President Trump comes up with some of the best nicknames, and his “my little communist” jab at New York City’s next mayor is comedy gold. Zohran Mamdani, the self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, just came out of nowhere to take the reins of America’s largest city.
Although that label is more palatable than “communist,” Mamdani still advances some of the most radical ideas of any major American politician. New Yorkers decided that past progressive mayors like John Lindsay, David Dinkins, or Bill de Blasio only failed to solve the city’s problems because they weren’t quite far left enough.
In the spirit of American democracy and federalism, New Yorkers are now going all in on socialism — choosing to leave behind more traditional Democrats who signal at least some allegiance to economic reality and free markets.
Mamdani’s big win New York gives the Democratic Party an even stronger leftward shove, making socialism less a fringe ideal and more a governing philosophy.
A common refrain among socialists is that socialism has never been properly tried or implemented — a convenient coping mechanism to dismiss the wreckage that socialist policies have caused throughout history.
Proposals like free childcare, $30 minimum wage, even higher taxes, free buses, rent-free municipal housing, and even government-run grocery stores resonated with many New Yorkers. Mamdani now has a mandate to usher in the nation’s largest social experiment in the land of Wall Street.
Many of his proposals sound surreal, but rising costs in the city have many residents ready to try more of the “eat the rich” philosophy. They will try to attain the dream of more things being “free” — just so long as somebody else is paying for it.
The warnings against Mamdani were bipartisan, too. They don’t just come from conservatives or strong free-market proponents. In the final mayoral debate, second-place finisher and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called Mamdani’s views “Socialist theory colliding with practical reality.”
Cuomo is of course right about the collision. But in a federal republic, that could be an essential teachable moment instead of a tragedy. New Yorkers can learn once again from their mistakes so that many non-New Yorkers may also benefit, both from seeing Mamdani’s radical policies fail and from the human capital his city is about to lose to other jurisdictions.
Florida and other Southeastern states are now primed to gain even more businesses as residents flee an even higher tax and regulatory environment. In a poll before the election, a little over 25 percent of the city’s residents said they are at least considering escaping in the event of a Mamdani victory.
“I already know that if Zohran gets elected, real estate in Palm Beach is going to go up even higher,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Apparently joking, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot proclaimed that his state will impose tariffs on New Yorkers choosing to flee Mamdani’s socialist experiment.
At the end of the day, just as federalism provides more freedom to states and localities to pursue their own policies, it likewise remains an essential guardrail against national folly. One city can try socialism; another can pursue market-oriented reforms. That is how a free country learns what works.
Federalism offers New Yorkers a chance at another swing at the utopian dream, while limiting much of the damage to the city’s five boroughs. Yes, this will be an expensive civics lesson, but many Americans need another reminder of the ruins and rubble socialism leaves behind it.
If nothing else, New York’s experiment may strengthen appreciation elsewhere for the virtues of limited government and economic freedom.
Perhaps H.L. Mencken’s aphorism is most accurate: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
Ray Nothstine is a senior writer and editor and a Future of Freedom Fellow at the State Policy Network. He manages and edits American Habits.
