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Far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani offered an impassioned definition of socialism this week — one critics say rivals state-controlled totalitarianism — claiming in a podcast interview that it’s the job of the government to ensure the masses have “whatever you need.”
“Socialism, to me, it means that you will have whatever you need to live a dignified life and that it is the government’s job to deliver on that,” Hizzoner told comedian podcaster Theo Von on Thursday when asked to define the political and economic system he’s pushing on the city.
“It’s a belief that you shouldn’t live in a place where all you can do is pick your own leaders,” added the card-carrying Democratic Socialists of America member.
“You should also be able to have that power in the rest of your life, right? People talk about it as the extension of democracy from the ballot box to the rest of your life.
“What do people mean by the rest of your life? They mean your workplace, your home, things like that.”
“When people say dignity, I want to be very clear, we’re talking about the things that allow you to take a breath: housing, childcare, public transit,” the mayor said. “No one should be priced out of these things. These are non-negotiables; you need these to live.”
City Council Minority Leader David Carr (R-Staten Island) said Mamdani’s definition of socialism “sounds a lot like” state-controlled “totalitarianism.”
“I can’t imagine even his most ardent supporters would want to live in a state where the government determines everything you need to live a dignified life, whatever that is,” said Carr.
Other critics scoffed at Mamdani’s remarks, telling The Post Saturday that the mayor’s tax-the-rich, anti-capitalist agenda is pie-in-the-sky planning that is driving investors, residents and businesses out of the Big Apple.
“The Mayor says it’s government’s job to deliver ‘whatever you need.’ I have a different view of government’s job: keep us safe, educate our kids, pick up the garbage, maintain the roads and make New York affordable enough that people can build the lives they want for themselves,” said Councilman Frank Morono, a Staten Island Republican.
“Given how hard City Hall sometimes finds it to deliver the basics, I’m not quite ready to put it in charge of delivering ‘whatever you need.’”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also weighed in, saying on X that “socialism is an economic and political system where the … government owns and controls the major means of production.
“So, the same entity running the Post Office in the US, would be responsible for everything. Anyone who supports this does not have sound judgement,” said the senator.
The Israel-hating Mamdani also used his appearance on Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast to state that, if he had it his way, the US would join the International Criminal Court and enforce an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
