Kasparov: In the USSR, I saw how Mamdani’s socialism can destroy a country

Like a contagious disease, socialism comes roaring back when people have forgotten the terrible damage it did the last time it ravaged a society.

This time, it’s Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s startling victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary that has put the dreaded term back in the headlines.

For a former citizen of the Soviet Union like me, Mamdani’s promises of city-run grocery stores and his attacks on the affluent members of the city are as familiar as his polished antisemitism.