How so? Remember that the opinion is based on California.
The insanity of government run grocery stores:
- Thread starter T. A. Gardner
- Start date
Teflon Don
I'm back baby
Don't forget when the animals start looting themThis article shows some of the insanity of government run grocery stores.
Op-ed: They block grocery stores, then build their own at four times the cost
Four times, or more, the cost per square foot to build...
Using eminent domain to seize land to build them...
Endless taxpayer subsidies to operate...
Mamdani's first store is running $30 million to open and it's in direct competition with several smaller grocery and convenience stores within a few blocks of it.
Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Store Plan Gets Even Worse
Zohran Mamdani's plan for NYC government-run grocery stores faces delays and criticism over costs and impact.townhall.com
So, this store, operating with a massive taxpayer subsidy will directly compete with several private businesses right next to it who aren't subsidized. Can you say "bankruptcy?"
This is the insanity of Socialism on full display. Slower, lousier, costlier...
Into the Night
Contributor
Contextomy fallacy.
Into the Night
Contributor
RQAA. Go back and read it, moron.
Into the Night
Contributor
An interesting way to look at it. Is communism a monopoly that you can sue? Remember, you are suing the same government that is the monopoly.
Fortunately, you don't have to sue. Communism never works. It fails of it's own accord. This government run grocery store is no exception.
FastLane
Verified User
Government run grocery store rarelly work.This article shows some of the insanity of government run grocery stores.
Op-ed: They block grocery stores, then build their own at four times the cost
Four times, or more, the cost per square foot to build...
Using eminent domain to seize land to build them...
Endless taxpayer subsidies to operate...
Mamdani's first store is running $30 million to open and it's in direct competition with several smaller grocery and convenience stores within a few blocks of it.
Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Store Plan Gets Even Worse
Zohran Mamdani's plan for NYC government-run grocery stores faces delays and criticism over costs and impact.
So, this store, operating with a massive taxpayer subsidy will directly compete with several private businesses right next to it who aren't subsidized. Can you say "bankruptcy?"
This is the insanity of Socialism on full display. Slower, lousier, costlier...
Into the Night
Contributor
California is not New York, LeftNut.
Into the Night
Contributor
They don't work. Communism never does work.
A private business is successful because it knows it's market and can provide for it. For a grocery store, that means it knows what people want to buy even before they know they want to buy it. They become experts in serving that market and can anticipate what to order before people actually want to buy it.
The government has no such expertise. It doesn't know the market and has no incentive to learn the market since it can tax to cover its losses. So it's always late. Reactive, rather than anticipatory. Hot summer days mean people want to start buying ice cream, but the government didn't order any. They see the demand, so they finally order some, which doesn't arrive until fall, when people don't want it so much anymore. The ice cream goes bad and is thrown out.
Ice cream, lettuce, hot dogs, buns. All of these and more have their time and season.
A private business MUST learn the market or fail. A government run business doesn't have to, so it never learns.
Add to this, the crime and looting involved. A government run store can't anticipate the looting, because it BUILT THE STORE ignoring it! A private business can't make a profit due to looting losses, so it won't spend the money to build a store there. An existing private business loses too much due to looting, so it must close that store location, concentrating on stores making a profit.
This is why you get 'food deserts' in cities. This is also why government run stores fail.
Until the crime and looting is dealt with, there will be fewer and fewer businesses of any type there. Any government run replacement will always result in disaster.
Communism is based on theft of wealth. The government forces wealth from people to pay for it's losses. It fails because people don't like their wealth stolen, and the whole scheme breaks down. There is nothing left to steal, and you get revolts. Fleeing such disaster areas is itself a revolt.
Of course, the Democrats ignore all of this.
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Article doesn’t “show” anything, just a lot of political generalizations peppered with pictures and tweets inferring communism and Russia, it’s uselessThis article shows some of the insanity of government run grocery stores.
Op-ed: They block grocery stores, then build their own at four times the cost
Four times, or more, the cost per square foot to build...
Using eminent domain to seize land to build them...
Endless taxpayer subsidies to operate...
Mamdani's first store is running $30 million to open and it's in direct competition with several smaller grocery and convenience stores within a few blocks of it.
Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Store Plan Gets Even Worse
Zohran Mamdani's plan for NYC government-run grocery stores faces delays and criticism over costs and impact.
So, this store, operating with a massive taxpayer subsidy will directly compete with several private businesses right next to it who aren't subsidized. Can you say "bankruptcy?"
This is the insanity of Socialism on full display. Slower, lousier, costlier...
If begun, it is not a new building, a new large Kroger’s, rather a scaled back store offering staples as proteins, vegetables, plus fruit, kinda like a larger urban food coop. Given they will not have to pay rent, a biggie in NYC, it will have less operating costs
FastLane
Verified User
So it can out compete privately own food stores and run them out of business. Swell. <sarcasm>
Debatable. Keep in mind the store is going an area inwhich there are no major grocery stores available, East Harlem, so the only thing it is going to put out of business is the convenience stores
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
The biggest problem will be the government will hire on the basis of DEI and the 'good 'ol boy' system. That is, they'll put race, gender, political correctness, and who knows who inside of government ahead of competence. So, you'll have a store that orders goods to sell by rote, incompetent managers and staff that don't particularly give a shit, and a store that rarely has what people want to buy in it.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
Which likely do better as 'grocery' stores than the government run one will. Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come...
Into the Night
Contributor
Yup. That all fits the pattern.
Into the Night
Contributor
Exactly. They could build their own building or just lease space for this fiasco. The result will be the same:
Incompetent employees. Empty shelves, Product on some shelves that no one wants. Waste and spoilage. A crime rate that no one does anything about, and what DOES exist in the store gets looted.
Your opinion, but if you had ever been to a NYC convenience store you’d change your opinion
No shit, Sherlock?
Grim Reaper
Chief Exit Officer (CEO)
This post mixes one real policy discussion with several unsupported or exaggerated claims. Let’s separate what’s real, misleading, and false.This article shows some of the insanity of government run grocery stores.
Op-ed: They block grocery stores, then build their own at four times the cost
Four times, or more, the cost per square foot to build...
Using eminent domain to seize land to build them...
Endless taxpayer subsidies to operate...
Mamdani's first store is running $30 million to open and it's in direct competition with several smaller grocery and convenience stores within a few blocks of it.
Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Store Plan Gets Even Worse
Zohran Mamdani's plan for NYC government-run grocery stores faces delays and criticism over costs and impact.
So, this store, operating with a massive taxpayer subsidy will directly compete with several private businesses right next to it who aren't subsidized. Can you say "bankruptcy?"
This is the insanity of Socialism on full display. Slower, lousier, costlier...
1) Is there actually a “government-run grocery store plan” in NYC?
Partly true (but often misrepresented)
New York City Council member Zohran Mamdani has supported proposals for public or nonprofit grocery stores in “food desert” areas.Key facts:
- The idea is to create city-supported grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods
- It is framed as an experiment in addressing food access and high prices in low-income areas
- Similar ideas exist in other cities (small-scale public grocery pilots or cooperatives)
There is a real policy proposal being discussed.2) “$30 million store” claim
Not verified / likely misleading framing
There is no confirmed, finalized $30 million government grocery store project in NYC with documented spending breakdowns matching that claim.What’s happening instead:
- Discussions involve pilot programs, feasibility studies, and potential store development
- Early estimates for public infrastructure projects are often speculative, maximum-bound projections, not actual spending
- Not confirmed as actual spending
- Likely a worst-case estimate or political framing
3) “Four times the cost of private grocery stores”
Unproven / oversimplified
There is no reliable study showing NYC government grocery stores cost 4× private ones.Why comparisons like this are misleading:
- Public projects include startup infrastructure costs (land use studies, regulatory compliance, public bidding)
- Private grocery stores often:
- lease rather than build
- benefit from established supply chains
- Small sample pilot projects can look artificially expensive
Cost comparisons are not established fact and depend heavily on assumptions.4) “Using eminent domain to seize land”
No evidence (for this specific grocery proposal)
There is:- No confirmed NYC plan to use eminent domain specifically for government grocery stores
- Infrastructure projects (transit, utilities, redevelopment zones)
- Not routine retail development proposals
5) “Direct competition causing bankruptcy of private stores”
Speculative political argument
This is an opinion-based prediction, not a fact.What we actually know from similar real-world cases:
- Public grocery experiments (rare in the U.S.) have mixed results
- Some succeed in improving access; others struggle financially
- Impact on nearby private stores varies widely and is not predetermined
6) About the source (Townhall op-ed)
The cited article is from Townhall, which is:- A partisan opinion site
- Not a neutral investigative or peer-reviewed source
- Often uses ideological framing (“socialism,” “insanity”)
It should not be treated as an objective economic analysis.7) Bias analysis of the post
The language signals strong ideological framing:
Loaded terms
- “insanity of socialism”
- “government-run grocery stores”
- “bankruptcy”
Slippery slope argument
Claims that one pilot concept implies systemic failure of socialism Worst-case assumption framing
Treats speculative cost estimates as confirmed realityBottom line
- There are proposals for public/nonprofit grocery stores in NYC
- No verified $30M finalized store with the described details
- No evidence of eminent domain being used for this purpose
- “4× cost” claim is not established fact
- Economic and competitive impact claims are speculative
The post is ideologically framed and mixes real policy ideas with exaggerated or unverified claims
Seven states (Alabama, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia) operating state-run liquor stores for off-premises consumption. These states often control the distribution and, in some cases, the retail sales of spirits, with some also controlling wine.