11/16/2025
*Here's my monologue for The Lightning Strike 11/16/25. Tune in to AM 820 WCPT at 8 AM or ask your smart speaker to play WCPT.*
Good morning, America. This is The Lightning Strike, and I’m your host, Mohammed Faheem — coming to you from WCPT 820 AM, Chicago’s Progressive Talk powerhouse.
Today, we cut through the noise. Because lately, you might have noticed: any time a politician talks about affordability, or fairness, or the basic right to live a dignified life, somebody — somewhere — starts screaming “communist!”
And one name that’s been dragged through that mud lately is New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. So tonight, let’s set the record straight — not with labels, but with clarity.
Let’s start with capitalism.
That’s the system we live in right now — where private businesses compete, people hustle, innovation happens… and yet millions of Americans work 40, 50, 60 hours a week and still can’t afford rent, groceries, childcare, or health care. Capitalism gives us energy and enterprise, yes — but unchecked, it concentrates wealth in the hands of a few and leaves the rest scrambling for crumbs.
Now, communism.
The word gets thrown around like a political gr***de. But historically, communism means state-controlled production, minimal private property, and centralized power. That’s not what Mamdani believes in. He’s not calling for government seizure of private businesses. He’s not calling for one-party rule. He’s not abolishing markets. So let’s retire the fearmongering.
And then — socialism.
Or, more specifically, democratic socialism — the vision Mamdani actually stands for. A system that keeps markets, keeps democracy, but reins in the chaos of unregulated greed. It says: the government should step in to make life livable — public transit that’s free and efficient, childcare that doesn’t bankrupt families, tenant protections, and yes, even city-owned grocery stores to ensure people aren’t held hostage by price gouging.
In other words: a government that works for the people, not just for the wealthy.
So why is this vision making the establishment nervous?
Because it threatens the one thing they guard above all else: power.
A city-owned grocery store challenges corporate monopolies. Free public buses challenge profit-driven transit contractors. Taxing millionaires challenges entrenched wealth. Democratic socialism doesn’t abolish capitalism — but it forces it to answer to the people it has ignored.
And that… is the real threat.
It’s not communism.
It’s not extremism.
It’s the radical idea that regular people deserve a fair shot.
So today, we dive deeper:
What does Zohran Mamdani’s movement signal for the future of American politics?
Why is the establishment so afraid?
And are we witnessing the first sparks of a new economic contract in this country?
This is The Lightning Strike.
The storm has begun. Take cover.
