Newly elected New York City mayor wants state-run grocery stores

In Russia, we had Гастроном (Gastronom), where people often had to wait in long lines and there were frequent food shortages and lack of variety. It was the Moscow and other city dwellers who ate well. The state-run grocery stores where I am from in southern Russia were very poor and were forced to send the agricultural produce to the major cities. Russia now has a variety of grocery stores to choose from, many of which continue to have cheap foods. Zohran Mamdani wants to send NYC back in time and turn it into an anti-American communist pit.

He also plans to spend $65 million on “gender-affirming care.”

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SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

The two scenarios are completely different. The Soviet Union operated a command economy in which the state managed all aspects of food production and distribution. The NY mayor is reacting to a morally unacceptable situation in which the some neighbourhoods have become "food deserts" and the poorest in society do not have accesd to a reliable and affordable supply of nutritious food. In other words, government is stepping in where the private sector has failed or neglected to serve all New Yorkers. What could possibly be objectionable about this?

emiliya · 22-25, F

@SunshineGirl I am drawing on personal knowledge. I was talking about the idea of state-run grocery stores, which, if implemented, have the potential to expand. They are a bad idea. Nothing is ever for free. Nowadays, you are not getting anything at a reduced cost without someone paying the price.

Why does the government need to step in? What is the cause of this problem in New York?

Did you support lockdowns? They were an economic disaster. If you want cheaper groceries, you would never support lockdowns.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@emiliya Why does the government need to step in?

Because the food industry has failed to distribute abundant resources efficiently, with the consequence that the poorest in society spend a disproportionately large portion of their incomes on food which harms their health. This is what governments are for.

emiliya · 22-25, F

@SunshineGirl The government is not necessary for a family or small community, but you could say it is necessary for a nation. This would be a lawless and immoral nation that is unable to take care of its affairs without being told how to do it. Is it good to encourage this kind of abject failure and uselessness?

The food industry is there to provide food for us to live and make money from it. If you are unable to afford enough food to live, something has gone very wrong. The parents have failed to provide, and their parents have failed to provide. We need to be thinking about our moral failures, not what the government can do to mask those moral failures, pretending they do not do grave harm to the society they govern.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@emiliya A nation is made up of families and small communities.

The failure is of the large retailers not operating stores in the poorest neighbourhoods because the profit margins are too low. Low income families are denied choice if they do not have private transportation or they are too busy working to go further afield. The government is obliged to step in to redress this failure. If it does not, the cost to the taxpayer in terms of health subsidy and lost economuc opportunity will mount. In my opinion they should also levy the food industry for burdening the public purse.

emiliya · 22-25, F

@SunshineGirl It is made up of people who are forced to submit to the whims of the state, including allowing migrants who do not share the religion or values or are not willing to adopt the religion or values of the state. You will say the state is secular, but I can tell you that those entering Europe are not.

Where I am from in southern Russia, you have to walk to the store or supermarkets if there is no transportation. My grandparents have a vehicle, which my grandfather can still drive. When they were children, they had no electricity and had to walk everywhere. I have walked miles to get to places too. My parents bought a home that was in the middle of nowhere in southern Spain and when they were not driving me, I walked or rode my bike.