In a sharply worded critique of America’s public education system, Cliff Maloney, a political expert and the CEO of Citizens Alliance, draws a troubling connection between financial illiteracy and the growing popularity of socialist policies among voters. In his original article, Mamdani Voters Show What’s Wrong With Our Public Schools, Maloney lays out a compelling argument: a fundamental lack of economic education has left millions of Americans vulnerable to political promises that sound generous on the surface but are economically unsustainable.
Maloney opens with a stark warning: “I’m not going to mince words—the meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is an indictment of the public school system.” For Maloney, the root of the problem lies not just in misguided politics but in a deep and dangerous ignorance of how economics actually works.
His commentary touches on a critical issue that affects far more than just one candidate’s campaign. It highlights an alarming truth: Americans today are ill-equipped to understand, question, or even recognize the economic implications of the policies they support. And that, Maloney argues, is no accident.
Public education’s failure to teach economic reality
Maloney recalls a time when the atrocities and failures of socialism were a central part of classroom history lessons. “As a child, I grew up learning about the horrors of socialism in school,” he writes. “Its historical failings, followed by loss of freedom, economic collapse, and even mass murder at the hands of the government were all well understood.”
But those lessons, he says, have vanished from today’s classrooms. He blames a gradual infiltration of Marxist sympathizers into all levels of government, particularly the bureaucracy and education system, for reshaping the narrative and erasing uncomfortable truths.
Maloney argues that a truly educated population would never have supported Mamdani in the first place. “In a truly educated society, a candidate like Mamdani would never have had a chance of even being nominated, let alone winning a primary election,” he states. His observation is backed by a striking piece of data: “According to Google Trends, searches for the term ‘what is socialism’ skyrocketed immediately after the election.”
That spike is more than a footnote. It reflects a disturbing reality—many voters are casting ballots for policies they don’t even understand. “These people voted for a politician and not only didn’t understand his policies, but didn’t even know what they were!” Maloney exclaims.
The consequences of economic ignorance
The rise of socialism in American politics isn’t happening in a vacuum. Maloney warns that ignorance of basic economic principles has created a “perfect storm” of entitlement and misinformation, particularly among younger generations who benefit from the prosperity created by previous ones but fail to grasp what it took to build it.
“Somehow, my generation became accustomed to all of the benefits that come from this society without bearing the responsibilities that were needed to create it,” he writes. “They begin to feel entitled… and fail to acknowledge the rest of the equation.”
According to Maloney, this entitlement culture dovetails dangerously with the appeal of socialist rhetoric—especially when amplified by social media and charismatic influencers promising “free stuff.”
The article paints a grim picture of where this leads. Mamdani, for instance, is running for mayor of New York with a plan to introduce government-run grocery stores, an idea Maloney sees as emblematic of financial illiteracy.
He explains why the plan is economically flawed: “The typical profit margin in this industry is about 1.6%… So on razor thin margins, how exactly does Mamdani expect to lower grocery costs for New Yorkers? Well, it’s the typical government smoke and mirrors game.”
Maloney breaks down the intended effect of such a policy: “What he’ll do is sell the products at a loss… this loss will be made up for in the form of higher taxes for residents.” The result? Private grocers can’t compete, and eventually go out of business. “This is by design because the real goal is to run them out of business, making New York residents 100% dependent on these government run stores.”
For Maloney, it’s not just about groceries. It’s about a political philosophy that undermines free enterprise by pretending to solve problems it eventually causes. “Eventually… prices at the government run grocery stores will be raised above what they were before,” he warns. “And the politicians… will inevitably blame capitalism.”
Lessons from abroad—and ignored at home
To illustrate the effectiveness of the alternative path, Maloney points to Argentina, where President Javier Milei’s rejection of socialism has revived the nation’s economy. “He turned Argentina around, from the brink of collapse… to becoming the beacon of economic success that it is today,” Maloney writes. He cites a concrete result: “Argentina’s economy expanded 7.6% year over year in the first quarter of 2025—the fastest it’s grown since 2022.”
This comparison is key to Maloney’s thesis. While socialist experiments flounder under the weight of their own unsustainable promises, countries that embrace financial discipline and personal responsibility see measurable growth.
Yet the success stories are largely absent from the public dialogue in the United States—again, a consequence of financial illiteracy and ideological bias in education, according to Maloney.
A contagion beyond New York
The consequences of these misguided policies won’t be limited to New York, Maloney warns. The ripple effects could reach far beyond state lines.
“[These policies] will inevitably drive capital and citizens out of the state, both slashing tax revenue and crushing the economy,” he writes. But what’s more concerning is that “the citizens fleeing these disastrous policies will continue voting the same way they always have, failing to see the root cause of what they’re fleeing from.”
Maloney calls this a “liberal plague that puts locusts to shame,” painting a dramatic picture of ideological migration—people bringing the same economically destructive ideas with them into new states, unaware of their origin.
Why financial literacy is more urgent than ever
At its core, Maloney’s piece is not just a political takedown of a specific candidate, but a call to arms for restoring financial literacy in America. He shows how the absence of basic economic understanding enables policies that look appealing on the surface but are doomed to fail.
His analysis implies a national emergency—one not of immediate collapse, but of slow erosion. Policies built on false economic premises can be seductive, especially when offered to a public that hasn’t been taught to question them. Maloney’s piece is a sobering reminder that the health of a democracy depends not just on freedom of choice, but on the education of the people making those choices.
As the nation barrels toward another pivotal election cycle, Maloney’s warning deserves serious consideration. If we fail to reinvest in financial literacy and critical thinking, we may find ourselves swept further into a system where good intentions and bad economics create a cycle of failure too familiar to ignore.
