Communism supports:
- A classless society where all property is communally owned, and there is no private ownership of the means of production.
- Redistributed wealth, abolished class divisions entirely, creating a society where there is no private property, no money, and no social hierarchy.
- Highly centralized, authoritarian, one-party-rule governments that control the economy and the distribution of goods.
- Atheism, believing the State creates the new man and woman and a utopia in the future.
Most European countries do not practice full socialism but have democratic socialist roots, especially in welfare, while maintaining market economies and have done so for the past 100 years.
So, while there are differences between democratic socialism and communism, with respect to Mamdani, this may be what ABC’s Ted Koppel used to call “a distinction without a difference.” Either way, Mamdani’s proposals do not comport with American ideals like free enterprise, individual initiative, limited government, law and order, personal responsibility, and paying one’s debts.
“Democratic Socialism” is still socialism. The democratic modifier works to make socialism more palatable but doesn’t make it wise or moral. Everywhere socialism has been tried, it has failed. It envisions utopia but ends in ugliness. Ask the people of Venezuela, Cuba, or the former USSR.
Socialism removes individual responsibility and incentive, which defies human nature and common sense. It is a form of legalized theft that takes wealth from those who have earned and redistributes (their favorite social justice word) to those who did not earn. It makes everyone poor.
Socialism is built upon ignorance. This is what elected Mamdani, voters with little understanding of history or economics, ones who are duped by the promises of a perfect world.
Democratic socialism offers euphoria based on euphemism. They want to increase government, so they speak of investing in the future. They want to increase the minimum wage, so they talk about social justice.
But democratic socialism is the politics of envy. They want more, but they do not want to work to produce more. They speak of class conflict, victims, the oppressor oppressing the oppressed, and argue it is morally justifiable to take from the rich and give to the poor, all this in the name of equality.
Socialism always leads to collapse because it is built upon a faulty understanding of human nature. Whether Bernie Sanders, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), or Zohran Mamdani, Democratic Socialism is a time bomb in a pretty package, a snake in the grass that will bite and when it does, it will hurt.
Let’s pray the mayoralty voters of New York City have the common sense to choose character and principle over charisma and promises.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more Christian commentary, see my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
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