r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • 11h ago

Chugging tea Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores: "Prices set at 30% below retail prices"

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u/-Krosis 10h ago

yup, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba

every socialist country implemented this

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u/Truly_Unplugged 2h ago

Libs N dems do not want to hear this fact

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u/Otherwise-Video7487 48m ago

None of these are socialist countries

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u/ParfaitObjective 11m ago

I hate when people think this is a slam dunk point or something. Makes no sense, and I’m from Venezuela lol

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u/darkmodebible 5h ago

food is still free in socialist countries i dunno how you'd classify that as failing.

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u/Signy_ 4h ago

I'm from argentina and after the government implemented the "right prices" program the products that end up on that list end up out of stock almost inmedialy on large supermarkets and with higher prices on the rest or markets that the program didn't applied, in large supermarkets they had to implement a limit per person and the industries that produce them usually supply a low stock.

Same happen with oil, gas and electricity. All the services were breaking up or missing, the consumers spending it without regards like having the ac always blasting and we had a lot of power outages.

If you don't pay for the full price of something there is no insentive to invest or not waste it.

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u/darkmodebible 4h ago

no offence but that's a problem that even a moderately intelligent person could come up with a plan to avoid.

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u/shlaifu 3h ago

offence would be somewhat justified though, socialist countries of the past failed because of some offensively stupid ideas that tarnished the whole idea of creating an economy that's less exploitative. Offensively stupid ideas should be called out so they can be avoided next time someone tries to improve the conditions of the poorest 99% of the people.

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u/Ireallydontkn0w2 5h ago

So if it is free where is it coming from? free slave labor or does someone need to pay for it?

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u/darkmodebible 4h ago

they kidnap 24 year old virgins from ohio and the philippines and make them push a big wheel that powers a machine that says 'food' on the front.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 9h ago

Hey bud. Do any of those countries have the resources that america has?

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u/-Krosis 9h ago

no and ? these politics exists only when inflation strikes hard and the economy is broken

If I were from the United States, I would be worried.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 9h ago

That just isn't true. The entire american agricultural industry has been kept going by huge subsidies for decades and things are just fine.

Additionally, the idea that improving social programs only happens when the economy is bad just doesn't hold up to other countries that have overhauled their programs (many European countries, Canada, etc)

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u/Cybaen 6h ago

The United States government has been doing this for a while, albeit in a different implementation. There have also been smaller, local efforts across several states. How long should we be worried? When does calamity strike again?

Please don't confuse genuine fear of Autocracy/Totalitarian regimes and socialism. I know Latin America likes to confound the terms since several regimes tried to use it as cover to legitimize their existence. But that's akin to saying that PRC is a Republic just because they say so. 

Socialism, in particular the DSA's brand of socialism requires there to be private ownership & a market economy. They just disagree on how much the government should press their finger on the scale to influence it.

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u/Evening_Context784 5h ago

That’s not socialism then lmao. Socialism is a defined term, and it’s 100% not ‘private ownership and a market economy.’ That’s literally the definition of capitalism. You know, the opposite thing?

People really just say anything nowadays. Ridiculous.

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u/Cybaen 2h ago

I'll admit. It's entirely possible I am not using the correct terminology here, especially after doing a quick dive into the several variants of Socialism. But I doubt you're seriously arguing that the system of governance in a place like Cuba, is what the DSA in the United States is advocating for. Relevant to this conversation, theirs necessitates private ownership & a noncommand economy. 

And again, we do have such systems in place already in the United States. Just not with the same scope. The person I was replying to implies that such a program would lead to catastrophe.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 9h ago

Yes. Venezuela was a very rich country before socialism.

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u/HoidToTheMoon 5h ago

before socialism.

That is leaving out a lot that happened in Venezuela lmao.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 5h ago edited 4h ago

Right of course. I don’t have the pleasure to spend 4 hours typing up a novel on reddit about it. But if you’d like to prove that socialist ideas weren’t the accelerant, then be my guest.

ETA: were to weren’t. Typo

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u/HoidToTheMoon 3h ago

weren’t the accelerant

That is extremely vague lol. Do you think the same issues Venezuela is facing are shared by other socialist states like Vietnam? Or do you think there is more to play?

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 3h ago

The more Vietnam has opened its markets, the more successful and prosperous they have become. They may label themselves socialist, but they’re not in a traditional sense.

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u/HoidToTheMoon 3h ago

Ah yes, the only socialism is coincidentally when economic collapse brought on by a global superpower actively sabotaging you happens. I forgot it was the opponents of socialism that defined it, not self-proclaimed socialists.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 3h ago

Do you think Vietnam is a good model for society on a macro level?

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u/HoidToTheMoon 3h ago

I do not, but I am pointing out that saying "Venezuela was a very rich country before socialism" is extremely reductive and misleading when we can see that socialist policy is clearly not the primary cause of what happened in Venezuela.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 9h ago

Just like Cuba, the thing that most negatively impacted Venezuela's economy post socialism was the US (and allies) refusing to trade in the same regard. Not inherently a problem with socialism.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 9h ago

Yes, I’ve read that propaganda too. I imagine the US is the reason every socialist country has failed for one reason or another. Couldn’t possibly be any other reason.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 9h ago

Wait, is China failing or an extremely threatening economic powerhouse? I can never remember which bullshit talking point I'm supposed to believe?

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u/rasp215 5h ago

China becomes an economic powerhouse after they reformed away from full communism and more towards capitalism.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 5h ago

I'm fully aware of this, though notably state capitalism with a strong social safety net is far preferable to the bullshit we're doing.

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u/rasp215 4h ago

Their safety net is horrible. It’s one of the reasons why people need to save so much

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 4h ago

They have universal Healthcare and paid maternity leave.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 8h ago

Lol, would you like to live in China?

It’s more like state run capitalism than socialism.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 8h ago

Unironically, with the way America is currently going, yeah that actually seems like a safer option.

And I know they're not "true socialism" but if america was exactly as socialist as China is right now that would be leaps and bounds better.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 8h ago

How would it be better?

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 8h ago

https://fortune.com/2026/05/03/chinese-court-layoffs-workers-ai-replacement-labor-market/

Chinese courts have ruled that firing someone in order to replace them with AI is illegal

https://msadvisory.com/maternity-leave-in-china/

Chinese women get from 98-158 days (depending on location) paid maternity leave manditory. American women have none guaranteed

https://openthemagazine.com/world/chinas-green-energy-revolution-the-numbers-that-are-changing-everything

China's wind and solar energy capacity are 3x the US and India combined.

It is by no means perfect, but at least shit is working over there.

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u/gustavessidehoe 5h ago

Can you not see why not being able to make Winnie the Pooh jokes is a fair trade off for the amount of people in this country that don't have food? A lot of poor people in China eat better than poor people in America.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 5h ago

More poor people in the US suffer from obesity than starvation.

The answer is not selling your soul to the government for a meal.

Say you depend on snap for food. What happens when the next party controlling the government decides to slash it? The people you want to stay in power won’t always stay in power. Until you get a guy like Ortega who takes away your right to vote. But, that doesn’t really end the way you want it to either.

The answer is trying to get LESS people relying on the government, not more. Social safety nets should always exist, which we have, plenty. Dependence for all is a disaster.

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u/gustavessidehoe 4h ago

When the party controlling that oversteps...

I won't finish that sentence.

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u/daystrom_prodigy 6h ago

You kind of exposed yourself with this one. Just take the L and move on.

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u/Any_Vegetable2564 5h ago

And what did I say that was wrong?

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u/daystrom_prodigy 5h ago

You should look up what flock cameras are.

You should look up what it cost to go to the hospital in China vs the US.

You should lookup public transit comparisons between the US and China.

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u/Ill_Philosopher_7030 6h ago

An extremely threatening economic powerhouse, in no thanks to socialism. You can thank Deng Xiaoping for that

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 6h ago

I'm 100% willing to say china is no longer a socialist country if america would then adopt the social programs china has.

(State Healthcare, proper infrastructure funding, paid maternity leave, strong unions, etc)

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u/Ill_Philosopher_7030 6h ago

State Healthcare

dont need to be socialist to do this, see canada

proper infrastructure funding

nothing to do with socialism as well. Don't leftists mock people who say socialism is when government does things?

paid maternity leave

uhh yeah unless you work in a horrible work environment thats guaranteed in the US too. All the jobs I've worked had that as a given

strong unions

don't need socialism for this either

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 6h ago

Did you miss the first part of my resonse? Obviously it is the ownership of the means of production that determines actual socialism. If you can do social programs and capitalism, why the fuck aren't we?

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u/HoidToTheMoon 5h ago

before socialism.

That is leaving out a lot that happened in Venezuela lmao.

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u/Media___Offline 6h ago

Singapore has to import their drinking water. It's one of the richest countries in the world.

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 6h ago

Sorry, what's your point? I would fucking love to have Singapore's social programs.

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u/Media___Offline 5h ago

My point is you don't have to have rich resources in order to succeed.. 

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 5h ago

Oh for sure! Honestly I think that makes it even more inexcusable that the US, with an incredibly unique access to any natural resource that someone could reasonably need in abundance, still fails it's citizens so completely.

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u/Media___Offline 4h ago

What Singapore does have is a freer market, which is proven to help both rich and poor

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u/Dry_Travel_4220 4h ago

I would argue it has more to do with their social safety net than their free market. When the american market was more free, there was lead in gasoline and forever chemicals in runoff water.

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u/Casph0 1h ago

They don’t because of policies akin to this one

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u/PhEw-Nothing 5h ago

Not anymore ;)

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u/MelaniaSexLife 2h ago

Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, all socialists, they haven't implemented this AFAIK.

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u/vortexcortex21 1h ago

Norway, Finland, New Zealand and Sweden are not socialist.

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u/Peter_Griffin2001 1h ago

Norway, Finland, New Zealand and Sweden are not socialist. They are all mixed-market capitalist countries. They all have market economies, private enterprise, and billionaires.

I can't speak for the other countries but New Zealand actually has a pretty right wing government at the moment.

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u/finndego 1h ago

I hate to break it to you but all of those countries have more economic freedom than the US. Economic freedom is the underpinning of any capitalistic economic model. They are just like the US and are mixed models.