Democratic socialism is still socialism. Don’t let them fool you

Democratic socialism is getting a lot of attention lately.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is rolling out government-owned grocery stores, pushing for a rent freeze, and calling for a major wealth tax.

Across the country, candidates and some elected officials are making a similar promise: Give government more power and it’ll make life more affordable, fair, and prosperous.

Don’t fall for it.

No dejes que te metan gato por liebre.

Socialists have made that promise for decades in countless countries, and it doesn’t work.

H2. Socialism: Sweet promises, nightmarish reality

Here’s what the Democratic Socialists of America says they’ll deliver: free health care, low rent, cheap groceries, and a fairer economy.

But if you go beyond the talking points and listen closely to how they’d deliver it, you’ll see a very different picture.

Their approach gives politicians and government bureaucrats more power over your life.

Take rent. A universal rent freeze or government-built housing means a bureaucrat, not you, decides where you get to live and what you pay for it.

Take health care. They guarantee universal health care at no cost. In practice, that means one government payer decides what treatment you get, which doctors you can see, and how long you wait to see them.

Take that 30% grocery discount Mamdani is proposing. It means government-subsidized stores using taxpayer dollars to offer prices that small businesses — the corner bodega or family-run market — can’t match.

In each of these examples, the pattern is the same: Power and decisions move away from the individual and toward government.

Do you really think bureaucrats and politicians can make your decisions better than you can?

Of course not. But as the cost of living rises and families struggle to keep up, government subsidies can sound like an easy solution.

The problem is, we already know how the story ends.

Socialism has failed every single time

In places like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, the people trusted a charismatic leader who vowed to use the power of the state to eradicate injustice and bring a more stable and prosperous future to everyone.

For many, those promises ended in pain, tyranny, misery, and poverty.

Venezuela nationalized its grocery stores and imposed a fully state-run supermarket system by 2010. By 2015, empty shelves had become a common sight in the country, with shoppers missing 8 of every 10 items on their lists, and 3 in 10 Venezuelans were down to two meals a day.

And you don’t need tyranny or oppression to get the same result. Even when tried at a small scale, in a democracy, these ideas fail in the same way.

San Francisco expanded rent control in 1994 to “help” tenants. What actually happened was that landlords pulled 15% of rental units off the market, and rents rose 5.1% across the city. The only people who won were the lucky few renters who got a price-controlled unit in time.

Canada centralized health care decades ago. Today, the median Canadian waits 28.6 weeks, over half a year, between a doctor’s referral and actual treatment — a terrible result for a system that costs over $300 billion every year.

Freedom is what America needs to thrive

Democratic socialists in America might not be authoritarian leaders in waiting like Fidel Castro or Nicolas Maduro, but their underlying ideas are the same: Someone else decides for your family instead of you deciding for yourself.

And a bad idea doesn’t become good policy because it was implemented democratically.

America is already facing big challenges, especially when it comes to the cost of living.

A poll from The LIBRE Institute, our sister organization, found that 70% of Hispanic voters already say housing is unaffordable, and 83% say their health care costs went up this year.

The last thing we need is to make problems worse by handing politicians and bureaucrats even more power and control over our lives.

History shows that when socialist ideas are implemented, people get rent hikes, long health care waiting lists (if they’re lucky), massive shortages, and poverty.

Thankfully, America doesn’t have to look far for a better way.

We simply need to stay true to the principles that built this country: liberty, limited government, and opportunity.

That’s why The LIBRE Initiative was founded 15 years ago and became the largest Latino organization standing up for freedom.

Join us and help make sure the American Dream is alive for generations to come.