Gen Z has been failed by a big government system that calls itself capitalist, but functions like socialism-lite — which is why conservatives must offer a spiritual and material alternative that gives young people a home to own, a family to love, and a purpose to live and die for.
Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani will take office on January 1 as the new mayor of New York City. What have we learned so far? Did socialism win, or did capitalism lose?
The election of the 33-year-old Mamdani represents the greatest electoral triumph for the Democratic Socialists of America in that organization’s history. In his victory speech, Mamdani declared, “We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for government to care about.”
In the words of Rush Limbaugh, let me just say: “I hope he fails.” The growing danger isn’t that socialism will succeed — it’s to what lengths politicians will go to prove their thesis is true. Socialism won’t succeed, but it will burn everything down trying to succeed.
Greater than 60 percent of Americans under 30 find socialism favorable. Greater than 67 percent of Democrats approve of socialist policies. Most Americans don’t consider themselves to be socialist, but many want free healthcare, free tuition, and stimulus checks. There’s almost zero economic literacy in our education system today, and that’s by design.
Meanwhile, a debate has emerged among some conservatives: Does America need a Machiavellian prince wielding political power? Or does America need a spiritual awakening above all else?
How should Christians think about the growing threat of socialism? Consider these four points:
First, if history has taught us anything, revolutions are fought and won by the fools, not the philosophers.
The French Revolution wasn’t driven by philosophers — it was driven by starving peasants who couldn’t afford bread. The Russian Revolution wasn’t led by Marx or Engels — it was fueled by Lenin mobilizing desperate Bolsheviks exhausted from World War I against a corrupt government. The Chinese Revolution wasn’t about Mao’s sophisticated theory — it was about farmers snapping back against an imperial government that allowed foreign powers to carve China into pieces.
Most fighters in these humanist revolutions couldn’t read. They didn’t know truth from error. That’s what made them useful. They weren’t convinced by better arguments; they were mobilized by hunger and hatred. Revolutionary leaders gave them two things: a common enemy and a way to find bread.
Make no mistake: 100 million people died in the name of communism and socialism. But those who spilled their blood were fools and useful idiots hoodwinked by charlatans and false prophets in the name of revolution. Every socialist utopia has ended in flames and has always been a dress rehearsal for hell.
Second, we must understand that the attraction to socialism is not philosophical; it’s rooted in material grievances.
Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders aren’t rising because young people read Das Capital. They’re rising because 20-somethings working two jobs in New York still can’t make rent. Mamdani won because Gen Z looks at the current system and says it’s not working for them. Their observation isn’t completely wrong, but their solution is.
If Donald Trump is the tourniquet against big government bleeding, then socialism is assisted suicide. Conservatives should not quickly dismiss the grievances that young people share. If these are left unaddressed, we will most assuredly hand future victory over to socialism.
Third, we must recognize the material reality: America’s economic system hasn’t functioned as a true free market in quite some time.
The U.S. government spends more money annually than the Chinese Communist Party, both in total spend and per capita spending. Healthcare, education, energy, communications, and transportation are heavily regulated by the government and hardly examples of free market enterprise at work.
Major turning points in the 20th century moved America slowly away from capitalism and decentralization: the Federal Reserve and income tax (1913-1915), the New Deal (1930s), the Great Society (1960s), abandoning the gold standard (1971), and the introduction of Obamacare (2010). Each step grew government regulation, power, and oversight and further centralized our economy away from a market-capitalist system, enriching politicians with power and oligarchs with wealth. It made conditions worse for average, middle-class Americans.
Since 1971, the dollar has lost over 90 percent of its value. The median home price in 1981 was $69,000 ($238,000 in today’s dollars). The actual median price today is $415,200, or 74 percent higher than it should be. The average first-time homebuyer today is 38 years old; in 1981, that age was 29.
That nine-year difference represents dreams deferred and futures stolen.
Young people correctly see breaks in our system. They incorrectly blame capitalism, but what they’re experiencing isn’t capitalism’s failure — it’s socialism’s creep through government interference.
Fourth, America’s protective firewalls have been systematically dismantled.
For generations, America had protections against socialism: the Church, the family, and Christian education. These taught virtue, personal responsibility, and the dignity of work.
For over 60 years, these institutions have been deliberately weakened. The Church has been marginalized. The family has been devastated by no-fault divorce and welfare policies that penalize marriage and fathers who take responsibility. Christian education has been replaced by secular progressivism teaching anti-American revisionism and Marxist theories.
Our economy, which easily proved the merits of market-based capitalism and prosperity, has been so corrupted by government intervention that young people only see cronyism, bailouts for the connected, and barriers to entry. They don’t see free-market capitalism nor do they understand its value or rewards.
So what do we do?
Christians must reject the false choice between material and spiritual solutions. We need both. Jesus gave us both. He preached the Gospel and fed the hungry, healed the sick, and clothed the poor.
We don’t need a Machiavellian prince wielding tyranny. The American Revolution was fought against kings and despots over the proper ordering of liberty. We won that argument then; we shouldn’t lose it now.
We must speak truth about socialism’s record. We must enact policies that enable hard work and its fruit, as well as marriage and its fruit. Cut regulation, cut government spending, cut the Fed’s money laundering.
We must strengthen families, churches, Christian education, and small businesses. We must offer a better vision. Young people need something to love, to own, to live for, to fight for, and to die for. Christianity provides that. It even makes the conditions for a market economy to thrive with private ownership of property, the dignity of work, and personal responsibility.
The Gospel offers forgiveness, purpose, community, and eternal life. It offers the only framework by which human flourishing is possible, both here and now.
Do not be fooled about what this election taught us. Mamdani won because he offered a vision. It was a false vision, but a vision nonetheless. Conservatives must offer a solutions-based alternative that works. When something works, it’s the most compelling argument against the lies that don’t.
The youngest generation has been failed by a big government system that calls itself capitalist but functions like socialism lite. It’s high time we fix that if we are going to conserve anything.
By God’s grace, we will. So speak up. Don’t be silent. Stand firm. Don’t be cowardly. And above all, don’t be fooled.
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