Mamdani Leads Young Workers into Capitalist Trap here ♦ Letter: History is on our Side here ♦
Social-Democrat Mamdani Leads Angry Young Workers into Capitalist Trap
NOTE: This article was originally published in Red Flag, Volume 16 #10, July 2025
LOS ANGELES (USA), July 2— “Good news from New York,” said a Los Angeles bus operator while taking Red Flag.
He referred to Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Mandani, 33, is a Social Democrat like Sanders and Ocasio Cortez. He defeated the “establishment” Democrat Cuomo.
Social Democratic parties include the African National Congress (South Africa) and MoReNa (Mexico). They are all capitalist parties.
“Maybe not so good,” a comrade answered the bus operator. “Mamdani is rounding up a lot of angry young adults into the Democratic Party.”
That includes some Red Flag readers we hope to recruit to ICWP.
“My friend told me Mamdani seems like he is for the people, and young, which is a change she feels is needed in leadership roles,” reported a young comrade.
“A younger person said Mamdani was better than Cuomo but agreed that the changes he advocates are small and local,” said another comrade. “I said all the budget will go for war preparations. They replied that ‘Everyone is really worried about world war.’ They said that Trump is attacking Mamdani. I said the media makes that the main story to divert us.”
“His program is different,” said another activist. “He knows he might not be able to get it all done, but at least he’s trying. And he’s getting a lot of support.”
Young Workers Want to Make a Difference
A friend likes Mamdani’s program but suspects he will sell out to the mainstream Democratic Party.
“We can’t vote ourselves a revolution,” a comrade said.
“That’s true,” replied the friend. “But Mamdani’s victory shows there is a lot of potential for us to run and win in local elections. We can make a difference that way.”
People want to make a difference. But not that way. We are in a global capitalist crisis. The world is hurtling into intensifying fascism and broadening wars.
It’s critical to understand that “government” is the political dimension of capitalist class dictatorship. Workers can’t take it over. Reforms won’t end war and fascism.
We make a real difference with small steps to build the International Communist Workers’ Party into a force that can overthrow the capitalist dictatorship through armed struggle. Wherever we can, whenever we can.
That includes reading, sharing, and discussing the communist ideas in Red Flag. Bringing them to workers, youth, and especially soldiers and sailors who are key to revolution. Joining and building ICWP collectives.
“Mamdani’s politics are performative,” said a comrade in South Africa. “He portrays himself as a working-class immigrant who is fighting the system when he is part of the system. He seeks not to address the fundamental contradictions of capitalism. He instead thinks he can reform it.
“The danger is,” the comrade continued, “that to the US masses, when his reforms fail, they will be viewed as failures of ‘communism,’ which it is not.”
Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism
“This isn’t a purely capitalist country,” said the bus operator. “There are aspects of socialism already.”
“Socialism and capitalism are more alike than different,” the comrade responded. “Communism will be different. Mamdani wants government grocery stores. In communism, nobody will pay for food. Workers won’t need wages. Everything will be provided according to need. Mamdani wants rent control, but in communism there won’t be rent.
As the worker left, he said, “My girlfriend and I are discussing how bad things have to get here before we move to another country.”
“How bad do things have to get before you become revolutionary communists,” the comrade countered.
“Do you really think people can change?” he asked.
“People are contradictory,” I said. “Some love Trump but fear for their health care. The balance can shift. So yes, I do think people can change.”
Letter: History is on our side!
NOTE: From Red Flag Volume 16, Number 11, August 2025
This is about Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York City Mayor. The article in the last Red Flag should have made it clearer that trying to elect “progressive” candidates is a dangerous diversion. It will not only divert the masses from the fight for communist revolution but will deliver them into fascism and genocidal World War III.
Red Flag promotes articles based on what friends say about a subject. But I think the party needs to give more leadership to the discussion, to show clearly what the stakes and solution are. And how to get there.
Mamdani was elected in 2020 as a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. He is a Social Democrat, like Bernie Sanders and Ocasio Cortez, who endorsed him. He has actively supported Democratic Party candidates for years. These politicians are not radicals or revolutionaries. They are part of the “loyal opposition” within the US Congress and Democratic Party.
They support capitalism (a brand they call Democratic Socialism, which includes wage slavery with the State as the boss) and imperialism. State capitalism was used in Nazi Germany also. They oppose revolution and communism.
During the Weimar Republic in Germany (1919-1933), as the Nazis were building up strength in the midst of a worldwide capitalist crisis and preparations for World War II, the Social Democrats opposed and even “outed” communist workers who advocated crushing fascism with revolution. They were the “loyal” opposition.
Some Communists, like R. Palme Dutt, leader of the UK Communist Party, called them “Social fascists.” They paved the way for fascist dictatorships, like Hitler.
We should see Mamdani’s candidacy in the context of the current crisis and expanding World War III, as the Red Flag article mentioned. He says he opposes the genocide in Gaza, but his candidacy is about fixing subways.
The US rulers don’t have the patriotic workers, youth, and soldiers they need — yet. They need politicians like Mamdani and Gavin Newsom to motivate masses to support their system. They are desperate to turn youth and workers — angry at genocide, imperialism, and anti-immigrant racism – into supporters and reformers of capitalism.
When Obama ran for President, we warned friends about him. Some sharply disagreed, then later thanked us for the warning.
Promises like fixing the subways and rent control will go out the window in the rulers’ war budget. The rulers are desperate to build weapons to compete with and wage war against China. They will attack the working class harder, no matter who is in office.
Red Flag has a vital role to play to win youth and workers worldwide to see that voting and reform won’t end the bosses’ fascism and war. That these are dangerous illusions. With comradely struggle, they’ll see that capitalism—in all its forms—is our mortal enemy.
We need to build a mass International Communist Workers’ Party among youth, students, workers, and soldiers everywhere. Our fight is for communism, nothing less. Only communism will end wage slavery, racism, borders, imperialist war, and genocide.
—A Comrade
ICWP Manifesto Mobilize the Masses for Communism here