OPINION:
Zohran Mamdani ushered in the new year with a pledge to bring the “warmth of collectivism” to the residents of New York City, for whom he now serves as mayor.
The only warmth from collectivism comes from the fires of hell.
If socialism is the slower sister of communism, and the common denominator between socialism, communism, Marxism, progressivism and today’s modern Democrat Party is collectivism, which it is, then this headline from the Hudson Institute from way back in 2017 screams necessary truths: “100 Years of Communism — and 100 Million Dead.”
This is what collectivism brings.
This is what Mamdani promises — albeit, he doesn’t see it that way.
He’s a true believer, and he’s a dangerous ideologue, in part because of his prideful belief in himself; that is to say, that somehow, in some way, his particular brand of collectivism will differ from all the other brands of collectivism that have brought nothing but death, misery and poverty to the people who’ve suffered under its government boot. New York City is not immune from the consequences of a collectivist governing structure, however.
New York City can fall in the same manner as any other communist-run community.
That Mamdani is so open about his adoration for collectivism is the bigger problem for all of America, though. Normalizing communism in a country founded on individualism is the mark of destruction.
“Today begins a new era,” Mamdani said, on his swearing-in for New York City’s mayoral office. “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”
The boot is being raised.
“We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” Mamdani said in his inaugural address.
The boot is being lowered.
But it cannot squash historical truths.
“Over the last 100 years,” the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics and Economics posted, in an essay titled “The Death and Rise of Socialism,” by James Otteson, “over two dozen countries have attempted to implement socialist economies. The list includes not just the Soviet Union, Cuba and North Korea, but Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Romania, Venezuela, Somalia, Ethiopia, Cambodia and many others. … In every case, the economies declined or collapsed.”
In every case, innocents died either from starvation or at the murderous hands of their own government officials — all to protect the “for the good of the people” collectivist narrative. Secret police, anyone?
Such to collectivists are necessary.
“The number cost of communism in USSR, 1917 to 1959, under Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin was 66,700,000, that of the USSR from 1959 to 1978 was 3,000,000 minimum, and that of China 1949 to 1978 at 63,784,000, all but two years under Mao Tse-tung. Another 2,923,700 German civilians were killed during the expulsions of 1945 and 1946,” The Eagle Observer reported in an opinion piece from 2018 titled, “Death by Socialism: Look at the numbers.”
This isn’t to say New York City residents under Mamdani are going to be subjected to midnight sweeps and secret imprisonments in makeshift Gulags — or even starved to death. That won’t happen because Mamdani is just a mayor, not a national dictator. What will happen, though, is that the failed collectivism of Mamdani will lead to federal and state bailouts and redistribution of dollars from outside-the-city coffers — spreading socialism further, and giving leftists a platform to feign compassion for the people while decrying conservatives who want a limited government.
What will happen is more normalization of socialism; of communism; of Marxism; of collectivism, which is the cultural equivalent of America’s death knell. If America, founded on the concept of God-given rights and liberties, is trained to expect government to supply all, and government to provide all, then self-government becomes an outdated principle. Limited government becomes a thing of the past. God-given becomes government-granted.
And the message of Mamdani, mayor of a city, becomes the desires of an entire nation.
That is the true danger of a man such as Mamdani.
Lies repeated often enough can one day become truth.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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