New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will be the 111th mayor of the Big Apple next year; he will also be the first full-fledged socialist in charge of the world’s financial hub.
Mamdani cruised to victory last week primarily because he received overwhelming support from New York City’s young voters. Exit polls show that nearly 80 percent of voters under 30 years old voted for Mamdani and 66 percent of voters under 45 years old voted for the democratic socialist.
Over the past week or so, political pundits have floated many theories to explain why Mamdani appeals to young people. Some say his use of social media enraptured the youth. Others say his youthful appearance, high energy, ever-present smile, and simple campaign slogans resonated with young people.
While Mamdani’s slick TikTok videos played a role in his success, his nonstop focus on the affordability crisis is the main reason he is so popular among NYC youth.
A new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports and The Heartland Institute shows that the affordability crisis is not solely a New York City matter; it has reached epidemic status among the vast majority of young Americans.
According to the poll, which included 1,496 likely voters aged 18-39 from across America, 74 percent said the “cost of housing has reached a crisis level.”
The lack of affordable housing is a bipartisan issue (70 percent of self-identified conservatives agreed) that is crushing the American dream for an entire generation. Incredibly, 73 percent of respondents earning $200,000 or more annually said the cost of housing is at a crisis level.
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As history shows, when people feel the system is rigged and they can’t get ahead playing fair and square, they become vulnerable to quick fixes, which often make the problem worse.
Sadly, this is the case among most young Americans when it comes to the housing cost crisis.
More than six in 10 young Americans support more government housing and a nationwide rent freeze, including 60 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of conservatives, and 74 percent of high earners.
Equally concerning, 58 percent of young Americans think the solution for the rising cost of food is opening government-run grocery stores in every town. Again, this so-called solution to the very real problem of rising grocery costs is supported by more than half of Republicans and conservatives.
Part of the reason that so many young Americans are open to supporting socialist policies is that they are ignorant about the true history of socialism. For decades, public schools and universities have presented a biased version of socialism that accentuates the theoretical good points while glossing over the negative aspects and overlooking its sordid history.
As a former public high school teacher, I witnessed this throughout my teaching career. For example, when I was a student teacher covering European history, I showed the class a video about the famine in Ukraine in the early 1930s that occurred under Stalin. I was shocked when my “mentor” teacher had me stop the tape so he could put it into context. He downplayed the intentional starvation by saying that the wealthy, land-owning kulaks basically got what they deserved.
During my teaching years, it was clear that most of my colleagues were sympathetic to socialism, believed in collectivism, and generally despised individualism and free-market capitalism.
Given these societal headwinds, it is not surprising that such a large swath of young Americans is willing to give socialism a chance. They really think it will solve the cost-of-living crisis that is making their prospect of achieving the American dream almost non-existent.
Going forward, a viable alternative solution to the affordability crisis must be presented that embraces the principles that made the United States the world’s beacon of liberty in the first place.
To make housing more affordable, we need to increase the supply. Highly restrictive zoning laws and permitting burdens must be eased at the state and local levels. Exorbitant property taxes should be slashed. Incentivize home building by getting rid of costly regulations.
Explain that government interventions into the housing market increase costs and inevitably reduce supply. Address the fact that financial firms are gobbling up single-family homes so that they will be perpetually rented and never owned.
There is a bit of a silver lining, thankfully. As the poll shows, young Americans might be currently enamored with socialist policies; however, they are not wedded to them. Remember, young people tend to be fickle, impatient, and prone to instant gratification.
Although 51 percent of respondents said they would like to see a democratic socialist win the 2028 presidential election, more than four in 10 Democrats said they would vote for a Republican if he or she offered the best plan to reduce housing costs during the 2028 campaign.
In other words, young Americans desperately want leaders from across the political spectrum to offer various solutions to the cost-of-living crisis they face.
Instead of dismissing the economic angst of an entire generation or gaslighting young people by telling them the affordability crisis is overblown, it is time for sound solutions that address the root causes so that the American dream is achievable for generations to come.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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