Zohran Mamdani recently won the New York City mayoral election as a Democratic Socialist. However, this title seems to just bring people to throw out whatever insult they can think of to people who oppose their views. However, do you, dear reader, know what Democratic Socialism actually means, and could it actually shift the direction America is headed?
New York is very far away from here and you may be thinking, dear reader, why am I talking about it? I am addressing NYC because Mamdani is the first person I have seen who won with a platform that goes against the capitalist norm of America. Mamdani is a Democratic Socialist, meaning that he believes that we should implement Socialist norms into the workings of democracy. Socialism is something that isn’t talked about correctly very much, and gets a bad rap due to things like the rule of Stalin and the Red Scare. Socialism is the belief that corporations should be owned by the people instead of by one capitalist at the top. Democratic Socialism is just adding these values into a democratic system.
America is historically a capitalist society, which makes this win all the more unique. However, capitalism is an oppressive system that keeps people on the bottom by making them feel hopeless. Those on top make sure that no matter what, the people don’t realize that they outnumber the elite few, and could easily take them down. Through making people think that anyone different from them is bad, and keeping money, something completely made up, as a part of the status quo, they are able to maintain their elite status and control. This makes it incredibly difficult for any change to come about.
I personally dislike this system of capitalism, and as this is an opinion piece, I’ll also cover my view on it. I am disgusted by the elite. As someone who doesn’t understand why you would ever want more than exactly what you need, the premise of people hoarding something fake, while being able to solve something real, just makes me feel a mass wave of emotions, and I hope I’m not alone. In fact, I dislike both of the current major parties as they both are a side of the same coin. Both sides have an undying support to the capitalist agenda, and simply try to make a platform that they think will let them best support the rich while making the poor think they’re getting anything in return.
Capitalism also is the root of our problems. Most things in life are hard to get, even if we really need them, such as health, food, and shelter. For example, we have the science to be able to make medications that seem almost magic. However, we are unable to make them as it would crash the pharmaceutical market. We don’t feed our people because those in charge don’t want to lose a dollar off the billions they have. In fact, the UN has made a plan that would solve world hunger, yet there’s no billionaire who would take 6 billion to fund it. Think about a problem, then think about why that problem exists, does it root back to capitalism? Of course it does, the rich are in control of everything and they’ll do anything to keep their power.
However, let’s return to Mamdani. He wants policies that tax the millionaires similar to everyone else, have people run corporations, and many other things like increase public transport and raise the minimum wage. These all seem like good things, and that’s because, well, they are. People still make an argument of course; however, the only argument I hear is that it’ll stop the flow of capitalism. People say, “Oh but… but… the millionaires will leave and, uh, businesses will have to use some of their money towards their workers instead of their higher ups!” That isn’t a direct quote but I think it gets my point across. Mamdani opposes the capitalist status quo, something I really hope sticks.
Though, whether or not this will mean change for America is a different story. The current political climate is horrible, with most people deciding that instead of being a productive human being they’ll just insult the other person until they can have the power to allow their favorite rich people who got them that power to value even more money over people. We already saw a candidate who ran with a more centrist view economically not make it to the final election. I hope that someday we’ll move away from capitalism, but it won’t be easy, and certainly won’t happen soon.
(P.S. Thank you for making it this far, I hope you enjoyed my article, and if you didn’t I hope to hear from you in a letter to the editor. I realize that this paper may seem to repeat a few points, and there certainly are more I could add. I did my best with the education and skills I have.)