This article isn't so much about the politics of the mayor's race in NY, but I'm fascinated that a sworn socialist was elected in a mostly liberal based city. I'm from Hawaii, and I consider myself independent even though Hawaii is a deep blue state where democrats enjoy a super majority in the state legislature. But what I find interesting is I see fatally flawed policy that could be enacted if Zohran Mamdani wins the general election in November. Of course, fatally flawed is in my opinion, and in some ways, can be compared to the fatally flawed systems that the AMOs push in Amway. The systems are good for some people, but not the majority.
I'll cover some of the highlights of what I see as flawed policies that seem destined for failure. First off, it seems that Mamdani ran an exciting campaign but It seems as if a lot of his supporters are young voters who are enamored with universal basic income, which is sounds good, except someone has to pay for it. Mamdani's plan is to tax the wealthy, but NY already had a big exodus of more affluent citizens due to high taxes, and the plan is to squeeze the wealthy for even more. Some may stock it out, buy many are already planning to bail to other states that are less (tax) oppressive.
$30 minimum wage. Sounds great for many people, but many small businesses will fold because they can't sustain a business with high taxation and having to per employees approximately $60K per year to mop floors or do other menial tasks. Part of Mamdani's plan is to have the city run grocery stores that sell at wholesale, making it cheaper for resident. The flaw here in my opinion is that government rarely runs things more efficiently than private business, and secondly, how can you make goods cheaper when your labor at the stores will be $30 an hour minimum wage? I don't even see how fast food or mom and pop restaurants can survive with a profit if they have to pay higher taxes and unsustainable wages. It is likely to lead to more or complete automation, or business closure.
Replace the police force with social workers. Last time I checked, the NY city subway wasn't the safest place on the planet and not having deterrents such as police officers are likely to turn the city in a version of the movie "Escape From NY". How can businesses and citizens prosper when public safety is not secure? The super rich can live in gated communities with hired security, but average citizens will struggle and as far as I know, cities that defunded the police or became soft on crime, had increases in crime and violent crime, unless perhaps they don't charge offenders with felonies, then pretend that crime is actually down in the city. And even the average citizen can't defend themselves with arms because Mamdani plans to ban all guns in N.Y. if elected.
Mamdani is also advocating for free child care, which on the surface sounds great, except that the workers must be paid at least $60K per year which means someone must still pay their salaries even if it's not the recipients of free childcare.
Rent control. Mr. Mamdani wants to impose rent control and believes that the reason people are leaving NY is because of the cost of housing. I don't believe that high rent is the main reason people left NY. I believe it's a combination of high taxation, lack of public safety and apparently much greener pastures in nearby states such as Florida, New Jersey or Tennessee. I don't recall any city that implemented rent control and had remarkable success. And again, rent control is almost a form of higher taxation for landlords who are likely to face increased taxation, property taxes and less revenue as a direct result of rent controls.
There are other highly controversial issues but I'm thinking that if elected, NY and Mr. Mamdani will become a real-life reality show or social experiment. Socialism in my opinion always appeals to a group of residents that will seemingly benefit initially, but the flaw in all the free stuff is that it's not actually free. Someone is still paying the bill and those who foot the bill often gets tired of it and exercises their option to move elsewhere. Some of the Wall Street giants are already planning to bail out of NY. Socialism seems great on paper, but eventually, the government runs out of money to sustain their free programs. I wish the residents of NYC well, but be careful who you vote for, you may get more than you bargained for.
No comments:
Post a Comment