Against the will of New York’s billionaire class, Zohran Mamdani—a Muslim immigrant and self-described Democratic Socialist—just pulled off an improbable victory.

The city’s ruling elite and corporate media threw everything they could at him, even trying to turn the word socialist into an epithet—something no true American could be. (1) But what does it even mean to be a socialist in the 21st century?

To help clear things up, I’ve put together a list of five questions that if you answer yes to, it may indicate that you are one of us. (I’ll spare you the Jeff Foxworthy routine—though my West Virginia roots are begging me not to. 🤣)

#1. Do you believe every human being deserves the basic necessities of life—food, shelter, education, healthcare—even if they don’t or can’t work?

This question—which, to me, is a question of morality—strikes at the heart of modern socialism. If your gut says “yes,” congratulations: you already hold one of socialism’s core beliefs.

It’s not about giving everyone a free ride. It’s about recognizing that life, health, and dignity shouldn’t depend on your ability to sell your labor. A moral society makes sure people don’t go hungry or sleep on the street just because the market has no use for them.

But capitalism doesn’t see people; it sees inputs. It’s a machine, not a conscience. If you can’t be used to generate profit—or, in modern terms, “shareholder value”—you’re worthless.

That’s why we tolerate millions of people living without healthcare or shelter in the richest country on Earth. It’s not because we lack resources. It’s because the system we live in values economic output more than human worth.

Socialists ask: what would the world look like if the system saw humans as humans first, and workers second? If that question resonates with you — you might be a socialist.

#2. Do you believe everything should be a business—even the things we need to survive?

If you do, you may not be a socialist. Socialists believe the basics of life— food, housing, healthcare, education—should be guaranteed to everyone, without the fear of losing them when the market shifts or a person can no longer work.

That means some things simply can’t be businesses. Under capitalism, a business exists to make more money this year than last. Growth is the goal—not care, not fairness, not stability. It doesn’t matter if millions are unhoused, unfed, or uninsured. Money is what matters.

Socialists flip that equation. We believe human need should come before profit, and that essential services should be publicly owned and democratically run—a process called socialization.

Some socialists would extend that to everything (this is typically associated with communism, a type of socialism). Others, like me, think once everyone’s basic needs are guaranteed, the market can take care of the rest. But until then, we have no business treating survival as a business.

#3. Who should own and run a company—the workers who build it, or non-working shareholders?

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, this question defined socialism. Karl Marx called it ownership of “the means of production.”

Under capitalism, companies are owned by non-working shareholders. By law, corporate leaders exist to serve those shareholders first. Everything the company does is meant to maximize their returns. Workers—the people who actually create the value—are paid as little as possible to maximize those profits.

Socialists believe ownership should flow the other way. If workers create the wealth, they should own the company and decide democratically what to do with its profits. A business built that way doesn’t have to crush people to reward them. (This is Marx’s theory of surplus value.)

Capitalists counter that investors “took the risk,” and that risk deserves reward. But this argument ignores where that wealth came from in the first place: from labor. Every dollar ever invested began as someone else’s work. Profits hoarded by owners are wealth stolen from the people who made it. That’s exploitation by definition.

As St. Jerome once said, “A rich man is either a thief or the son of a thief.” If that sounds harsh, consider what it really means: no fortune exists without someone’s labor beneath it.

So if you believe the people who do the work should own the fruits of it — you might be a socialist.

#4. Do you believe democracy should end at the ballot box, or extend to the workplace?

Americans—especially rich ones on CNN and at the Democratic Convention—love to talk about how much they love democracy. But the place where we spend most of our waking hours, the workplace, is anything but democratic. It’s a little monarchy—sometimes a full-blown dictatorship—ruled by whoever signs the paychecks.

When “shareholder value” comes first, everything becomes a royal decree. Executives and managers make the rules; workers are to obey them, without question. You don’t get to vote on your hours, your pay, or even where you work.

In some jobs, you can be told what to wear, how to style your hair, or whether you’re allowed a piercing. Miss a shift because your child’s daycare fell through, and you might lose your job. That’s not democracy—that’s feudalism with Wi-Fi.

This hypocrisy is striking—once you finally notice it. In theory, we cherish freedom. In practice, most people spend eight to ten hours a day under an unelected boss who holds absolute power over their livelihood. Try organizing your coworkers to change that, and the company will call it “insubordination.”

Socialists argue that democracy shouldn’t stop when you clock in. (2) If workers had a real say—if workplaces were run democratically, owned by the people who actually keep them running—power would flow upward instead of down. A job could be something you participate in, not just survive.

Under capitalism, you don’t get a vote. We had a word for that once in our political lives: tyranny. And just as kings and queens have been tossed onto the ash heap of history, so too should the dictatorial boss.

#5. Do you believe in freedom or slavery?

In the end, that’s what it all comes down to: do you want to be free, or do you prefer to live as someone else’s property?

Despite the wealthy elite’s endless talk about “freedom,” their other favorite motif, most Americans aren’t free in any meaningful sense. You can tweet whatever you like (so long as you don’t criticize a certain ally), but if you can’t afford rent, childcare, healthcare, or the risk of criticizing your boss, how free are you, really?

Economic dependence is the modern form of servitude. When your survival depends on pleasing an employer or a landlord, that isn’t liberty—it’s a contract with a master. As someone much smarter than me once said, it’s just slavery with extra steps.

True freedom means control over your own time, body, and work. And that requires ownership and democracy not just in politics, but in the economy itself.

So what can we do?

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City proved something the establishment hoped you’d never notice: when ordinary people organize around shared moral clarity, they can beat the moneyed class at its own game. That’s socialism in practice—not a theory, but democracy extended into every corner of life.

So start where you are. Join or support a union—the simplest act of collective self-rule. Join the Democratic Socialists of America. Talk openly about socialism without apology or euphemism. Challenge the lie that freedom belongs only to the rich. Vote for candidates who understand that democracy doesn’t stop at the workplace door.

The world we’re fighting for can feel far-fetched. Capitalism seems untouchable, eternal, too woven into everything to ever unravel. But history has a way of making the impossible inevitable. Kings once ruled by divine right. Men once owned other human beings. Each system claimed it could never be overturned — until, one day, it was.

That’s the work before us: to imagine a world beyond exploitation, and to keep organizing until it’s real.

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