Tax the Rich, Build the State: How New York’s New Socialist Rhetoric Masks a New Oligarchy

Jan 5, 2026

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New York City, New York

A Familiar Chant, a Dangerous Promise

As chants of “tax the rich” echoed through City Hall, New York entered a new political chapter draped in old socialist slogans and recycled economic myths. The inauguration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, flanked by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was framed as a moral crusade against oligarchy, inequality, and so-called corporate greed. But beneath the soaring rhetoric and carefully staged symbolism lies a contradiction so glaring it cannot be ignored.

The same political figures who rail against wealth and privilege are themselves beneficiaries of elite political power, national fundraising machines, and personal affluence. They speak as tribunes of the working class while consolidating authority in the hands of an ever-expanding government bureaucracy. The result is not freedom for the many, but power for the few who control the machinery of the state.

The Irony of “Tax the Rich” From the Rich

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have built national brands on the language of class warfare. Yet both are now firmly embedded within the very economic class they condemn. Sanders is a millionaire with multiple homes. Ocasio-Cortez enjoys the privileges of elite political office, national celebrity, and the donor networks that come with it. Their wealth may be framed as righteous or earned, but the standard is never applied evenly.

This is the central hypocrisy of the modern socialist movement. Wealth is not immoral when it belongs to the political class. It only becomes a problem when held by entrepreneurs, business owners, or private citizens outside the progressive power structure. “Tax the rich” does not mean tax everyone with money. It means tax those who are not aligned with the ideological agenda of the state.

Big Government Is Not the Antidote to Oligarchy

Mayor Mamdani’s declaration that the era of big government hesitation is over should alarm every New Yorker who values liberty and accountability. History teaches a consistent lesson: concentrated power does not dissolve inequality. It merely relocates it.

Bigger government requires larger budgets, broader regulatory authority, and centralized decision-making. That power does not disperse evenly among the people. It accumulates among bureaucrats, political appointees, and connected insiders who are insulated from the consequences of their policies. The rhetoric claims to defeat oligarchy, but the structure guarantees its rebirth under a different name.

An oligarchy of billionaires is replaced with an oligarchy of administrators, regulators, and political elites who control housing, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and employment through state mandate. The citizen is no longer free. He is managed.

Socialism’s Track Record: Power, Corruption, and Decline

Economist Charles W. Calomiris describes socialism accurately as the opiate of the corrupt and the ignorant. Its appeal is emotional, not empirical. Socialism promises abundance without productivity, equality without excellence, and compassion without cost. Every time it has been tried, it has delivered stagnation, corruption, and suffering, especially for the poor.

From the Soviet Union to Venezuela, from postwar Britain to failed Latin American regimes, socialism has consistently weakened economic growth while empowering unaccountable elites. Even Scandinavian countries, often cited as socialist success stories, abandoned many of their most aggressive state-control policies after experiencing economic slowdown and capital flight.

The lesson is clear. Heavy taxation, expansive regulation, and centralized control do not create wealth. They consume it. And once the wealth creators leave, the burden falls hardest on working families who cannot escape.

Freedom Cannot Be Delivered by Force

Mamdani’s claim that City Hall will use its power to deliver freedom exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of liberty. Freedom is not something the state grants. It is something government is meant to protect.

When government freezes rents, controls wages, subsidizes childcare, and dictates transportation, it does not expand freedom. It replaces voluntary exchange with coercion. Citizens become dependent on political favor rather than personal initiative. Opportunity gives way to permission.

The Founders understood this danger well. Power concentrated for noble intentions rarely remains noble. It grows, hardens, and eventually serves itself.

The Real Cost of Taxing “The Few”

Raising corporate taxes and punishing high earners may sound satisfying at a rally, but the economic consequences are predictable. Capital is mobile. Investment follows stability and fairness, not hostility. When the wealthy and the businesses they build leave, they take jobs, innovation, and tax revenue with them.

New York has already seen this story play out. Population decline, shrinking tax bases, and rising costs are not theoretical threats. They are current realities. Doubling down on policies that caused the problem will not fix it.

A New Ruling Class in the Name of the People

The most dangerous lie told at City Hall is that this agenda belongs to everyone equally. It does not. It empowers those who write the rules, enforce the rules, and exempt themselves from the consequences. That is the very definition of oligarchy.

The difference is branding. Today’s ruling class does not wear crowns or own factories. It speaks the language of compassion while wielding regulatory power. It claims moral authority while demanding economic obedience.

A Warning Written in History

Socialism has never defeated poverty. It has never outperformed free markets. It has never produced lasting prosperity. What it has always produced is expanded government, reduced liberty, and entrenched elites.

New York’s new leadership may believe it is writing a bold new story. In reality, it is following a script as old as centralized power itself. And history does not end well for the people forced to live under it.

Conclusion: Liberty, Not Leviathan

If New York truly wants prosperity for the many, it must reject the false promise of big government salvation. Justice does not come from punishing success. Freedom does not come from bureaucratic control. And equality does not come from empowering the state at the expense of the citizen.

The chant of “tax the rich” may stir a crowd, but it cannot build a flourishing city. Only liberty, responsibility, and limited government can do that.

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