PARKER: Democratic socialist party making debut in New York City 

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The big news from Argentina is the election victory of President Javier Miley and his La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advancement) party.

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Miley initially became president in 2023, brandishing a chainsaw as a message about how he was going to destroy the runaway government that was ruining the lives of Argentines.

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Greater government power has been a tradition in Argentina. Now Miley is changing that.

Economic growth is recovering from stagnation, and inflation has fallen from over 200% to just over 30%.

His party's victory in the midterm elections was seen as crucial to his ability to carry out his mandate. He won much more than was necessary.

Ironically, while Argentines voted to support a politician the likes of which they have never seen, a man committed to shrinking government and promoting freedom, in America's largest city, New York, they are about to elect a new mayor who touts all the ideas that are destroying Argentina.

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Zoran Mamdani promotes a socialist agenda that has failed everywhere it has been applied. But that doesn't seem to matter to New York voters.

With elections scheduled for November 4, Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the polls. His election appears to have already been decided.

So the question now is not how to stop it, but to try to understand how and why some Americans have gotten to the point where they buy into such stupidity.

Rent control, free buses, free child care, city grocery stores – the only thing missing is free ice cream for everyone. And pay for it all by taxing the rich and businesses.

An example of thoughtlessness is advertising, as Mamdani does, a nearly doubling of the minimum wage to $30 an hour as part of an overall program to make life in New York more “affordable.”

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Availability means lower costs and lower prices. But higher payroll costs and higher business taxes are driving up prices. Surely a third grader can handle this too.

The question now is whether this is a sign of the direction of the country or an isolated incident in a disproportionately left-leaning city.

We cannot ignore the fact that this is a sign of the direction of national sentiment. In particular, the seeds of socialism have been sown in our Democratic Party.

As I recently reported, a new Gallup poll shows that 66% of Democrats have a favorable view of socialism and 42% of Democrats have a favorable view of capitalism.

Gradually, Democratic leaders are coming out from under their rocks and backing Mamdani, most recently House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

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Jeffries clearly understood what coming out in support of this guy would lead to, and he tempered his words with caveats. But in the end he supported him.

It is not just a matter of clear experience of the failures of socialism. Just recently, the Fraser Institute published its annual report on economic freedom around the world. The report clearly shows that countries that are the most economically free (smaller government, less intrusive regulations, laws protecting private property) have per capita income six times higher than countries that do not protect these economic freedoms.

Our country is not at a crossroads, trying to decide which way to turn. The reality is that we have already taken a wrong turn. The huge government spending and debt weighing us down means we have to undo a lot of the bad decisions of the past.

The current government shutdown is a sign of where we are heading. We got shut down because the Democrats want to spend even more money.

This determines where we go.

Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Zoran Mamdani with great hesitation, for good reason. He knows that Mamdani and his friends in Congress, fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America, have created a new brand of the Democratic Party.

It's sad. But it's true.

Star Parker is the founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education.

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