This is an opinion column<\/p>\n
Republican knives are out for Zohran Mamdani after his crushing victory as New York City\u2019s mayor-elect.<\/p>\n
And deservedly so.<\/p>\n
The Republican National Committee says Mamdani is \u201ca self-proclaimed Communist<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump says Mamdani is \u201ca 100% Communist Lunatic.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz says \u201cComrade Mamdani \u2026 is a full-on Communist.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani denies this, saying he is a Democrat Socialist<\/a>,not a Communist<\/a>.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s what Mamdani would say if he is a Communist<\/a>. Cuba\u2019s Fidel Castro said the same thing until he garnered enough power to jail, deport or kill his foes.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s socialist policies are evil<\/p>\n Mamdani encourages and supports \u201cseizing the means of production<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n More specifically, Mamdani supports abolition of private property when necessary<\/a> to \u201cguarantee each person housing\u201d and supports government take-overs <\/a>of health care, grocery stores, and bus lines, thereby seizing property and facilities from people who have earned them to give to those who have not.<\/p>\n In my book, forcibly seizing what a person has earned is evil regardless of whether the owner is a person or a government.<\/p>\n That is socialism.<\/p>\n Communism is worse than socialism<\/p>\n Regardless of whether Mamdani is socialist or communist, he will inflict great economic damage on New York City.<\/p>\n But, if Mamdani is a communist, his goals are far more sinister because the history of communism is murder and death.<\/p>\n The Soviet Union\u2019s Joseph<\/a> Stalin and Communist China\u2019s Mao Zedong<\/a> combined to kill literally millions (perhaps tens of millions) of people for the \u201ccrime\u201d of preferring liberty and freedom.<\/p>\n Regardless of whether it is China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, or any other communist country, the result has been murder and death for freedom-loving citizens.<\/p>\n Murder is as evil as evil gets.<\/p>\n Freedom vs. tyranny<\/p>\n Free enterprise is America\u2019s economic model.<\/p>\n Free enterprise\u2019s premises are simple. Freedom is better than dictatorial rule. Free enterprise competition forces producers to provide goods and services better, faster, and cheaper . . . or go out of business.<\/p>\n In free enterprise, the individual decides how to best use his talents<\/p>\n Over the long haul, everyone benefits, with the result being that America produces and enjoys more wealth than any nation in world history and can similarly afford the most powerful military in world history.<\/p>\n In stark contrast, in socialism, liberty and freedom are the enemy. Government bureaucrats dictate who produces and consumes what.<\/p>\n For individuals, that\u2019s a huge difference.<\/p>\n Communism is socialism plus one-party, dictatorial rule. Democracy is killed.<\/p>\n Liberty and freedom versus government tyranny. In America, that should be an easy voter choice . . . but not in New York City!<\/p>\n Is Mamdani a Communist?<\/p>\n While it is impossible to read Mamdani\u2019s mind, in addition to admittedly supporting Socialism<\/a> (a Communism subpart), in 2020 Mamdani wrote, \u201cEach according to their need, each according to their ability,\u201d a comment strikingly like Karl Marx\u2019s The Communist Manifesto: \u201cFrom each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Historians add, \u201cWhen Marxists<\/a> today say they are socialists, they usually want to convey the impression that they believe in elections and not just in shooting your way into power. \u2026 Of course, that election often ends up being the last free and fair one. Witness Venezuela.”<\/p>\n New York tax hell<\/p>\n Regardless of whether communist or socialist, Mamdani is bad for America and disastrous for New York City.<\/p>\n The principal problem with Socialism is that it has failed in every nation that has tried it, where \u201cfailure\u201d is defined as a country\u2019s inability to generate enough wealth to fund both an adequate national defense and a safety net for those unable to provide for themselves.<\/p>\n As Britain Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher <\/a>astutely observed, \u201cThe problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n Which brings us to the tax hell New York City residents voted to suffer.<\/p>\n Paying for socialism<\/p>\n New York state residents<\/a> pay a 4-10.9% state income tax, 4% sales tax, and 1.54% assessed property tax. On top of that<\/a>, New York City residents pay an additional 3.078-3.876% city income tax, 4.875%<\/a> city sales tax, and a property tax of 1.2% of their home\u2019s fair market value <\/a>(6% assessment rate times 20% tax rate).<\/p>\n Americans are protected by the Constitution\u2019s 5th and 14th Amendments\u2019 Due Process Clauses that require government compensation to owners of property seized. Mamdani can\u2019t get around that.<\/p>\n Now imagine how high already-oppressive New York City taxes must skyrocket to pay for Mamdani\u2019s socialist experiment: free healthcare, free buses, government-run grocery stores, social workers \u2013 not police, free government housing, and the like.<\/p>\n New York City: Good luck with that!<\/p>\n It won\u2019t be pretty.<\/p>\n A warning for conservatives<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s election obviously warns freedom-loving Americans. But it does more.<\/p>\n It also highlights underlying problems in America that foment the rise of socialists and communists.<\/p>\n Too many American elected officials are bought and elected by the uber-rich who use their puppets to buy public policies that unjustifiably pad their own wallets, all to the detriment of lower- and middle-income Americans, who, in turn, are justifiably sickened by a republic that ignores or worsens their plight.<\/p>\n Unless this underlying oppression and hopelessness are satisfactorily addressed, more and more Americans will do what New York City did: elect socialists (or worse) to better balance the class warfare scales.<\/p>\n And, if socialists gain control of America, then more of Margaret Thatcher\u2019s wisdom<\/a> becomes salient: \u201cThe signposts of socialism point downhill to less freedom, less prosperity, downhill to more muddle, more failure. If we follow them to their destination, they will lead this nation into bankruptcy.\u201d<\/p>\n America must not go there. Our lives and country depend on it.<\/p>\n