While Mamdani doesn’t make my stomach churn quite as much as most MAGA politicians, he’s nonetheless an economic populist. A publication called the “UnPopulist” should be sounding the alarm on this fact more. We can stand against MAGA populism without falling into the opposite trap. We still need ideas and principles to stand for and defend against both (yes, both) right wing populism *and* left wing populism.
The argument here seems to be "he might do the exact opposite of everything he's said he would, in which case he'd be successful". Also some complaints about the "islamophobia" of accurately quoting things he's said about terrorism.
After New York City's near-bankruptcy in the Seventies, the state legislature assumed stronger control over the city's budget. Mamdani will have to get their consent to do many of the things he has promised. If his policies fail, he will blame the legislature.
Mamdani is a socialist authoritarian and an apologist for religious terrorists. He is a complete enemy of liberal values and, in my view, unfit for any political office. Supporting him is what I call "blue-MAGA."
Hoping he'll be an unprincipled, middle-of-the-road empty suit is the best-case scenario, but if someone lacks real ideas about politics, why get involved at all?
The fact that a candidate like this is taken seriously at all shows there's no real alternative to MAGA in mainstream politics. We're watching authoritarians win across the West by default, enabled by a total collapse of political expertise.
Good essay, and I very much hope your hopeful outlook pans out. But I suspect Mamdani's feeble gestures toward moderation are merely an electoral feint and that he's still the same glib extremist who declared that "Queer liberation means defund the police." As someone who's lived in New York for almost 20 years now, I'm expecting the city to experience a dramatic and irrevocable decline.
"Mamdami’s housing plan asserts that the city can build affordable units for $500,000 apiece using union construction workers. But many projects built with less costly non-union labor already cost more than that. Using union labor puts the cost of an affordable unit at a minimum of $800,000, according to the Real Estate Board of New York, with the price tag likely to reach $1 million in most of Manhattan or the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront." Source: Greg David, "The City"
While Mamdani doesn’t make my stomach churn quite as much as most MAGA politicians, he’s nonetheless an economic populist. A publication called the “UnPopulist” should be sounding the alarm on this fact more. We can stand against MAGA populism without falling into the opposite trap. We still need ideas and principles to stand for and defend against both (yes, both) right wing populism *and* left wing populism.
The argument here seems to be "he might do the exact opposite of everything he's said he would, in which case he'd be successful". Also some complaints about the "islamophobia" of accurately quoting things he's said about terrorism.
After New York City's near-bankruptcy in the Seventies, the state legislature assumed stronger control over the city's budget. Mamdani will have to get their consent to do many of the things he has promised. If his policies fail, he will blame the legislature.
Mamdani is a socialist authoritarian and an apologist for religious terrorists. He is a complete enemy of liberal values and, in my view, unfit for any political office. Supporting him is what I call "blue-MAGA."
Hoping he'll be an unprincipled, middle-of-the-road empty suit is the best-case scenario, but if someone lacks real ideas about politics, why get involved at all?
The fact that a candidate like this is taken seriously at all shows there's no real alternative to MAGA in mainstream politics. We're watching authoritarians win across the West by default, enabled by a total collapse of political expertise.
An excellent, well-reasoned analysis that deserves many more views!
Bowdoin is a College. not a University
Good essay, and I very much hope your hopeful outlook pans out. But I suspect Mamdani's feeble gestures toward moderation are merely an electoral feint and that he's still the same glib extremist who declared that "Queer liberation means defund the police." As someone who's lived in New York for almost 20 years now, I'm expecting the city to experience a dramatic and irrevocable decline.
"Mamdami’s housing plan asserts that the city can build affordable units for $500,000 apiece using union construction workers. But many projects built with less costly non-union labor already cost more than that. Using union labor puts the cost of an affordable unit at a minimum of $800,000, according to the Real Estate Board of New York, with the price tag likely to reach $1 million in most of Manhattan or the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront." Source: Greg David, "The City"
Let him govern and then we’ll find out.
Isn't that the same logic that helped get us not one, but two Trump presidencies?
How much more "finding out" is needed?
A municipal union strike will be his first big test.
Democrats happy with Mamdani, Sanders, and AOC will oversee the demise of the party.
Yep. Blue-MAGA is no alternative to MAGA, but I think the issue runs far deeper than democrats.
For generations, professors, academics, and political commentators have shaped a flawed intellectual foundation in mainstream politics.
Electing even the least vile democrat (certainly not Mamdani, who is an enemy of liberals) might buy time, but it won’t fix the core issues.
Real change requires confronting these deeply entrenched bad ideas.
Very well expressed.
And we desperately need a reasonable opposition party.