By Hannah Garces, Op-ed contributor Thursday, November 06, 2025New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani speaks at the Resist Fascism Rally in Bryant Park in New York City on Oct. 27, 2024. | Wikimedia Commons/Bingjiefu He https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zohran_Mamdani_at_the_Resist_Fascism_Rally_in_Bryant_Park_on_Oct_27th_2024.jpg
Just a few weeks ago, a startling headline caught my attention.
The headline mentioned that a man connected to the atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023, was arrested and had been living in Louisiana since 2024. This was made possible under an open border policy brought to you by the Biden Administration. This man took part in the slaughter of his Jewish and Israeli neighbors. Some of us have been warning that those who hate the United States and want us dead are already here. This headline proves us right.
Defunding the police, open borders, and decriminalization are also known as luxury beliefs. The term was originated by Robert K. Henderson in an article published in the New York Post in 2019. These luxury beliefs are being promoted and parroted by those whose policies won’t affect their everyday life: the middle to upper-middle-class, college-educated who live comfortably and, at times, can circumvent the policies they want to instill.
However, even those in the naïve ivory tower won’t be safe from the radical and violent elements that seek to destroy the American way of life. They can only bide their time. Luxury beliefs are lethal and have killed Americans and will continue to do so if we don’t let common sense once again rule the day.
We don’t have to wait for a large-scale terrorist attack on our shores to see that these beliefs have had lethal ends. Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray are two young women who made national news for being murdered by violent criminals who came through a porous border with no regard for the citizens of this country. Two families had to bury their daughters because toxic empathy has taken control of the Democratic Party, and borders are considered a violation of human rights. That is nonsense. There is nothing wrong with securing the borders of a sovereign nation.
Another case study in luxury beliefs is the recent development in the New York City mayoral race. Zohran Mamdani is the product of the luxury belief system. A nepo baby whose successful parents gave him opportunities that most of his constituents won’t have. His platform is built on the pyramid scheme known as socialism. He is promising free and fast buses, city-owned grocery stores, rent freezes, and no-cost childcare, to name a few. These policies that supposedly will help every New Yorker will first and foremost not affect many of those who support him. Furthermore, the potential salary that Mamdani would receive as the mayor would be over $200,000. I do not hear him saying that he would forgo his salary because of socialism and equality for all New Yorkers, right?
Perhaps one of the most ludicrous luxury beliefs is the belief that Hamas is a group of resistance fighters and that they are worth rallying behind. Western elites, college students, and young progressives have all stepped in line to support a radical Islamist terrorist group, who, given the chance, would turn around and persecute the very coalition here in the West that supports them. The progressive movement stands for a plethora of causes that are counter to the worldview held by Hamas and radical Islam. The idea that those who hate the very fiber of our nation can now live within our borders, use our system to get positions of authority to alter our national DNA, is lethal. It will cause chaos and destruction if it is not rooted out.
Hamas is not a group to be championing. The level of depravity in which they treat their enemies, which includes any reader who is not a devout Muslim, is barbaric.
The West will be lost if we allow these luxury beliefs to overtake reason. Look at what is happening in Europe. A continent plagued with strife because weak, feeble minds allowed themselves to be lulled by utopian ideals that have now shown massive harm and dismantling of a social fabric that was once formidable. The Keir Starmer’s of the world are paid for by a luxury tax that the people cannot afford to pay. Instead, they are paying for it with their freedom, their children, and their future.
America, heed the warning and don’t be fooled by the smiles professing ideals that will only lead us away from liberty and justice for all.
Hannah Garces is the Associate Director of Generation Zion. Born, raised, and based in New Jersey, Hannah holds a BA in History and Jewish Studies from Rutgers University as well as an MA in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Since her first trip to Israel in college, a piece of her heart remains in the land. It’s that passion that drives her in standing up for Israel and against antisemitism. Prior to joining the team at the Philos Project, Hannah worked in the Israel advocacy space with StandWithUs for six years. She also has a background in event planning in the nonprofit space and weddings. In her spare time, Hannah enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, going on runs, and cuddling up with a good book.
