"Give Mamdani credit. He just survived the most Islamophobic campaign in U.S. history and won in a three-person race." - John Oliver, Last Week Tonight (last night)
There's no gainsaying the fact that socialism - in any form - is the biggest political bogeyman in the minds of too many Americans. Now seeded further after Zohran Mamdani's recent Mayoral victory in New York - and ratcheted into full blown hysteria thanks to FOX News, e.g.
Desi Lydic Foxsplains Zohran Mamdani, NYC's Radical New Mayor | The Daily Show
How did a political system and ideology practiced in some form by over a dozen western nations, become such fodder for toxin in the US of A. One word: Propaganda. As recently as four years ago I was posting how "commie hysteria" still had the country by the proverbial balls:
Commie Hysteria Is Still Infecting The Nation
And it is no surprise whenever a socialist approaches the levers of power the commie bogey is trotted out, usually by poltroons and media trolls who prey on Americans' political and ideological ignorance, traced to inadequate education. If anyone doubts the extent to which we're manipulated to be pawns for the corporate capitalists they need to read Douglas Rushkoff's "Life, Inc." Rushkoff documents how Americans' minds have been manipulated to become puppets for the speculator and war state since the advent of Edward Bernays, and his work, 'Propaganda'. For those unable to get hold of Rushkoff's book a recent post clarifies the degree to which U.S. media has been gobbled up by crony capitalists dedicated to singing just one or two overworked themes, to instill fear in anything "socialist", e.g.
by Adam Lynch | November 9, 2025 - 6:09am | permalink
Do you ever wonder why Republican propaganda appears to be everywhere while solid, informative news keeps going belly-up? It’s all about money, author Katherine Stewart tells Bulwark. Republican propaganda has it and news does not.
Fox News channels and amplifies rage at a carefully curated target, which never appears to be the Republican Party and that channeling “has worked overwhelmingly to the advantage of the authoritarian right wing,” Stewart said.
You can try to blame it on new technology, or the kind of reporters working in the industry, or the theory that the media has simply come to reflect the biases and polarization of the public. But it all really comes back to money and the moneyed interests who value driving the argument.
"Socialist" in quotes because the version trotted out is barely recognizable, as an actual ideology. More like a grossly fear-instilled cartoon to appeal to simpletons.
As a youngster growing up in the 50s, propaganda started early via exposure to 'trading' cards which every red -blooded American boy treasured. But soon, after getting TOPPS cards of your favorite team or player, e.g.
You ran into another type of card with nothing to do with baseball, e.g.
These were the 'know your commie' cards issued by TOPPS in the early 50s, the sole purpose of which was to brainwash American kids into hating commies and anything remotely related to them. The propaganda didn't stop with the children's crusade against communism cards, it even crept into 1950s TV, i.e. with "I Led Three Lives".
Commie hysteria probably began in the late 1940s after the Russians also got the A-bomb. The 1950s then became a decade of runaway paranoia which most of those who didn't live then can't even begin to imagine. Then there were the sessions of the House Un-American Activities Committee convened by rabid, anti-commies. These were dominated by the hard core ideologue, Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy's insane crusade ended up tarring thousands of innocent Americans (e.g. screenwriter Dalton Trumbo) with the "commie" brush, because too many lame brains were caught up in his nonsense.
At some point "socialism" then also became a synonym for communism. And now as seen from Peggy Noonan's weekend WSJ column ('Take Mamdani Seriously and Literally', p. A13), in a clever form of subdued hysteria - over Mamdani's NYC win. We're informed early that Mamdani "broke past 50 % in a three-man race as a declared, not hidden, socialist, the first such mayor in New York." Adding in a sinister tone: "He's as serious as a heart attack. He told us in his victory speech."
So while Pegs didn't spew out the clownish bombast of the Foxite Right (e.g. Greg Gutfield, Jesse Waters, Hannity) she did sow some latent fear. But give her credit for offering a warning to the yapping clowns, e.g.
"Republicans should understand Mamdani isn't your bogeyman to use for your electoral amusement. You think you're going to make him the face of the Democratic Party and everybody will hate Dems? And you will profit without even trying? But he's cleverer than you , he understands the world of right now better- and in any case has an ideology he swallowed whole."
An 'ideology' he "swallowed whole." Yes, but not a bad one, not an evil one. But even Bill Maher has evidently been snookered into believing Mamdani will be the downfall of the U.S. (oddly forgetting about the devastation already wrought by Trump - from invading U.S. cities with masked thugs to starving 42 million by cutting oof SNAP benefits. As Peggy pointed out in her final paragraph as to one of the big reasons for Mamdani's ascent:
"In the coming AI crisis Mamdani's brand of leftism may start to look good for some people. And Mr. Trump can't moderate himself and will continue to rouse wild opposition."
Bingo, so it isn't as if New Yorkers just jumped blindly into voting for a socialist. So can we cue: "Let's stop the bedwetting, Righties?" Socialism isn't Satanism and Mamdani is not a devil - or a "jihadist."
Let's first get a general idea of socialism as I was first introduced to it, in Milwaukee, and then respond to the question of whether there are any similarities with Democrats - by which I mean members of the Democratic party.
I was born in Milwaukee just two years before the city's third Socialist Mayor took office. Frank Zeidler was Milwaukee's third Socialist mayor (after Emil Seidel [1910-12] and Daniel Hoan [1916-40]), making Milwaukee the largest American city to elect three Socialists to its highest office (a fact that singer Alice Cooper pointed out in the 1992 film Wayne's World). Zeidler credited his adoption of socialism to reading left-wing literature, with the majority being written by Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas during the Great Depression
Zeidler, a member of the Socialist Party of America, served three terms from April 20, 1948, to April 18, 1960. During his time in office, the city built new fire stations, repaved roads, and established Wisconsin's first educational television station. He also oversaw the construction of low-income and veterans' housing and implemented city beautification programs.
Jobs proliferated, especially in major manufacturing (Allis –Chalmers etc.) while the Breweries hired thousands with excellent pay and benefits, including health care. Housing abounded as well, affordable housing off of Greenfield Ave. and Teutonia and in other suburbs to the north and west. Parks, meanwhile, were the envy of many other cities for their beautiful layouts, amenities and services. I can still recall going to Washington Park (across the street from where my family lived on 48th and Cherry Streets) on the 4th of July for band performances and later fireworks. I also enjoyed going to the Washington Park Zoo as often as I could, especially to visit the denizens of the Reptile House.
Crime was almost non-existent, despite Milwaukee reaching a population of 747, 000 by 1960. Zeidler also provided health care through the city, so no one needed to go broke to get any treatment. Like all REAL Socialists, Zeidler believed health care was a right, not merely having health insurance!. Education also benefited, and Milwaukee’s schools became some of the finest – not just Catholic but public schools as well, thanks to a higher local taxation rate, and not merely property taxes, which Zeidler knew would hit the elderly hardest.
Attacking Zeidler as 'Communist' or 'Marxist' was deranged and ignorant. As I had already pointed out, e.g. in my Sept. 5, 2018 post:
"In the case of Marxist socialism or Marxism (as manifested in the old USSR) one beheld total state control of ALL goods and services. This was to the extent nearly all jobs were created by the state, wages set by the state and pseudo-markets created where there were no genuine needs to fulfill and others (especially for growing food) left under-developed. In addition, no such entities as stock markets or commodities exchanges existed."In the same post, I also exposed how Oprah herself was as brainwashed about what constitutes socialism when in one episode of her eponymous show (in Denmark) she raised the misbegotten fear of socialism and the welfare state and earned a robust response from a Dane:
As Oprah rambled on about "socialism" with a fearful expression, that Danish citizen on Skype quickly informed her:
By actual Socialists then I mean Democratic Socialists such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani and myself. Democratic Socialism will then apply to us as well as certain countries including: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Barbados. (It does NOT apply to North Korea, China, or the former Soviet Union - nor does it apply to the "National Socialism" of Hitler which was actually an abuse of the word.
As a 20-year member of the Democratic Socialists Of America this sort of persistent historical blind spot galls me no end. I simply see no excuse for it. But short of countering the false information with actual facts, there’s little one can do. No one has yet passed an amendment (nor will one ever be able, I suspect) making free speech contingent on actual facts and information – as opposed to opinions spouted mindlessly without background knowledge.
Were any of Zeidler's Milwaukee improvements "communistic" or "Marxist"? Of course not! They actually represented
the ideal of what an American city ought to be about - as opposed to citizens
subject to the law of the jungle and every man for himself.
In the Economic Bill of Rights, published by the Democratic
Socialists of America (DSA), it is interesting to see:
1.. The right to a useful and remunerative job
2. The right to sufficient and nutritious food
3. Safe, healthy, secure and affordable housing
4. Free, accessible health care to all
5. Free, high quality public education
6. The right to organize to form unions, as well as community organizing
All of these were evident in Frank P. Zeidler’s Milwaukee, but you will
definitely not see them in any Democratic Party manifesto today - nor will
you see any Dem candidate espousing any of them - unless he is Bernie Sanders,
already a Democratic Socialist but campaigning as a Dem. That's because this
country offers no rational route to elections, if one is a third party member -
and no proper forum for debates. In other words, the game is rigged for the
duopoly.
Having said all this, the closest Democratic program to a
socialist one would be Social Security. But even that falls way short of what a
true socialist would propose or implement. That is, there'd be no payroll
tax cap nor would it ever be proposed (as LBJ did once upon a time) that Social
Security monies be mixed with general revenue so it could be raided at
intervals. In this way there'd never be any problem about the program's
"insolvency" and hence the need to cut it to save it.
by Frances Moore Lappé and Corinna Rhum
Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory on Tuesday is a bright light in this otherwise terrifying political time, and the messages propelling his political ascendance offer many lessons. One particularly is music to our ears—indeed, it’s a song we’ve long been singing. We’ll let the words from his acceptance speech speak for themselves:
Tonight we have spoken in a clear voice. Hope is alive. Hope is a decision that tens of thousands of New Yorkers made day after day, volunteer shift after volunteer shift, despite attack ad after attack ad. And, while we cast our ballots alone, we choose hope together: hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible.
Mr. Mamdani’s message is both powerful and incisive. To launch his campaign to become mayor of our largest city required hope—and great courage. A long-shot candidate—a 34-year-old South Asian Muslim and democratic socialist assemblyman—he is a departure from mayoral convention.
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
Last week, two things happened that may shed some light on where American capitalism is heading.
First, Tesla’s board caved in to Elon Musk’s demand that he get a pay package of $1 trillion (if he meets various goals).
Musk’s trillion-dollar pay package is so grotesque as to make a mockery of the most ardent free-market capitalists. Although his board is stuffed with cronies and relatives, he still had to hold it hostage to get his trillion — threatening that if he didn’t, his attention would wander elsewhere. Other Tesla shareholders got shafted.
Second, the voters of New York City — the capital of world capitalism — elected as their mayor a Democratic Socialist who thinks billionaires shouldn’t exist.
Mr. Mamdani became New York’s mayor-elect this week for many
reasons: a relentless focus on affordability, the abiding unpopularity of
Andrew M. Cuomo, a boiling left-wing backlash against establishment forces in
the city and beyond.
But one powerful explanation for Mr. Mamdani’s success is
deceptively simple.
He seemed fun. He seemed funny.
For an insurgent figure trying to make skeptics comfortable (or at least less uncomfortable) with a 34-year-old democratic socialist as mayor — and for a politician trying to make Democrats feel better (or at least less miserable) about life in President Trump’s America — there are worse places to start.
And:
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