With each passing election, the socialist surge is rising. Bernie Sanders-backed Abdul El-Sayed won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, defeating a well-funded establishment candidate. In Wisconsin, Francesca Hong â a democratic socialist who once called for canceling Thanksgiving â came within 3,000 votes of winning her state’s gubernatorial primary. The DSA darling Zohran Mamdani is already the mayor of Americas largest city.
Some argue that socialism has hit its high-water mark and is losing momentum. Count me skeptical. Socialism is gaining ground because, for too many, capitalism has become a spectator sport. The biggest reason more voters support state ownership is that fewer people are owners themselves.
Consider the numbers. The national homeownership rate sits at 65% â down from a peak of 69.2% in 2004 and below the 25-year average. Among Americans under 35, it has fallen to just 35.2%, down more than a percentage point from a year ago. The generational gap is stark: Just 57% of Americans in their mid-30s own homes today compared to 64% of their parents’ generation at the same age. With the 30-year mortgage rate recently climbing 6.69%, the homeownership rate is not about to improve anytime soon.
BILLIONS SPENT BY KEY FEDERAL AGENCY HASN’T MADE AMERICAN DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP ANY EASIER: REPORT
The picture is similar in financial markets. Sixty-two percent of Americans own stock â but that number conceals the real story. Only 28% of households earning under $50,000 own any stock at all, for those with only a high school education or less, it’s 42%, and for those 18 to 29, its 44%.
Declining ownership rates create a perfect opportunity for the far left. People with property dont like the government taking it. People without ownership see government-sponsored theft as more acceptable. Because its not state ownership that invigorates voters, but the promise that they too can share in the wealth of society.
THE NUMBERS DONT LIE. YOUNG AMERICANS ARE FALLING IN LOVE ⦠WITH SOCIALISM
This puts into perspective policies like Mamdanis rent freeze â a false antidote to the difficulty of owning a home in New York. Rent freezes promise that people can stay in their apartments and the market cannot move them out. Likewise, when Sanders touts legislation to give the government a 50% stake in AI companies, it makes people feel like they have a stake in Americas biggest companies even if they dont actually own a single stock.
Yet these policies attempt to address symptoms while worsening the disease. A rent freeze may let you stay in an apartment owned by somebody else, but it proactively prevents actual ownership by reducing supply, degrading building quality, and making conditions worse. And a government stake in AI companies may well flood the coffers of the IRS. But that does nothing to give actual people a stake in the success of high-growth companies.
EL-SAYED REVEALS HE WOULD GO STEP FURTHER THAN SANDERS ON SOCIALIST PLAN FOR MAJOR US INDUSTRY
Still, however true these arguments are, they arent persuading voters. The most effective answe
