The Failure of “Free Stuff”! The Way Commo Experiments Always Go! By Charles Taylor (Florida)

The Gateway Pundit article linked below, paints a stark picture of New York City's brief experiment with "free" groceries — a five-day pop-up store in the West Village called The Polymarket, organised by the cryptocurrency prediction market Polymarket. Billed as the city's "first free grocery store," it handed out produce, non-perishables, toiletries, and other staples at no cost to anyone with a yellow entry ticket (distributed to NYC residents). The event drew hundreds (some reports say thousands over the days), with long lines snaking around blocks in freezing February weather. But as the piece gleefully notes, supplies and tickets ran out almost immediately, leading to chaos: frustrated people turned away after hours of waiting, reports of line-cutting, security struggles with diverse crowds, and shoppers left empty-handed or with minimal items.

The article frames this as a direct preview of the "highly predictable results" of socialist policies under newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani (a self-described democratic socialist, often labelled "Marxist" or "communist" by critics). Mamdani campaigned heavily on opening city-run grocery stores — starting with a pilot of one per borough — to combat food deserts, high prices, and "price-gouging" by exempting them from rent, property taxes, and profit motives, sourcing wholesale, and centralising distribution. The Polymarket stunt was widely seen as a cheeky jab at that promise (Mamdani responded with sardonic humour on social media), but Gateway Pundit uses the pop-up's quick depletion and disorder to argue: this is what happens when you try to give away "free stuff" on any scale.

With all communist 'free stuff,' the worst of human nature comes out, the free stuff soon disappears, and scarcity rules.

Why "Free" Goods Create Scarcity and Bring Out the Worst

This isn't just anecdotal snark — it's rooted in basic economics and repeated real-world patterns:

1.Unlimited Demand Meets Finite Supply: When something is truly free (or heavily subsidised below market price), demand explodes far beyond what any fixed supply can handle. People who might buy one or two items now grab as much as possible — for themselves, family, resale on the black market, or hoarding. The Polymarket event lasted mere days before running dry; lines formed hours early, and many walked away empty-handed despite genuine need. Scale that to a permanent city-run system, critics argue, and you'd see chronic shortages, rationing, and black markets — exactly as in historical command economies.

2.The Tragedy of the Commons on Steroids: Without price signals or personal cost, there's no incentive to conserve or use efficiently. Shoppers treat the resource as infinite until it's gone. Reports from the pop-up describe frustration, arguments over access, and security issues — behaviours that emerge when people compete for a zero-price good rather than paying market value. In socialist experiments (Venezuela's subsidised food programs, Soviet bread lines, Cuban ration books), the pattern repeats: initial enthusiasm gives way to empty shelves, long queues, corruption (officials skimming), and favouritism.

3.Human Nature and Incentives: Free goods remove the natural check of scarcity pricing. People act opportunistically: stock up beyond need, game the system (fake eligibility, resell items), or simply waste because "it's free." The worst impulses — greed, entitlement, short-term thinking — surface because there's no skin in the game for the recipient. Producers (or taxpayers footing the bill) bear the cost, creating resentment and inefficiency.

4.Historical Parallels

oVenezuela's CLAP boxes (subsidised food parcels): Intended to help the poor, they led to widespread shortages, corruption, and resale on black markets at inflated prices.

oSoviet Union / Eastern Bloc: State stores offering "free" or cheap basics resulted in perpetual lines, poor quality, and underground economies.

oEven milder versions (U.S. food stamps or school lunch programs) face fraud, waste, and calls for tighter controls — but never full elimination of scarcity.

Gateway Pundit ties this directly to Mamdani's plan: if a private, short-term giveaway funded by a crypto firm couldn't sustain even five days without chaos, how would taxpayer-funded municipal stores fare long-term? Estimates from Mamdani's campaign put the pilot at ~$60 million annually — before inevitable overruns from theft, spoilage, staffing, and demand surges. Critics (economists quoted in Fox Business, Washington Post pieces) call it a "doomed experiment" that ignores incentives and basic supply/demand.

Supporters of Mamdani-style interventions argue they're not "communist free-for-alls" but targeted fixes for market failures: food deserts in low-income areas, corporate profiteering driving up costs, and the need for public options in essential goods (like municipal utilities or public housing). The Polymarket event was a limited PR stunt, not a scalable model — and some praised it for highlighting real hunger amid NYC's wealth.

Still, the pop-up's rapid collapse lends weight to the observation: "free stuff" sounds compassionate but often unleashes the very behaviours (hoarding, waste, conflict) that make true abundance harder to achieve. Prices, for all their flaws, ration scarce resources far more efficiently than queues or bureaucrats.

In "Mamdani's New York," this West Village episode may prove a small but telling harbinger. If city-run stores ever launch at scale, the lines won't be photo ops — they'll be daily reality, and the "free" dream will likely give way to the same old scarcity. Human nature doesn't change just because the sign says "people's grocery."

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/02/watch-first-free-grocery-store-opens-mamdanis-new/