Mamdani wants to pull New York away from American success | Opinion
While New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has never shied away from the fact that he is a radical, his promises to govern "expansively and audaciously" underscore his revolutionary nature. He thinks his election victory is a mandate to remake the city under his vision, rather than merely a dabble in socialist experiments.
That vision is not one of individualism coded into our country's DNA, but something different and fundamentally anti-American. Mamdani's vision strays from American liberalism and instead embraces tyrannical collectivism.
Mamdani wants to make New York less American, and he thinks he has the mandate to do so. Such a desire is vile, and such an outlook should be rejected by Americans.
Mamdani wants to shelter New York from Americanism
The 34-year-old mayor fundamentally stands against the central principles that this country was founded upon.
"We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism," Mamdani said in his inaugural address on New Year's Day.
Collectivist ideologies are entirely incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, our founding principles and the approach to governance that has made this the greatest country in the world. Liberalism, the ideology of the American founding, emphasizes individual rights over collective impulses.
Mamdani's collectivist outlook prioritizes the pursuit of the common good, even if that means infringing on certain individuals' rights. His perfect government is strong enough to regulate individuals into acting in the pursuit of the collective interest, rather than allowing all individuals to pursue what is right for themselves.
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Few policies better highlight this outlook than rent control policies, which Mamdani has vowed to expand . Rather than allow individuals to come to a mutually beneficial rental agreement at a fair market price, the democratic socialist sees it as the role of the state to tell property owners how they must use their own property for the collective good.
This is all under some misguided notion that landlords are a powerful, greedy class, whereas renters are exploited and helpless to make market decisions for themselves. Our founders would shudder at such a sentiment.
The irony is that the rugged individualism that Mamdani demonizes is exactly what has made America a superpower. Every significant advancement in technology, philosophy or otherwise has come from somebody breaking away from the group trajectory. America's encouragement of individual liberty and personal responsibility is the very reason we have made such developments to an extent not seen elsewhere.
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Mamdani's pipe dream of the "warmth of collectivism" has a nasty habit of leading to frigid gulags. Societies that don't protect individual rights against the tyrannical whim of the majority inevitably slouch toward despotism. Proponents are yet to come up with an example of a socialist success, yet they insist that this time it will be somehow different.
Obviously, such a doomsday scenario is a bit dramatic when just talking about New York City, but the sentiment is worrying enough. I have little faith that cancerous socialist ideologies will be relegated to New York City.
The only reason you would want to abandon such a core American value is if you want to raze this country to its foundation and build something new in its stead. This behavior is not patriotic, but rather sabotage. If Mamdani had his way, he would completely change what America is, a direct contradiction to the oath he took on New Year's Day to uphold and defend the Constitution.
Mamdani thinks he has a mandate to do so, but he's wrong
"The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations," Mamdani said in his speech , which was chock full of indications that he's pursuing a broad scope. He is entering office behaving as if he has an overwhelming mandate for change.
The concept of mandates has some political value, but it is not based on any real understanding of our constitutional republic. Politicians are elected to do the job of their office. A politician elected by a wide margin may get more political grace to implement a radical agenda, but even a landslide electoral victory does not magically bestow more authority upon the victor to bypass procedural rules or act outside of the norms of their office.
We are seeing this effect with President Donald Trump now. Despite his insistence that he has a mandate to radically change America, impose his will outside of proper procedure and tear down norms of the presidency, Trump has overextended and is now suffering political consequences.
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I've criticized Trump for this idea plenty, but Mamdani in this case is no different. A majority of New Yorkers were sufficiently serenaded by the socialist siren song, but such a victory is not grounds to suddenly tear down the established order of things, even if that is what Mamdani ran on.
New Yorkers are now getting what they voted for, and that is a tragedy. Hopefully, this experiment in socialism serves as a stark reminder of why the ideology inevitably fails, but my pessimism persists because it hasn't failed me yet in this illiberal moment.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zohran Mamdani wants New York to be different from America | Opinion
