Wealth Taxes Don’t Work

Envy is the second of the seven deadly sins, and Zohran Mamdani seems to want a more envious New York (and America).

Jeffrey Folks | August 8, 2026

Envy is the second of the seven deadly sins, after Pride.  In Catholic theology, deadly sins are serious failings that result in further spiritual harm if not repented.  Envy is especially common and pernicious because once it enters the soul, it is especially difficult to discharge.  In Dante’s Purgatorio, the envious are shown huddled together in poverty, their eyes sewn shut with wire so they cannot see the wealth of others.  As always, Dante has chosen an appropriate symbolic punishment for the particular sin.

Where does this leave Zohran Mamdani?  He appears to be not only envious himself — standing outside the apartment building of billionaire Ken Griffin’s penthouse apartment, pointing to where Griffin lives and asserting he will impose a pied-à-terre tax on the property, the most expensive in Manhattan — but inciting others to envy.  In response, Griffin’s company issued a statement hinting at the possibility of canceling an $8-billion project there.

Actually, inciting envy is the modus operandi of all socialists.  It is their means of fomenting division and attracting voters, but it is a particularly ugly way of doing so because it demeans the very people they would lead and creates the potential for violence.  One reason envy is so destructive is that it saps the initiative of those who might otherwise be striving to improve their own situation.  Instead of worrying about how much money Ken Griffin has (reportedly some $50 billion), why not........

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