Zoran Mamdani: An Avalanche of Bad Ideas and an Ego Too Big to Stop It

Zoran Mamdani represents the kind of boutique activism that thrives on optics rather than outcomes — a politics of performance that values moral posturing over measurable progress. His proposals, from dismantling gifted programs to pushing government-run grocery stores and punitive wealth taxes, are crafted to sound righteous but operate as punishments against the very communities they claim to uplift.

What makes Mamdani’s brand of politics particularly dangerous is that it comes from a place of comfort, not conviction. He has never lived the life of the people he claims to speak for — not even remotely. Yet he feels entitled to dictate their solutions from above. That’s the essence of boutique elitist activism: activism born of convenience and arrogance.

From his perch of privilege, he pontificates about struggle while being insulated from it, deputizing himself as the voice of the voiceless — without ever truly listening to them. His refusal to meet with many grassroots organizers and community-based nonprofits leading up to the election speaks volumes. It’s not empathy. It’s condescension — a top-down, self-anointed savior complex that mistakes control for compassion and optics for outcomes.

It’s activism as self-affirmation — designed to signal virtue, not deliver results. Mamdani’s ideas might look good on protest signs, but in practice, they dismantle the very engines that make upward mobility possible.

A Philosophy That Lowers the Bar

Mamdani’s brand of activism, built on a warped interpretation of “equity,” inevitably leads to lowered standards. In his world, success must be engineered — not achieved.

We’ve already seen this philosophy seep into education policy, where the drive to eliminate gifted and talented programs, under the banner of fairness, has stripped opportunity from high-achieving students — many of them from immigrant and minority backgrounds — who rely on those programs as a path to advancement.

Equity, as he defines it, isn’t about lifting people up; it’s about holding others back. It’s sameness disguised as justice — a leveling down that punishes excellence to preserve appearances. True equality should mean equal opportunity, not forced outcomes that suffocate drive and innovation.

Economic Suicide Disguised as Justice

His economic agenda follows the same misguided template — tax the productive (disguised under the banner of “tax the rich,” but what he truly means are those who are productive — the small business owners and self-employed who are overrepresented as business owners in New York City), regulate the builders, and hand more control to bureaucrats.

This isn’t about defending the billionaire class; it’s about defending common sense. New York’s economy depends on a delicate balance between the wealth of industry and the vitality of its middle and working class — both of which contribute heavily to the city’s tax base.

Whether we like it or not, the highest earners that Mamdani targets are responsible for nearly half of all tax revenue in New York City. If his hostility toward them drives them out, that loss doesn’t disappear — it shifts downward. The burden lands on the rest of us, through higher taxes, reduced services, and fewer opportunities.

Maryland learned that lesson the hard way more than a decade ago. Expecting $106 million in new wealth-tax revenue, the state instead lost $200 million when high earners and small business owners left — a phenomenon documented in the Tax Foundation’s report “Maryland’s Millionaires Missing After Income Tax Hike”. New York, already facing population and business flight, doesn’t need another ideological experiment that repeats those mistakes.

As economist Arthur Laffer once said, “People don’t just change where they live; they change where they earn.” The Laffer Curve illustrates this simple truth — that beyond a certain point, higher taxes actually reduce total revenue by discouraging productivity and investment.

The Rich States, Poor States index published by ALEC reinforces the same point: states with lower tax burdens consistently outperform high-tax states in population growth, job creation, and economic resilience (alec.org).

When you punish productivity, you don’t redistribute wealth — you destroy it. Mamdani’s rhetoric may sound populist, but in practice, it leaves the middle and working class holding the bag for a shrinking tax base.

Dependency Masquerading as Compassion

The real danger in Mamdani’s worldview isn’t just bad math — it’s bad philosophy. Every policy he proposes grows government power while shrinking individual agency. Whether it’s housing, education, or the economy, his reflex is always the same: centralize, regulate, control.

That’s not compassion; it’s control disguised as care. When people become dependent on the state for their progress, the government gains authority and citizens lose autonomy. This isn’t a path to justice — it’s a slow drift toward quiet authoritarianism, where independence is replaced by reliance and freedom by permission.

The Theater of Politics

There’s another truth New Yorkers can’t ignore: Zoran Mamdani has carefully insulated himself from real scrutiny. His interviews are curated, his media appearances rehearsed, and his talking points designed to avoid confrontation with any tough questions. That isn’t transparency — it’s choreography. And it’s a betrayal, not only by him, but by a media class that has abandoned its responsibility to hold politicians accountable.

We should feel insulted that he doesn’t have the respect to engage the public directly, especially this close to an election. We should feel offended that he treats marginalized communities as props in a political brand — speaking about them more than to them. It’s not representation; it’s exploitation disguised as empathy.

This is the danger of moralized politics. When politicians build careers on virtue-signaling rather than results, they trade governance for theatrics. And in a city where so many families are fighting to stay afloat — facing economic ruin, rising rents, and displacement — we cannot afford another election wrapped in symbolism and sanctimony.

We don’t need slogans. We need results.