It's all too easy to allow Mayor Bill de Blasio's buffoonery to distract from the fact that he is a hard-core socialist.

I'm not talking a "let's-raise-taxes-on-the-rich" socialist. He's the real thing and has been saying it out loud for years.

Let's just say having a socialist be mayor of your capital of capitalism is... awkward?

"What's been hardest is the way our legal system is structured to favor private property."

Therefore, it should surprise no one that Goldman Sachs, a preeminent Wall Street firm, is considering moving large parts of its operations outside of New York City.

And they are not close to being the only one.

This would be like the Grand Ole Opry leaving Nashville, the Cowboys leaving Dallas, or Antifa leaving Portland.

What about the talent that makes New York City so attractive?

They're leaving too.

City leaders might want to convince themselves that Covid is the cause, a once-in-a-lifetime event that will pass.

But it was also a catalyst. Covid has revealed many things that inertia, wishful thinking, and to some extent myth-making has kept out of sight.

First, there are the socialist impulses of the city's leadership as evinced by de Blasio.

"I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be."

"Who gets to live in it?" "What the rent will be?" It's almost as if he believes "the people" own the property, and by "the people" he means, "me."

"I think there's a socialistic impulse, which I hear every day, in every kind of community, that they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs. And I would, too."

People want "things to be planned in accordance to their needs."

Planned by whom?

You know who.

This is the opposite of capitalism, the economic engine that created New York City's wealth, it's culture, it's success, and it's tax base.

De Blasio has no conception of this.

"Unfortunately, what stands in the way of that is hundreds of years of history..."

Hundreds of years of American history and American prosperity. Standing in the way of true progress!

"...that have elevated property rights and wealth to the point that that's the reality that calls the tune on a lot of development…"

People deciding what to do with their own property?

Sounds like one of those right-wing extremist ideas I keep reading about.

Then he goes all-in.

"Look, if I had my druthers, the city government would determine every single plot of land, how development would proceed. And there would be very stringent requirements around income levels and rents. That's a world I'd love to see…"

Complete control. Over property, income, and rents.

These autocratic impulses have been in full flower during the pandemic, and many people are perhaps opening their eyes for the first time. The lockdowns, the "rules for me not for thee," the wholly capricious decisions to dictate which gatherings are permitted and which are not.

Second, people are discovering you can live quite happily outside of New York City.

I lived there for a number of years, and I can attest to the fact that the city has a real energy, and that is a rare thing. But is it enough?

Well, I left.

I hadn't quite completely drunk the New York Kool-Aid, and so still had my wits about me and knew what many people are only now finding out, as they've been forced to flee.

It is true that New York has unparalleled opportunities in entertainment, dining, museums, and more.

However, the reality is I have neither the time nor money to avail myself of all those opportunities. Very few if any, do. The Washington DC metro area, where I moved after New York, has too many such opportunities as well. I partake of them when I can, and frankly, if I want to do something special in New York, I can visit for a weekend.

Many parts of the country are like this, plus some offer advantages you can't get in New York, like bigger homes, lower rents, wide-open spaces.

Moreover, the rest of the country is not populated by toothless hicks, as many lifelong New Yorkers have been led to believe. Their eyes are being opened to that as well.

(Seriously, you would not believe what some of those people think about anything beyond the Hudson.)

There is a world beyond New York and Covid has revealed that.

Third is the Internet. Having worked from home, limiting travel, and doing meetings by video conferences, people are discovering that they can work from home in most instances, particularly in the finance industry.

It's not enough, and people will meet in person again, but it's only important that you live in a large, congested, and expensive city if you have to do that frequently. You don't. We know that now.

Fourth is taxes. New York could leverage its above advantages and just keep increasing taxes. It's worked so far, but things only work until they don't. Between state and city taxes, New York's high earners, the ones who have the greatest means to leave, pay nearly 13% in taxes. In Texas, Florida, and Nevada, they pay none.

You don't have to be a financial wizard to do the math on that one.

Finally, there is the bread-and-butter issue of crime. It's almost quaint to read de Blasio's words from this 2017 interview.

How much of the drop is because of precision policing — the better use of data to identify truly bad people?

It's a big deal. Absolutely crucial. In the eyes of our police leadership, there are less than 5,000 people in this city who are doing most of the violent crime. When you can really pinpoint resources on those people, you can start to see even more dramatic drops, and that's what happened.

What have been the results of de Blasio's enlightened approach to crime-fighting?

"It's not the future we wanted, but the future that happened."