Does socialism’s popularity scare you? Me too.
Sherborn, Mass.: I’m a 35-year-old registered independent and have voted for members of both parties. I lived in New York City for six years and loved every minute of it, despite feeling that I was going crazy at times. I’m a proud cheerleader of free-market capitalism and liberal democracy. However, over the past decade, I’ve seen more posts online from friends espousing their love of socialism. That sounds scary.
There’s data to support the notion that Americans, especially Democrats, favor socialism. A September Gallup survey found that 74% of likely Democratic voters said democratic socialism, as advocated by Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders, comes closest to their viewpoint, while 16% said the same of capitalism. An April survey by the Cato Institute and YouGov showed that 62% of Americans aged 18–29 say they hold a “favorable view” of socialism, and 34% say the same of communism. This view is held broadly by Democrats, and skews young.
In reading about 20th century history, I learned about the many socialist and communist regimes that were in power: the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua and Venezuela, to name a few. These regimes led to starvation, mass murder, confiscation of private businesses and homes, brutal dictatorships and societal collapse. Much like rent control, government-run anything doesn’t work because you remove the incentive and price structures that allow markets to react and adjust to supply and demand. Not to mention, 100 million people died because of these policies when they were tried across entire economies and governments during the last century. If you’re in favor of socialism, you have some soul-searching and self-education to do. Don’t be ashamed to be a free-market cheerleader. Eric Noreen
One-sided agenda
Brooklyn: I just read “New York must come together” (op-ed, Nov. 4), written by a Jewish woman and a Muslim woman. It spoke of how New Yorkers can become divided, “investing in community, divesting from hate,” how New York is the greatest city in the world and other such platitudes. All fine, but something didn’t smell right. Clearly, they don’t like Zohran Mamdani. Their disdain for government-run grocery stores and their comments regarding democratic socialism bear that out. After researching their group, Demonstrate Hope Not Hate, it seems that it’s a pro-Israel group. Look, I have problems with Mamdani (and Andrew Cuomo) and, like many issues, Israel and Palestine isn’t black-and-white. You can be horrified by the uptick in antisemitism and still have huge issues with Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel. Are they welcoming to folks who are pro-Palestine? Their piece came off as disingenuous. Say what you mean. Peter Magnotta
Bigotry carveout
Bronx: To Voicer Myra B. Goodman: So all you find objectionable is being called “them”? My point is why aren’t there anti-Latinoism, anti-Blackism, etc. restrictions? A person can be arrested for being antisemitic but not anti- any other group? Sounds privileged to me! Edwin Garcia
Highlight here
Freeport, L.I.: How nice that New York’s self-proclaimed “Hometown Newspaper” devotes nearly an entire page to a Boston bookstore (“Heirloom book havens,” Nov. 3). How about telling readers of the dozen or so remaining independent bookstores in New York City? They could use the publicity for the services they can provide to local bibliophiles. Bob Sterner
Health gatekeepers
Highland Lakes, N.J.: When did health insurance companies become so all-powerful that they are allowed to charge exorbitant premiums and demand referrals for continued medical care by specialists, especially cardiac care? A bunch of business administrators who don’t know a thing about medicine telling patients what they need and what services they can receive, and telling doctors how to treat us? Oh, hell no! When exactly did this shift occur, and what can we the patients do to put actual medical care back into our physicians’ hands? It’s time we tell health insurance companies that we will not be paying for them to monopolize our health care anymore! How dare the American consumer be made to fatten the wallet of a CEO with zero knowledge of the human body so that said CEO can have a $10 million yearly salary? Health insurance is a scam and should be illegal! Terry Futcher
Reduced to irrelevance
Somerset, N.J.: The Kakuro on the last page of the comics section of the Sunday Daily News used to be a clear, readable and interesting puzzle that seniors could see and enjoy. For some misguided reason, it has been replaced by a far less interesting version with a format that is somewhat difficult to see, and I now skip it altogether. Please bring back the original version. Arthur Bressler
Open the field
Redondo Beach, Calif.: If President Trump can run for a third term, Barack Obama can run for a third term. John Chevedden
Opposed to opposition
Staten Island: If Trump is allowed to run for a third term, he will be soundly beaten by Obama. It is more likely that he will declare martial law and suspend elections indefinitely. Ralph D’Esposito
Malevolent president
Peters Township, Pa.: One can determine a great deal about elected officials who have budgetary responsibilities based on their spending priorities. In the midst of a government shutdown in which availability of federal funds is sharply curtailed, our president managed to shift money around to pay law enforcement officers, including ICE agents who have attacked immigrant communities with a heavy hand. He decreed that no emergency would justify continuing to provide food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and that benefits expected on Nov. 1 wouldn’t be provided. Governors who are compassionate stepped in and filed a lawsuit that forced the Trump administration to use available funds to provide aid on which millions are dependent. We shouldn’t be surprised that an administration whose hallmark is cruelty inflicted upon all except its friends had to be forced to do the right thing. Oren Spiegler
Historical parallel
Manhattan: A suggestion for your political cartoonist: Trump is now Marie Antoinette. He is building a glamorous ballroom while people are going hungry without their government food benefits (re the government shutdown). “Let them eat cake,” Antoinette reportedly said. A beautiful ballroom is nice, and private donations help, but the optics are terrible. Super-bad timing. As my family are long-time customers and loyal supporters of the Daily News, I hope this idea can be used to help you in the problem-solving/rushed-deadline process. Michelle Otto
Reread your Bible
Ridgefield, N.J.: The delusional belief by so-called Christian nationalist Voicer Fred A. Stock talks about Bill Clinton’s sexual escapades and leaves out that Trump committed serial adultery and was found guilty of sexual abuse. He ignores that Trump said he would have been attracted to his own daughter, while joking how he likes his girls young (but maybe not as young as his best friend, Jeffrey Epstein); the great Christian who bragged about how running a teen beauty contest gave him permission to walk into the dressing rooms of teen girls in various stages of undress. And if Stock chose to actually read Christ’s beatitudes and other parts of the Gospel, he would know that Christ’s sympathies were always with the poor, the young, and yes, foreigners and strangers. But his letter was cause for a good laugh. Anthony Van Zwaren
Implausible invaders
Chatham, N.J.: In a recent interview on CBS, Trump repeated his misconception that other countries are “sending” their criminals and mental patients to the U.S. He made this false claim during his first term and continues to repeat it as the basis for his xenophobic isolationism and deportation policies. No doubt, his addled brain is recalling the Mariel “boatlift” of 1980, when Fidel Castro did load convicts and some mentally ill Cubans on boats and send them to the U.S., a mere 100 miles away. Trump accuses countries like Honduras of the same practice. However, how would those governments ensure that released “undesirables” would make the unescorted journey to our border rather than re-infiltrate their native countries? Logically, the released people would try to remain in their homelands rather than make the dangerous trip north, on which many are robbed of what little they carry, and some are killed. Paul Denk
