Below is my column in The Hill on the rise of American armchair revolutionaries, particularly among young, affluent college graduates. It is part of the “radical chic” fostered from higher education to Hollywood for citizens who have no memory of the failures of socialism and communism in the 20th Century.
Here is the column:
During the Cold War, Soviet communists reportedly referred to American liberals as “useful idiots.” Although the origin of the quote has been challenged (and attributed to both Lenin and Stalin), it captured many of the adherents of communism after World War II. From higher education to Hollywood, dilettantes on the left embraced Marxism with little real understanding of the philosophy or its implications.
We are now seeing the rise of a new generation of armchair revolutionaries who are calling for everything from the overthrow of the U.S. government to the seizure of factories and homes.
Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani personifies this new movement of young people lacking any memory of the failure of socialist and communist systems in the 20th Century.
Mamdani is perfect for this rising movement of Latte Leninists and trust-fund baby Trotskyites. The privileged son of a radical Columbia professor and a Hollywood producer, Mamdani went to the elite Bowdoin College, which charges over $70,000 annually in tuition. He is part of the “radical chic” of American higher education, where extreme views are fully mainstream.
Mamdani shows the appeal of mouthing Marxist manifestos as manifest truths. It is Marxism-lite — promises of everything from rent control to making “Halal eight bucks again.”
In one speech before the Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, Mamdani even stated matter-of-factly how one of the goals is to “seize the means of production” in America.
“Right now, if we’re talking about the cancellation of student debt, if we’re talking about Medicare for all, you know, these are issues which have the groundswell of popular support across this country,” he said. “But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it’s [boycott-divestment-sanctions against Israel] or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment.”
Mamdani offers few details of what it would mean to seize all industry in this country or how such a system would work in the United States after failing in literally every nation where it has been attempted.
He has also called for the seizure of unoccupied luxury condos in New York to turn over to the homeless. With pledges of state-run grocery stores and other proposals, many are thrilled by the prospect of Marxism coming to America.
Polls show increasing support among young people for socialism and even communism. That is reflected in the New York primary, where Mamdani received significant support from wealthy and young college-educated voters.
Like Mamdani, these young voters have no inkling of what life was like under socialist and communist governments. They were not alive when radical shifts to socialism in Great Britain and France destroyed their economies and had to be reversed. They did not see the collapse of the Soviet Union or the move toward capitalism by China to avoid economic meltdowns.
Yet, as Mamdani stated, the radical left has to wait to seize such powers until it has “the same level of support at this very moment.” Unfortunately, socialist programs can produce the very dire conditions that lead to even greater consolidation of state controls and power.
Notably, most of Mamdani’s proposals would violate the Constitution or bankrupt the city. For example, efforts to seize multimillion-dollar luxury condos would constitute unconstitutional takings unless he was prepared to buy the units at their market value — a virtually impossible proposition.
Such considerations are rarely raised, let alone resolved, in radical conferences. Earlier this month, University of Minnesota liberal arts professor Melanie Yazzie joined others for a “teach-in” in which she delighted the audience with calls for the overthrow of the country by “people who come from nations who are under occupation by the United States government.”
She added, “it’s our responsibility as people who are within the United States to go as hard as possible to decolonize this place because that will reverberate all across the world. Because the U.S. is the greatest predator empire that has ever existed.”
That includes forcing “[the] U.S. out of everywhere,” including “Turtle Island” (the Native American name used to describe North America). Yazzie insisted that “the goal is to dismantle the settler project that is the United States for the freedom and the future of all life on this planet. It very much depends on that.”
Yazzie is an example of how most faculties in this country now run from the left to the far left. Applicants who espouse center-right viewpoints are often rejected as lacking “intellectual rigor” or depth. However, you cannot be too far left to secure a position in many departments that do not have a single Republican or conservative.
Take University of Chicago Assistant Professor Eman Abdelhadi, who used her recent appearance at the Socialism 2025 conference to denounce the University of Chicago as an “evil” and “colonialist” institution. Nevertheless, she insisted that she wanted to remain at the evil institution — not for its intellectual community, but to “organize” and “leverage” to build a political coalition.
Keep in mind that the faculty not only decided that Abdelhadi was worthy of a faculty position in the university’s Department of Comparative Human Development, but then also made her the Director of Graduate Studies.
For some, the calls of professors like Yazzie to “dismantle” the U.S. constitute the ultimate virtue signal. Like demands to seize factories and homes, the willingness to burn down the system is a cheap and easy way to establish your bona fides as one of the enlightened — something to brag about with your other 20-something fellow travelers as you order your $7 latte on the way to your Hyrox workout.
Lenin once mocked many in the West as idiots who would “transform themselves into men who are deaf, dumb and blind [and] toil to prepare their own suicide.” What he never imagined was how some would still be transforming themselves decades after the revolution failed.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the best-selling author of “The Indispensable Right.”
Pop quiz. What are the differences between Latte Leninism, Mocha Marxism, and Cappuccino Communism?
*. A few sycles and hammers?
I thought it might be the degree to which the system roasts the (human) beans, and/or the amount of froth produced (sorry)
Great piece, and something some of us have been crowing about for years in regard to the demographic in question. Now that it’s bearing very real world consequences few can ignore, hopefully we can continue to turn the tide against this lethal ignorance.
James,
Well said.
We can look at various Democrat ran cities and the failed state of CA for their disastrous policies that have lead to their failures. Now, if Mamdani does win the election and enacts his “social Democrat” policies and we see what a disaster that becomes, it sends a warning to everyone else. Just another Democrat failure. Perhaps on a even epic scale.
I’m fine with that, but NO bail out for NY when the bottom falls out.
DustOff,
Agreed!
Although I would not put it past the NY governor to pass some kind of tax to bail out the city.
*. Privately owned v. Publicly owned. Everything on wall street is?
Is Mom’s peach orchard private or public? Pop owns another contiguous orchard. They both sell to Auntie’s retail market.
It’s BS.
*. A hard look at import exports is due.
What’s Mamdanis retirement package? Seize distribution.
Did you catch that date? July 11, 2025? The day the trump administration became the deep state.
Are you happy with your pdeophile president?
@Baby
Yes, quite happy, thanks.
Nope…. try again baby
Thank you for your affirmative answer to your happiness with your pedophile president.
For years he ranted about the Epstein files protecting democrats. Now that he is in charge he ides the files. Why?
Anything that triggers your TDS is a win!
https://substack.com/redirect/c7d95cb5-526e-4df6-a7da-d8f67702050d?j=eyJ1IjoiMTByZzFhIn0.9MRA4Dr7PTo7Ggvu5ilkk7uXNPN8SWv54BmPsYhZD98
No big deal. Mamdani is simply saying out loud what the Democrats have said since Franklin Roosevelt sent a task force to Russia to study the new Stalin administration. If you want to know more read “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes. The task force gave Roosevelt a glowing report about the new Marxist form of government and Roosevelt implemented many of their recommendations during his sixteen years (four terms) in office. The modern Democratic Party thinks and acts in the same way but unlike Mamdani they just kept it all under their breath. Today’s students don’t know about the ravages of Communism because the leftist in education have erased the results of Communism from the textbooks and instead have emphasized the evils of colonization. Just one generation of indoctrination in the schools is all it has taken to move them closer to the planned centralized control. They love the people so much that they want to save them from themselves and stop them from saying things that will hurt the collective. They have said that even violence is acceptable in the cause. Stalin said the exact same words. Be not fooled.
“. . . erased the results of Communism from the textbooks . . .”
I used to ask senior history *majors* at the university what they knew about various important historical periods. The overwhelming response was the Gen Z stare. On the very rare occasions the student did know something about those periods, I asked: “How did you learn that?” “I went to the library and researched it on my own.”
They graduated as history *majors* knowing everything about the “evil” practices of whaling in the 19th century. And nothing about the sweep of American history or about the barbaric practices of communism.
It was depressing.
This is actually nothing new, they’re just more open about it. Marxism dates back to the 1840s in Germany and came to the United States by 1850. The founders of the Republican Party were connected to Marx – Horace Greely published his writings and he communicated with Abe Lincoln. Marxist ideas became popular with Democrats in the 1930s and the party went full-scale Marxist/Communist in the 1960s. They’re just being more open about it now.
@Anonymous
I would concur.
What IS new are the levels of wealth and/or entitlement, the more or less full capture of our universities, and modern technology. It is both much more corrosive and pervasive in that sense; it’s how certain generations across continents all sound like they came from the same factory.
If you want to know why this happened to a couple of generations of young people, read “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America” by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt; there are also some interview videos on YouTube. Iserbyt literally tried to warned everyone in the late 1990’s about the negative side effects of the consolidation of schools and the centralizing of education within government bureaucracies and people tarred her as a lunatic conspiracy theorist. She wasn’t so crazy after all.
No she wasn’t and we need to bring back the requirement of passing a civics test before you’re handed a high school diploma or a GED. It’s easy to brainwash people who have no idea of how the govt is supposed to work.
BTeboe: What are you talking about?
Excellent point.
“…why this happened to a couple of generations of young people…”
I learned something related to this the other day that I was shocked not to have known all along: that the National Education Association was originally established (chartered) by the Federal government. I knew full well of its insidious, negative, impact on education outcomes, but had no clue as to its origins. WTF business has Fedgov in establishing any union, let alone one for teachers? Did I somehow miss this on my own from sheer cluelessness, or has it been insufficiently publicized in the past?
GOP lawmakers seek to revoke charter for major teachers union over concerns of its priorities
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/lawmakers-seek-revoke-charter-major-teachers-union
“After Congress established the NEA in 1906, the goal was for it to support America’s teachers and strengthen its schools.”
Capitalism is hollowing out the human soul. Marx understood this to be alienation. The new adherents to “socialism” are infantile children who have no awareness that they are but tools of capitalist expansion. The re-branding of the Democratic Party as “the left” readily demonstrates that left is the new right (something I posited over fifteen years ago). The metastasization of leftoid justicespeak has no rational connection to the power of the working class, except perhaps a negative one. Elites can don any political mask which suits them at a given moment in history.
Good comment Horn buckle. Consumerism -what is that called? Marginal returns?
A loaf of bread to a starving person brings more happiness than the 25 loaf to a well fed person? It’s like the dishwasher I want. It’d bring me a lot of happiness. (Anecdotal?)
Marxism has an appeal b/c it is a power philosophy for elites that tells them they can exercise absolute power, unconstrained by law, custom, morality or ethics, because all of those restraining institutions are products of colonialism or racism or some other unjust and therefore invalidating form of historical oppression.
The very idea of Marxism, Socialism, Islamicism (Sharia), or Communism should be treated the same as all forms of child abuse/exploitation. There is no version, moderation, light form of any of them that should be considered anywhere, especially in our country.
A former professor of economics described Mamdani’s views as reminding him of a first year economics student who thinks we should redistribute and give things away for free, while not realizing who produced those goods and services. Give them away and the production of those things ends… that is the conundrum of socialism / communism.
I say all these STUPID SOCIALISTS think Socialism is so great go and actually live in a Socialist country for a minimum of 6-12 months, for a tough reality check.
@aieanintgekitchen
Me too. Air drop them into the middle of Cambodia or North Korea with no phones, cash, ID, or credit cards and let’s see how it goes.
@ajeanneinthekitchen
Sorry for the typos in your handle.
Or Cuba, or Venezuela. I totally agree. I bet they will be crying to come home, back to the USA, real soon.
” Air drop them into the middle of Cambodia or North Korea…”
Parachutes optional, so far as I am concerned.
There are millions of Americans, including my wife, who grew up in Communist countries. They need to be tapped as a resource to educate our young people about the horrors of Communism and the utter failure of Marxist economics.
I totally agree!
I loved the “Mamdani is perfect for this rising movement of Latte Leninists and trust-fund baby Trotskyites.” I’ve noticed that past “revolutionaries” were among the educated “elites” who chafed at their not being the “leaders” or “in charge.” But without any real accomplishments until they end up replacing what existed before with something that was much worse. By then, no one else wanted to admit they made a mistake!
Tighty whiteys can cause chafing.
People have right to dispose of their money however they want, leaving a big inheritance to their pet gerbil while people starve, so why not let them dispose of their country, too?
Stating that “enough is enough,” on Friday Donald J. Trump signed an executive order banning the use of the word “Epstein.”
Although he provided few details as to how the order would be enforced, Trump hinted that anyone found using the word “Epstein” could be deported to South Sudan.
“We’re looking into that very strongly,” he said.
“Epstein” was just one of over a hundred words banned by the executive order, including “inflation,” “dementia,” and “moron.”
I’m sure this seemed witty to you when you copied it.
If the sentiment we are seeing from actual businesses who produce real economic growth, up and leave as they say they will, the price of that $7 latte just might fall to zero. As in, there is no coffee shops. They all left.
With Cuomo running as an Independent, Adams too, looks like a three way race. Mamdani just might win. If he does, sit back and watch what he does. Does he follow through with his Marxism? Or does he become just another politician?
*. Sitting back? He says, seize production? By whom? Of what? By whom are retailers. Of what is food.
There are many econ models in the US. What is concerning is his seize joined with intifada. The econ model he’s proposing is already up and running. It may look like mom and pop small business but it isn’t.
The US had an abundance of food set at prices the poor could afford. HAD
We’re exporting beef to Mexico? Why when beef prices are so high within the US. Exports are based on glut when us mkts are saturated and prices low.
Tragic and Mamdani is a dangerous hack but there are those who aren’t hacks.
*. He’s another colonizer bringing with him their bad ideas incapable of assimilation. Mahmoud Mamdani his precursor and intifada is teaching at Columbia University for a laugh. American children like to annoy their parents.
Same old thing.
Almost everything mentioned today in the comments section was basically taught to American Students from the late 1940’s thru to the 1990’s. Using as an example my own history and my children’s teachings in elementery and high school and then it ceased in large parts of the country. But not everywhere. There is a core that still taught the older virtues. Also remember that young people in college will either follow the pied piper of leftist ideology without thinking and then there are those who rebel from those teachings and go into the opposite direction. The elitism and snobbery and disdain of many professors is a turnoff to many students.
There were the anti-war students of Viet-Nam (supported by the USSR) but there was an even larger group who were quiet but opposed to the protesters. There is always a counter group. We must support them and give them a voice.
New York has ruined itself before as I remember, a bailout of a bankrupt city.
The Nation often turned around the axis of New York City but that is not the reality of today. Just like we have a multipolar world the US is Multipolar and the people and businesses of NY and New York City have many other places to flee to which are just as good, less expensive and economically sound.
If NYC want’s to burn itself down, I would be happy to offer them a match. Then we can bulldoze the rubble into the water, reclaim some land and build something useful.
GEB. I have some spare gas if needed,
if they take over better be red than dead off with their heads
If radical Islam is the assassin, radical chic will still be the poison. Politics makes for weird bedfellows.
Professor Turley writes, “Yet, as Mamdani stated, the radical left has to wait to seize such powers until it has ‘the same level of support at this very moment’… Notably, most of Mamdani’s proposals would violate the Constitution or bankrupt the city.'”
That’s the heart of their strategy. Let the courts shootdown socialism so that socialists can claim, “Socialism didn’t fail because real socialism has never been tried. Vote for us, and we’ll free you from the racist courts.” Then once they have the votes to pack the Supreme Court, they’ll kill the filibuster, pass amnesty, and create new voter laws. At that point, they can jail anybody who points out the inevitable problems.
This won’t create paradise. It will prove a recipe for civil war. Mamdani is getting too much benefit of the doubt; he’s a jihadist as much as anything. Insidious as heck, but so far succeeding in America’s political nuthouse.
True that, Diogenes. The Germans also gave someone the benefit of the doubt when Hindenburg named him chancellor in January 1933. That didn’t work out so good.
Diogenes,
I have been pondering on your comment while stacking a cord of fire wood.
I could actually see your premise come to pass. I would only add that it might be activist judges who actively participate in the advancement of socialism. Then, the socialists could claim there is a free and fair judiciary. As long as you are a Socialist Democrat.
In the past, I have stated that the idea of a civil war is frighting and should be avoided at all costs.
However, in the case of socialism taking over America, it may be necessary.
Yep, can’t just throw them out . Be sure the fight is fair.
They’ve never known the USA.
*. All of this colonizing just to delete Israel. Talk about OCD….
As a senior citizen, I am not so worried about my future but our grandchildren and great grandchildren! How can this be happening in our country. I guess the midterms will tell us how far we have sunk.
There is no Democrat party. Better than 2 decades ago it was infiltrated by Marxist with the aim of a takeover. Fast forward to today the “Democrat” party refuses to denounce Madmani as a Marxist and not a Democrat. No one to the best of knowledge has reminded Americans that Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. Has anyone from the party stepped up and stated the “Democrat” party will never embrace socialism, Marxism or communism? There is no Democrat party.
“There is no Democrat party. Better than 2 decades ago it was infiltrated by Marxist ”
2 decades? Lyndon Johnson became President 62 years ago, FDR, nearly a century (92 years). Both embraced fundamentally Marxist ideals in their administrations.