A century ago, Milwaukee’s “sewer socialists” were ridiculed for focusing on pipes, drains, and parks. These were small-bore projects, detractors claimed, and unworthy of political struggle. But mayors Emil Seidel and Frank Zeidler knew better: survival and dignity begin with the basics. They understood that public ownership of water systems, sanitation, parks, and essential infrastructure was the only way to ensure these things existed for everyone, not just those who could pay.
“Some Eastern smarties called ours a ‘Sewer Socialism,’” Seidel reflected decades later. “Yes, we wanted sewers in the workers’ houses; but we wanted much, oh, so very much more than sewers. We wanted our workers to have pure air; we wanted them to have sunshine; we wanted planned homes; we wanted living wages; we wanted recreation for young and old; we wanted vocational education; we wanted a chance for every human being to be strong and live a life of happiness.”
Seidel concluded that there was “but one way to get all of that — go after it and get it.”
Today New York City mayoral candidate and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is receiving similarly dismissive responses to his proposal to build five municipal grocery stores, one in each borough. Like the sewer socialists before him, Mamdani is responding to an inequity that may strike some as banal but is actually fundamental to working-class people’s quality of life. An estimated three million New York City residents live in so-called food deserts without access to real grocery stores. Even where stores do exist, rising grocery prices often put nutritious options out of reach. Mamdani is simply proposing that the government step in and do what the private market has failed to accomplish: sell…
Auteur: Alex Birnel
