New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, representing Queens, is running for mayor of New York City after winning the Democratic primary in June. He has become the Republicans’ latest bogeyman used to try to scare Americans away from the Democratic Party. According to them, Americans should be afraid of the fact that Mamdani is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist.
Mamdani is an Indian American from a community of about 450,000 South Asians in New York City. According to Sarah Chatta, Maya King and Jeff Adelson of the New York Times, Mamdani has inspired the Indian-American community to register to vote and get involved in politics for the first time since their families immigrated to the United States. “South Asian voters increased by 40 percent compared with the 2021 primary,” according to a New York Times analysis of voter records.
Mamdani’s campaign reminds me of Barack Obama running for president in 2008. Would anyone vote for a Black man with a Muslim-sounding name? Obama is not Muslim, but that did not stop Republicans from saying that he was, demonstrating their religious intolerance that continues today with Mamdani, who is Muslim. Of course, we all remember Donald Trump saying that Obama was not born in America (he was born in the state of Hawaii) and, thus, was not American.
Like Obama, Mamdani’s campaign is inspiring many new voters, especially young voters, to engage in American politics, and this has Republicans scared. His campaign has focused on issues important to voters today, but which are currently absent from our national political discourse. Making child care more affordable, for example, is one such issue that he is addressing, as well as affordable housing. He also calls for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes. These issues resonate with a majority of voters in New York City and, in fact, throughout the nation, and Mamdani is addressing them.
Republicans argue that Mamdani’s campaign issues reflect socialist views, which they claim are un-American and dangerous. Some associate his ideas with communism. I chuckle a little when I hear these talking points, because it seems that Republicans can be a bit hypocritical and selective when it comes to socialism and behaviors linked to communism.
That is, while Republicans are OK with some socialism for their rich friends, Mamdani wants a little socialism for ordinary Americans. If socialism is the use of government funding for citizen services, the question is which services should be funded with our tax dollars. Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are all examples of American socialism that work for ordinary Americans but are under attack by Republicans in Congress.
When Republicans support significant tax cuts for the rich, they are providing them with tax breaks (subsidies) that ordinary Americans do not qualify for. When secretaries pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes than their billionaire bosses, the bosses are getting all sorts of government services at a discount. These include roads, power grids, public schools and other infrastructure — including our national defense — that the government funds with tax dollars, not fairly distributed across income levels.
The question is not whether the U.S. will adopt socialism — we crossed that bridge decades ago — the real question is what the government will do with our tax dollars. The U.S. military, for example, receives approximately $1 trillion per year for our collective defense (socialism). Does our collective defense need to cost that much, or could we use a few billion of that to cover universal child care in America, as we have universal K-12 public schools (another example of socialism in America)? I believe that if we put that question to the American people, child care would win nationwide, across blue and red states.
Trump wants to subsidize American farmers because they can no longer sell their crops to China due to his failed tariff policies. During his first term, he did this to the tune of $18 billion. I have a better idea: eliminate the tariffs and let farmers sell their produce as they did under the Biden administration, earning their income instead of receiving more government bailouts, which, by the way, is pure socialism. Farmers feel the same way, too.
If Republicans are truly against socialism, they would reject Trump’s idea that farmers should get subsidies for his failed trade policies. But if we can pay farmers for Trump’s failed trade policies, why can’t we also pay ordinary Americans who are also suffering from those policies? The cost of everything has increased due to Trump’s tariff taxes. Perhaps Americans should receive a bailout similar to what Trump proposes for farmers.
Why does socialism work for farmers, but not for ordinary families trying to buy food for their children, or who are trying to find affordable child care or health care for their children? This is what Mamdani is asking.
The idea that capitalism is superior to socialism is open to debate, as evidenced by the growing wealth disparity under capitalism, where the rich continue to accumulate vast wealth, while the poor become increasingly impoverished. Meanwhile, the rich pay a shrinking share of taxes for the services that help them become rich. These are services that ordinary Americans end up paying for, by the way.
In many other developed nations, governments offer affordable, high-quality child care and health care that is accessible to all. Meanwhile, Americans are finding it increasingly challenging to obtain a doctor’s appointment without waiting months, and affording the care is a struggle for millions. This will get even worse when the Medicaid cuts take effect — thank you, Republicans — which is why Democrats are attempting to preserve Medicaid as part of the current budget negotiations.
Doctor shortages will only worsen as Trump plans to charge foreign doctors, who we desperately need, $100,000 for a work visa. I can tell you that other nations, also seeking doctors, will happily pay them to complete their residencies with them.
Politicians want us to believe that socialism is the path to communism. Seriously? Let me tell you what is on the path to communism: authoritarianism. One thing we know for sure, Mamdani isn’t a wannabe authoritarian like the guy sitting in the White House today.
I’d be happy to vote for Mamdani because America needs fresh faces with new ideas. I’m not worried about him turning America into a communist state by offering affordable child care or rent control in an effort to help ordinary Americans. I am concerned about what Trump has in mind, however, when he proclaims that those who oppose him “should be put in jail.”
Maybe Republicans should focus more on their man in the White House, who acts like he’s king, rather than the next mayor of New York City, who is actually advocating for ordinary Americans.
Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair in Special Education Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. His column appears on Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.
