A note on Gen-Z socialism and its creeds

“I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country.”

Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York

Above all, it was Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973), F. A. von Hayek (1899–1992), and Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883–1950) who, among other things, forcefully demonstrated that Democratic Socialism is little more than a gradual introduction of Socialism in doses compatible with democracy and often barely perceptible. Democratic Socialism, on the whole, stands for politically calculated, seductively packaged, and often semantically veiled state interventions in the markets and in the daily lives of citizens and is often referred to as “piecemeal social engineering” (Karl R. Popper). In other words, it is a strategic and destructive ideology that favors small steps over a sudden transformation of socioeconomic systems and targets the very core of the free social and economic order.

And yet it is hard to deny that Democratic Socialism, despite its theoretical flaws, its disastrous track record, and all its modern, evocative labels and veiled facets—reappears almost cyclically and regrettably triggers fashionable trends and fads. The current popularity of Gen-Z Socialism in most Western countries is no exception.

In general, Gen-Z Socialists were predominately born between the 1990s and around 2012 and advocate a socialist, redistribution-oriented economic policy, that is ‘socially just’ and often motivated by stark frustration over market failures, housing costs, inflation, or income inequality. The majority of Generation-Z experienced a number of political and economic crises in their youth. There were several crises from the so-called “dot-com bubble” of the early 2000s and the global financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath. Gen-Z Socialists also witnessed the Euro crisis and the unpredictable policies dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that arbitrarily restricted our individual freedoms and brought parts of the global economy to a standstill. Despite their untenable lack of historical knowledge and complete ignorance of the facts and actual causes of these crises, plain and simple most of them condemn the free market economy and blame its liberal social order for these problems.

Thus it is hardly surprising that nearly one third of Americans under 30 consider the idea of Democratic Socialism as a viable and attractive option, and even seem to prefer the ideology and system of Communism over an “unbridled capitalism.” Polls in the UK show that nearly 50% of Gen-Z currently also hold a positive view of Socialism in all its dazzling shapes. The figures in EU countries are similar, and most of Gen-Z members not only (rightly so ) distrust traditional party moderation and older political leadership. Often accompanied by sharp criticism of Israel’s brutal and unforgiving war in the Gaza Strip, they also view the institutions of the free-market system and democracy failing. Rather than advocating an old-style authoritarian planned economy, their ideology functions as a hyper-targeted, individual-focused form of Democratic Socialism. With the currently quite effective rallying cry of “Affordability,” the torchbearer of the movement is Zohran Mamdani (born 1991), the almost cult-like figure and democratically elected mayor of New York.

Although the political priorities of Generation-Z Socialists differ from country to country—from Zohran Mamdani, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) or the somewhat odd Bernie Sanders in the U.S., to Avi Lewis in Canada or Zack Polanski in the United Kingdom, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (who is about twice as old as members of Generation-Z) in France, Heidi Reichinnek in Germany, Victor Camino in Spain, and Elly Schlein in Italy—they all seem to share four vaguely defined principles. The commonly shared tenets of Gen-Z socialists center on reallocating wealth from billionaires to
individuals, de-commodifying daily essentials like housing and healthcare, and using state intervention to protect ordinary workers from an ‘unfair’ economic system.

Across borders and regardless of their background or level of education, Gen-Z Socialists are first and foremost convinced that massive public spending should be financed entirely by the super-rich and powerful corporations. Accordingly, they strongly advocate a punitive and aggressive wealth tax or other levies on corporate profits. Interestingly, they often reject tax increases for the middle class or sometimes even advocate for significant tax cuts for this group to make their lives more affordable. As a key second principle, most Gen-Z socialists hold the naïve view that economic growth under capitalism benefits only the top elite, while ordinary workers are excluded from any gains in productivity. Consequently, they prioritize an undefined “socially just” distribution of existing societal resources over the creation of new economic output. The idea that “a rising tide lifts all boats” (a phrase popularized by J. F. Kennedy in 1963) is generally rejected as false. Furthermore, the alarmingly rapid development of AI technology is viewed as a structural threat to their standard of living (which was created by Capitalism). With Mamdani’s slogan “I don’t think we should have billionaires …,” the goal is to prevent Elon Musk and other tech billionaires from enriching themselves.

The third principle is the politically effective demand for “Affordability” and immediate, tangible relief from inflation and the high cost of living. Consequently, they strongly call for radical government intervention in free markets, free price formation, and private property rights. Without any understanding of the distinction between market-compatible and market-non compatible government interventions and their consequences, strict rent controls will be introduced immediately, and the entire housing- energy-, and transportation sectors are to be nationalized. Health care, child care, and higher education are regarded as human rights that must be fully funded by the state. And to top off the demand for affordability, there are plans to operate so-called SOS (state owned stores), that will keep food prices affordable. Mamdani’s proposal of a cooperative-based chain of public supermarkets that would supply groceries at low prices and without making a profit serves as a model. These SOS would pass on all savings (?) they receive from their broad tax exemptions to consumers and the store operators will be prohibited from charging extortionate prices. Given the history of housing and rental problems caused by government intervention, it remains to be seen how well city-run supermarkets will function. A fourth dogma appears to be the strong, though mostly one-sided, focus on Israel’s brutal and merciless war in the Gaza Strip. Their rejection of foreign military funding and their rather one-sided solidarity with Palestine are key catalysts for their overall political
orientation and also for their appeal.

It seems that the “Gen-Z socialists” are driven by fears of downward mobility due to AI and the state of the economy; they want to maintain their personal lifestyles, and they believe top earners and the wealthy should pay for it—with new and high taxes. Climate protection and gender issues interest them less; the new buzzword is “purchasing power,” or, as Mamdani put it, “Affordability.”