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Zohran Mamdani says he is just getting started.
To hear CNN tell his story of 100 days, you might conclude that New York City stands at the threshold of "Utopia."
It could also be called "the 100 days of pothole politics."
Be informed, not misled.
Pothole politics.
CNN said, "Having just checked off the first 100 days of his administration leading America’s largest city, New York’s mayor told a roaring crowd of supporters, city workers, and political allies his administration has already delivered evidence a democratic socialist can, in fact, govern."
“I know there are many who use ‘socialist’ as a dirty word, something to be ashamed of,” Mamdani said Sunday night. “They can try all they want, but we will not be ashamed of using government to fight for the many, not simply the few.”
Mamdani also announced a series of new administration proposals aimed at expanding the city’s fast bus lanes, increasing garbage containerization – a move to end New York’s notorious garbage bag piles on city sidewalks – and launching the city’s first government-subsidized grocery store in East Harlem, with the explicit purpose to bring prices down.
The one big thing he has accomplished so far? The city has repaired 100,000 potholes.
Margaret Thatcher was "wrong" about socialism.
Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
In a reference to her famous critique, Mamdani defended his administration’s approach.
"I have often thought of Margaret Thatcher's quote, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money," he said. "If anything, my friends, it seems that you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a proud socialist himself, left one of his three homes to attend the rally. He praised the mayor’s agenda, calling it an inspiration for strengthening communities.
"This is the first time I was ever introduced by someone who talked proudly about democratic socialism," Sanders said. "And it feels great."
Well, we'll see how great it feels in 3 or 4 years.
Mamdani is a Muslim, so I haven't seen him trying to connect Christianity and socialism, but the Christian Left is always trying to push the idea that Jesus was a socialist, twisting Scripture to affirm their worldview.
Jesus taught capitalism.
Bryan Fischer has written an excellent article on this subject.
For instance, in one of his most famous parables, the parable of the talents, Jesus teaches the opposite of those who claim Him to be a socialist.
Jim Wallis has been a leader in this heresy, of trying to recast Jesus into some ome He never was and something He never taught.
Wallis tried to recast Jesus in his own image as the Karl Marx of Christendom.
Via Bryan Fischer:
In the parable of the talents, Jesus refers to a man who called his servants together and "entrusted to them his property. Note: It was his own property! He owned the means of production — it did not belong to the community at large! The capital used in economic exchange was in private hands! And what he does with his wealth is clearly nobody's business but his own.
How can this be? This all makes the hero in Jesus' story a criminal in Wallis' fevered imagination, guilty of greed and exploitation, and of grave offenses against an enlightened social order.
Further, the businessman distributed the talents "to each according to his ability." . According to Wallis, Jesus should have had this man distribute his resources "to each according to his need." He should not be entrusting money to people based on ability, but rather should be extracting it from them based on ability. After all, in Wallis' world it is "from each according to his ability." Jesus turns that completely on its head by giving "to each according to his ability." Perhaps Rev. Wallis needs a remedial grammar lesson on prepositions.
Even worse, the enterprise run by the main figure in Jesus' story is a meritocracy from start to finish. Responsibility is awarded based on ability, not on some kind of ethnic or economic quota system. And promotion, likewise, is based squarely on achievement. The man with five talents earned five more and was given more responsibility and authority as a result. Likewise, with the servant who took two talents and turned it into two more.
There is not a breath here in this story of the importance of equality of outcome. In fact, quite the reverse. Jesus had no intention of having everyone wind up at the same level of income, authority, or responsibility. This businessman believed in equality of opportunity but not in equality of result. Outcome was not dictated by government regulation but rather determined by individual initiative and skill.
Accountability in this story does not rest with some government agency. Rather, it remains in private hands, with the entrepreneur who called his servants together upon his return and "settled accounts."
Jesus' businessman would surely agree with the Founders who said that one of our inalienable rights is the "pursuit of happiness." Notice that nowhere did they guarantee the achievement of happiness. The political structure, in their view, is there to create circumstances under which each of us, with minimal government interference, can pursue happiness based on ability, hard work, good judgment, perseverance, education, training, and ambition, all of which will vary significantly from one individual to the next.
And last but not least, when the master returns and finds that one of his servants has buried the money in his back yard rather than investing it, he calls him "wicked and slothful." And rather than taking money from the productive workers and giving it out of compassion to this man in the form of welfare, he takes the one talent he buried and awarded it to the most productive member of his team.
Jesus' businessman had no intention of rewarding or subsidizing irresponsibility. The lazy servant had no right to anything he wasn't willing to work for.
Takeaway
So let's sum up. In this story, capital is in private hands. The owner of the capital is free to invest it as he sees fit and to entrust his private resources to anyone he deems fit. Economic gain comes through investment, risk-taking, and smart choices. The enterprise is based on ability, and there is no quota system of any kind in place. Achievement rather than mere effort is rewarded. Accountability rests in the hands of private enterprise rather than in the hands of government. Laziness is punished rather than rewarded, and resources are not involuntarily transferred ( that's socialism) from the producers to the non-producers, but the other way round.
Socialism is the path to Communism. And it is the path to cultural and personal destruction.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Bold. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.
