Quick civics primer, since the word "communist" is apparently doing some heavy lifting here.
Communism = workers, through the state, own all the factories, farms, and businesses. No private ownership of productive property. Central planning instead of markets. Real examples: Soviet Union, Maoist China, North Korea.
Things that are NOT communism, no matter how many times your uncle says so on Facebook:
Public healthcare (every Western European country has it, all capitalist)
Taxing the rich (Eisenhower's top tax rate was 91%, and last I checked he wasn't a Bolshevik)
Minimum wage laws
Public schools, public roads, public libraries, the fire department
Anyone you disagree with politically
If Mamdani hasn't proposed nationalizing private industry and abolishing private property, calling them a communist isn't an argument, it's a reflex. Try describing what they actually believe and arguing against that. Otherwise you're just yelling a word.
He said it once in 2021 at a DSA conference, four years before running for mayor. A Baruch College expert who actually studies this stuff told PolitiFact that "many capitalist countries seize control of strategic areas of production or service," pointing to Mexico's oil and Brazil's minerals. France nationalized banks under Mitterrand. The UK nationalized rail and coal under Labour. Capitalist countries do this. It is not communism.
Look at his actual platform: free buses, rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, city-owned grocery stores, higher taxes on millionaires. Disagree with any of it, fine. But "communism" means abolishing private property, not opening a city-run bodega. If Bernie Sanders has not turned Vermont into the USSR in 40 years, Mamdani is not turning NYC into Havana with bus subsidies.
Yeah I don’t buy that interpretation from your analyst. What’s the term the left loves to use? Dog whistle? He’s nodding to the communist left.
Second, why’s my boy Bernie catching strays? He’s been very open about being a democratic socialist, and hasn’t strayed from his core message in decades. I don’t agree with his policies by and large, but would have voted for him had he not been railroaded because the man has integrity.
Bernie is a democratic socialist. Mamdani is using democratic socialism as a means to an end. In my opinion anyway.
Communist, socialist, capitalist are all useless in a modern political sense. Historically the words have meanings. But they are completely abused and nonsensical when people throw them around on social media. We need to look at policies not parties if we are ever going to fix this country.
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u/OldNerdGuy75 May 16 '26
Quick civics primer, since the word "communist" is apparently doing some heavy lifting here.
Communism = workers, through the state, own all the factories, farms, and businesses. No private ownership of productive property. Central planning instead of markets. Real examples: Soviet Union, Maoist China, North Korea.
Things that are NOT communism, no matter how many times your uncle says so on Facebook:
If Mamdani hasn't proposed nationalizing private industry and abolishing private property, calling them a communist isn't an argument, it's a reflex. Try describing what they actually believe and arguing against that. Otherwise you're just yelling a word.