On Nov. 5, a group of U-High students entered school celebrating a victory that had taken place over 700 miles away. With cheers and smiles, they walked through the hallways, finally feeling a renewed sense of hope. They were celebrating that Zohran Mamdani had been elected New York City mayor with around 50.8% of the vote.
To them, Mr. Mamdani’s victory was the culmination of months of watching online videos they could relate to, hearing policies they appreciated and feeling a renewed sense of hope in a polarizing political environment.
Democratic socialism is a political and economic ideology centered around providing social programs using government money, such as free health care and education. Two members of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, are also members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson identifies as a democratic socialist, as does Illinois state Sen. Robert Peters, whose district covers the south lakefront, including Hyde Park. The Democratic Socialist Caucus of the Chicago City Council has six members.
Over the past year, students have begun to identify with, feel emboldened by, and agree with democratic socialism.
Junior Valkyrie Laurence, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, resonates with the economic aspect of democratic socialism.
She believes that in a democratic socialist system, “people, as long as you’re not a billionaire, get more financial freedom, because now you’re paying less on rent, you’re paying less on education, you’re paying less on healthcare [and] for food.”
Valkyrie appreciated Mr. Mamdani’s consistency and his policies, specifically on wealth redistribution, appealed to her.
“Following Mamdani’s campaign trail is just seeing a guy who’s focused on the issues, continuing to hold the same principles throughout his whole campaign,” Valkyrie said.
History teacher Christine Fojtik has noticed this new attitude as a trend among younger generations.
“I think democratic socialism is maybe more compelling to younger people than it used to be because there’s less historical memory of the Cold War,” Dr. Fojtik said. “Socialism no longer seems like this completely foreign idea. It’s not necessarily associated with this ‘big bad’ Soviet Union.”
Junior Alexander Raudenbush, who identifies as a democratic socialist, followed Mr. Mamdani closely and was surprised by the number of people supporting the candidate and his policies. Seeing someone with similar views to him in terms of policies made Alex feel hope after his disappointment with the election of President Donald Trump.
“I was feeling kind of hopeless, generally, about the political situation because it was right after Trump’s inauguration and the Trump administration was doing all these really bad, unprecedented things,” Alexander said, “and then I think Mamdani’s campaign made me feel much better about American politics.”
Senior Hayla Shah also followed Mamdani’s campaign and strongly agreed with many of his policies.
“I really like that he wants to make the cost of living more affordable by making public transportation free,” Hayla said, “by taxing more of New York’s wealthier residents.”
Valkyrie has noticed that many people have some misconceptions about socialism. She attributes this to the old McCarthyist ideology that permeated American society during the 1950s.
“[There’s] this joke in left-wing spaces, told in the Jeopardy format, ‘What is something that everyone agrees with until you say its name?’ People say socialism,” Valkyrie said. “That’s the joke, it’s that socialism in general, and that democratic socialism here, has policies that are just generally agreeable to everyone unless you’re a billionaire.”
Anti-socialist rhetoric isn’t just a thing of the past. As recently as Oct. 24, a bill denouncing socialism passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Valkyrie thinks, despite her happiness at Mr. Mamdani’s election, that electoral politics aren’t necessary to reach the goals of democratic socialism; instead, people who believe in the ideology can use volunteering to support communities in need.
Valkyrie said, “Ultimately, [democratic socialism is] volunteering with organizations that help people, because that’s kind of what it boils down to, is helping people who need help.”
