The Democrat Party just told you exactly what it wants.
Now New York City is building it – government grocery stores, socialist mayor, and $70 million of your tax money.
And the number that just came out of a brand new poll should terrify every American who remembers what socialism actually produces.
Democrats Choose Socialism in Black and White
A CBS News/YouGov poll released this week surveyed 2,287 American adults and found that 58 percent of Democrats hold a positive view of socialism.
Only 32 percent have a positive view of capitalism.
That's a 26-point gap – in favor of the economic system that turned Venezuela into a starvation zone.
It gets worse.
Fifty percent of Democrats view capitalism negatively.
Half the party looks at the engine that built American prosperity and says no thank you.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2089290792472887459?s=20
This isn't a fluke.
Gallup has been tracking this for fifteen years. Back in 2010, Democrats viewed both systems roughly the same.
Then Bernie Sanders happened.
Then AOC happened.
Then the party spent a decade telling young Americans that capitalism is racist and socialism is compassion – and now they've got exactly the voters they deserve.
The same poll found that 62 percent of Democrats would vote for a self-described "Democratic Socialist" candidate.
New York City Is Already Running the Experiment
You don't have to imagine what Democratic socialism looks like in practice.
New York City is already building it.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani – the self-described Democratic socialist who won New York City's mayoral race last year – just announced the city will open five government-owned grocery stores by 2030.
The first one opens in the South Bronx next year.
The city has set aside $70 million for the project. Mamdani's plan promises prices locked at 30 percent below retail – permanently, with no exceptions.
Daniel Di Martino, a Venezuelan-born economist at the Manhattan Institute, called it exactly what it is: these stores will fail "like every other socialist experiment."
Di Martino noted that within a mile of the planned East Harlem location, there is already an Aldi, a Costco, and at least three other grocery stores.
https://twitter.com/CBSNewsPoll/status/2088975919968841914?s=20
The government store won't fill the gap.
It will just compete – with taxpayer money – against private businesses already operating on margins thinner than a deli receipt.
"If they actually open, they're going to take business away from private businesses," Di Martino said. "So the real cost to the city is going to be even higher."
When CNN pressed Mamdani about a failed government grocery store in Kansas City that closed due to empty shelves and crime, he said he was "committed" to proving the idea works because he believes it will.
That's not a plan.
That's a faith statement.
And faith-based economics has a name – it's called socialism.
This Is Not a Fringe Position Anymore
This isn't Bernie Sanders dragging reluctant moderates leftward.
The Democrat base now wants this.
AOC is the frontrunner for the 2028 Democrat presidential nomination.
The Democratic Socialists of America are treating her potential run like a coronation.
Their convention this summer had one message plastered everywhere: DSA for AOC.
For years, Democrats ran from the socialism label.
Michael Dukakis would have choked on it.
Bill Clinton spent his entire career positioning against it.
Even Barack Obama was careful to frame every expansion of government in the language of markets and opportunity.
That era is over.
https://twitter.com/MDBayNews/status/2089096877358666013?s=20
Sixty-two percent of Democrats will vote for a self-declared socialist.
The number isn't going down.
What Happens When the Experiment Runs
The poll's overall numbers still show capitalism winning nationally – 46 percent positive versus 35 percent for socialism.
But that national number is propped up by Republicans and independents.
Democrats are moving in one direction.
And they're not quiet about it.
The same ideology that has government grocery stores planned for the Bronx also has proposals for government-run healthcare, rent freezes, and expanded federal control over – well, everything.
Mamdani didn't stop at groceries.
He's also pushing free buses, higher corporate taxes, and a sweeping police overhaul that sidelines the NYPD.
Every socialist experiment in history – Cuba, Venezuela, the Soviet Union – promised the same things.
Lower prices. More fairness. Government as a force for good.
Bernie Sanders himself had to stand on a debate stage and explain why his socialism was different from Maduro's.
It never is.
The 58 percent of Democrats who prefer socialism aren't evil people.
Most of them have just never lived in a country where it won.
Daniel Di Martino has.
He grew up in Venezuela.
He watched government grocery stores get announced with fanfare before the shelves went empty.
He's warning you.
The poll is warning you.
New York City is showing you in real time.
You already knew this was coming.
The only people surprised are the ones who weren't paying attention.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Weibel, "Poll: 58 Percent of Democrats Hold Positive View of Socialism over Capitalism," Breitbart, August 16, 2026.
- "Image of Capitalism Slips to 54% in U.S.," Gallup, August 2025.
- "Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Stores Will Fail 'Like Every Socialist Experiment': Economist," Fox News, April 2026.
- "Mamdani Announces Plans to Subsidize Food with City-Owned Grocery Stores," Washington Times, July 27, 2026.
- "Mamdani Confronted on Failed City-Run Grocery Store Attempt in Kansas City," Fox News, September 2025.