Inez Stepman: How Socialism Seduced New Yorkers

Just Asking Questions

Is Zohran Mamdani's success in New York politics the mark of socialist resurgence or just a reflection of a deeply fractured party base? Zach Weissmueller is joined by two very concerned New Yorkers. Our own Liz Wolfe and Inez Stepman, who's a policy analyst at the Independent Women's Forum.

Stepman critiques the ideological cocktail attracting young New Yorkers to socialism. She argues that Mamdani's appeal is more cultural than it is economic, which leads to a discussion of whether libertarianism can actually be effective in combating Mamdani-esque movements.

Mentioned in the podcast:

"HSTPA Impacts Study," by the Real Estate Board of New York

"The Daily Dirt: 5 Questions With Socialist Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani," by Kathryn Brenzel

"The Most Detailed Map of the N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary," by Martín González Gómez, Saurabh Datar, Matthew Bloch, Andrew Fischer, and Jon Huang

Mamdani's homeowner policy memo

Clip from Eric Adams' speech blasting socialism

Mamdani's talk at the 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America Winter Conference

Chapters:

00:00—Podcast theme

00:24—Zohran Mamdani and the new face of the Democratic Socialists

05:12—Class resentment, college debt, and the upper-middle-class left

11:19—How socialism distorts incentives and degrades culture

17:32—The myth of New York's liberal monolith

22:53—Rent freezes, housing politics, and urban affordability myths

30:53—Are YIMBYs being misled by progressive rhetoric?

35:22—The cultural core of Mamdani's politics

41:45—Why Inez Stepman broke with libertarianism

48:54—Policing, public safety, and the stakes of a Mamdani mayoralty

57:58—Mental illness, civil liberties, and involuntary commitment

01:08:00—What Mamdani's rise means beyond New York

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