By Curtis Scoon
In The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene writes in Law 40, “Despise the Free Lunch.” The intended lesson is that nothing in life is truly free, and that real value requires payment to maintain one’s autonomy. Reliance on others can compromise the decision-making process. Furthermore, free gifts or favors often come with ulterior motives or hidden agendas. The political equivalent of a “free lunch” is the promise of government assistance in exchange for votes at the polls. Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist mayor in New York, exemplifies this approach, with his proposed bloated budget and class warfare tactics aimed at funding social programs.
There are currently more than 250 members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) holding elected public office across roughly 40 states, with Zohran Mamdani at the helm of the largest municipality. Approximately 90% of these officials have been elected since 2019, and the overwhelming majority serve at the state and local levels.
At the federal level, the movement’s influence is concentrated among a handful of high-profile lawmakers, including Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bernie Sanders remains the only U.S. senator who openly identifies as a democratic socialist, albeit as an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Unlike mainstream Democrats—who generally support a capitalist market economy— democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently exploitative. In many ways, they echo the ideological spirit of the 1960s counterculture, repackaged for a new generation. Since 2019, the DSA’s base has skewed dramatically younger, a shift that began around the 2016 United States presidential election and accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2021, the median age of DSA members had lowered to 33 years old.
Disillusioned by economic instability during the global lockdown, many young voters began questioning whether capitalism delivers on its promises. Against that backdrop, Donald Trump’s brand of unapologetic capitalism—projected during a period of widespread hardship—struck critics as tone-deaf at best and elitist at worst. For them, Trump is the personification of a system they hold accountable for denying them social equity, upward mobility, and God forbid, healthcare for their pets.
Moreover, an internal 2021 survey conducted by the Democratic Socialists of America reported that its membership is approximately 85% non-Hispanic white and roughly one-third LGBTQIA+. The same data suggest a base that is disproportionately college-educated and concentrated among middle-class professionals, including those with stable careers or small businesses.
That reality sits uneasily alongside the movement’s rhetoric. Despite a heavy emphasis on affordable housing, subsidized childcare, and expanded public benefits, many of the cities where DSA-backed politics have gained traction—such as Portland and Seattle—report median household incomes around $90,000 and $120,000+, respectively. Unsurprisingly, Black membership within the organization has been reported in the low single digits, underscoring a demographic imbalance along racial and economic lines.
What emerges is a movement that often speaks in the language of economic struggle while drawing significant support from those who are not, by conventional standards, economically marginalized. This can come across less as a grassroots uprising of the working poor, and more as an ideological project driven by relatively comfortable adherents pushing a greater agenda.
From that perspective, the focus appears less about alleviating poverty in concrete terms and more about opposing those perceived to have more—“the capitalists”—as a class. They are akin to “pseudo-Bolsheviks” or what actual Bolsheviks referred to as “useful idiots.” If the eradication of poverty is not the sole or even primary objective, then the question becomes harder to avoid: what, exactly, is?
According to Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Bolshevik Revolution in Tsarist Russia, “the goal of socialism is communism.” The quote reflects Lenin’s strategic view of socialism as a transitional phase—one designed to move capitalist societies toward full communism. In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that socialism would emerge as an inevitable result of class struggle between the working class (the proletariat) and the owners of capital (the bourgeoisie).
Had the working class in Tsarist Russia enjoyed anything resembling the wages and living standards of their contemporary counterparts in the United States, the Russian Revolution would’ve never happened. But in modern America, socialists have broadened—if not diluted— the definition of “struggle.”
The “granddaddy” of today’s American socialist movement, Bernie Sanders, is himself a millionaire with multiple homes in Vermont and Washington, D.C.—a fact frequently cited by opponents as emblematic of the movement’s contradictions.
While socialism promises a more egalitarian society, its real-world track record is dismal and rife with inefficiency, shortages, and restrictions on political freedom. No example looms larger than Soviet Russia, the world’s first socialist state, established in 1917. In 1922, it expanded into the Soviet Union. By 1991 the longest lasting socialist experiment disintegrated, after which Russia transitioned—unevenly—to a capitalist economic system.
In reality, there are no purely capitalist or socialist economic systems in the modern world—only hybrids that blend elements of both to varying degrees. Striking a workable balance between capitalism and governmental obligation is requisite for maintaining societal order and economic stability. Vilifying either the poor or the wealthy does not serve the collective national interest.
At the height of the most severe economic crisis in U.S. history, Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal during the Great Depression. This sweeping set of policies established foundational social safety nets, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, large-scale public works programs, and significant banking reforms.
Public works initiatives created millions of jobs at a time when unemployment approached 25%. Unemployment insurance provided a critical financial lifeline for those in dire straits, while banking reforms—such as deposit insurance—helped stabilize the financial system and restore public confidence. Social Security became the first nationwide pension framework in the United States, fundamentally reshaping retirement security.
The New Deal was a pragmatic political response to assuage an extraordinary economic collapse. It was designed to stabilize a nation in crisis—not to subsidize the lifestyles of relatively comfortable middle-class citizens.
Class warfare is a primary vehicle for achieving what some members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) describe as “wealth redistribution.” That is the precise blueprint for New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani. He has proposed a record annual budget of $127 billion to fund his ample social programs that include free public transportation, housing for migrants and free childcare. For context, New York City’s budget is greater than the proposed 2026 budget for the entire state of Florida, which has nearly three times the population.
New York City has long ranked among the global leaders in both millionaires and billionaires, reinforcing its status as a magnet for capital, investment, and opportunity. Affluent residents and businesses play a central role in job creation and economic growth, helping cement the city’s reputation as a global hub of capitalism.
Any sustained exodus of high-income earners would strain the city’s tax base, forcing policymakers to seek alternative revenue streams. These may take the form of indirect or “hidden” costs—such as increased fines, fees, or other regulatory measures—that shift the burden onto the broader population.
Recent policy discussions have included proposals affecting vehicle and property owners, from changes to parking regulations, to adjustments in speed limits and raising property taxes. City Hall has suggested lowering the citywide speed limit to 20 mph and abolishing free residential parking. Supporters frame such measures as public safety and infrastructure initiatives, while opponents argue they function as backdoor revenue generators.
Signs of affluent New Yorkers leaving the city have already raised alarms regarding a shrinking tax base. Kathy Hochul addressed this issue in an interview with Fox Business, stating:
“I need people who have a high net worth to support the generous social programs we want to have in our state… There are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up… okay… cut me the checks. Go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home, because our tax base has been eroded.”
The irony is clear: even in attempts to expand social programs, the system remains dependent on capitalists to finance them. No matter which iteration of socialism we examine, its brief history demonstrates that it cannot function without the economic engine of capitalism sustaining it.
Now that the Democratic Socialists of America have established a foothold in America’s financial hub, it has Washington, D.C. in its crosshairs. The city will elect a new mayor in June 2026, with Janeese Lewis-George and Kenyan McDuffie emerging as the front-runners in a field of at least five candidates. McDuffie, a moderate, business-friendly Democrat, is a former prosecutor and city council veteran who emphasizes making the current system more efficient and growing the economy.
Lewis-George, by contrast, is a democratic socialist, attorney, and city council member who openly admires Zohran Mamdani—even embracing media comparisons between herself and Mamdani. Much like Mamdani, she advocates for expansive social programs and broader government involvement in daily life. She promotes abortion as healthcare in one breath, and universal childcare in the next.
In a recent social media post, Lewis-George pleaded with the National Park Service to reconsider its decision to remove the downtown 15th street bike lane. A bike lane, native Washingtonians barely know exist, much less utilized. D.C., once nicknamed “Chocolate City” for its majority Black population of 70% in the 1970s, is now roughly 41% Black. While Lewis-George is herself a native Washingtonian and Black woman, her emphasis on issues such as bike lanes and “queer listening parties” clearly cater to a demographic distinct from the city’s traditional residents.
The outcome of D.C.’s mayoral race carries significant implications. The consensus among what remains of “Chocolate City,” is that the next mayor could be the last Black mayor, given the city’s declining Black population. A victory by Janeese Lewis-George,” following Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York, would send a clear signal: the old guard Democratic Party has been usurped by socialist party extremists.
Much like her role model in New York, Lewis-George draws on a background in community activism and grassroots organizing, qualities that resonate with some millennials and Gen Z voters. Those demographics grew up in an America where manufacturing gave way to a service economy heavily reliant on consumerism. Consumer convenience replaced tangible struggle and fostered entitlement. For many, hardship is now defined less by economic necessity and more by an inability to keep pace with peers. Shopping online, ordering food, dining out and traveling abroad are routine. Government is increasingly seen as the solution to any discomfort or unmet desire.
Decades of producing little and consuming plenty is how America reached this point. The proverbial chickens have finally come home to roost.
Curtis Scoon is the founder of ScoonTv.com Download the ScoonTv App to join our weekly livestream every Tuesday @ 8pm EST! Support true independent media. Become a VIP member www.scoontv.com/vip-signup/ and download the ScoonTv App from your App Store.
Support Independent Media Donate to ScoonTV https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/donatescoontv
