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‘I Worked All Day and Can’t Feed My Family’: Mamdani Offers 9 Words More Terrifying Than Ronald Reagan’s
(www.commondreams.org)
this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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politics
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I always thought it was funny how the right uses commerce as the solution to all problems when it’s inherently exclusionary. You have money, you get things. You don’t, you starve… Government is supposed to be inherently inclusionary- all people are guaranteed inalienable rights by dint of their existence.
If we have to use capitalism, it should be backstopped by a system that continues to deliver when markets fail. This idea that we should run government like a business is ridiculous.
If you have capitalism that is heavily supported by a non-market system then you don’t really have capitalism. Heck, the big thing about capitalism is that there’s a massive threat of being without which forces people into exploitative situations. The concept of money is not locked to capitalism, despite the beliefs of what seems to be the majority of people, it is simply hyper-prioritized in that system.
Capitalism is where those with the most money have the most power, socialism is where society at large has the most power, etc. Whatever goes in front of the -ism is what gets put first.
Basically, you can 100% have private businesses under an -ism which largely prioritizes people, not capital. A government will operate utilities, education, healthcare, etc., as well as offer basic services like grocery stores and internet, and private business can handle your fancy bakeries, clothing stores, electronics, instruments, and all that stuff.
If this was the case where we have to adheree strictly to the definition of capitalism then what the US has is no more a capitalistic society than say the Nordic nations. We have a hybrid approach to capitalism in the same way that we have to a democratic Republic and not a democracy. The Nordic nations employ a form of capitalism called welfare capitalism. They have the fallback that OP was asking about and is still capitalism. The US has social programs so therefore is not pure capitalism. Full stop. Why not slide the gradient a little more?
I also "love" the general American attitude - everyone else either works for a living or should starve, but the moment they're hit with unemployment without a safety net, these very people become the "welfare queens" they constantly complain about.
Besides, this isn't 1920 anymore. "Rugged individualism" isn't the goal to live for. We live in a society - shocking, I know! - and this society shall always be built upon kindness and inclusivity and equality. That means no family left to fend for themselves, no children left starving in school, no person left without a roof over their heads... Making food a human right isn't that hard to do, and interestingly it's only the US and Isn'trael who vetoed said UN motion. I mean just consider how much food goes to waste every single day (and I'm not even talking about accidental waste like us ADHD enjoyers do, buying a tray of strawberries only to promptly forget about them and remember only when they've grown a winter fur coat and are ready to leave the fridge), and consider just how many farmers there are out there who would rather let all of that go to waste if they don't get paid for it.
imagine how easy it would be to have all the leftover be bought by the government, and distributed to locations in need. Or how easily the local government (mayoral level) could confiscate housing that should be utilised but is staying empty purely because the landlord is a twat and won't rent it out under market price...
But then again the US government does keep proving that it's mostly thuggish mafia the citizens can't trust, so not really surprised by it. Honestly, the US will greatly benefit from its impending collapse.