After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.
His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal child care and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive.
But some have hit back, highlighting the quirk of geography that underpins some of this view. “He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said Dutch environmentalist and former government advisor Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election.
Verbeek backed this with a comment he had overheard in an Oslo café, in which Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal.
The problem with fighting is that there is a chance you will lose something. United States citizens still have it pretty good compared to most of the world. Yes, that’s falling fast, but I think it will take a generation or two for that to really sink in. So, it’s not bad enough to take chances just yet. (Lazy)
Also, there is quite a bit of corruption on every level, and most US citizens with any amount of power are more than willing to throw their neighbor under a bus if it will benefit themselves. This means that, should any sort of strike happen, there will be plenty of scabs and shitty rich people to squash that. (Fear)
Also, over the past many decades, public opinion has been manipulated into thinking that supporting the company is better than supporting your comrade. Quite a number of people think unions are a bad thing. And while they’re certainly can be bad unions, that does not make the concept bad. (ignorance)
For example, The huge amount of work and public support to required to entirely dismantle an industry like Health Insurance is unfathomably large. It would mean work loss for millions who won’t have skills outside that industry. The transition to socialized healthcare would undoubtedly be rocky at best—and people will die. And trillions of dollars would be “lost.” The rich would never allow it, they would sink the whole ship before caving to the people.
I’m all for it. Strike until 100% socialism. But people with kids? They are not so bloodthirsty.
A century ago, the church and the landlords were supreme, child mortality and child labor were commonplace here. The socialist trade union has broken the power of the church over the state. This has only been achieved through many and long-lasting strikes. Now we are the land of beer, chocolate and fries
Church took back its power while we were watching TV. Back to square one.
Stand up and start again 🧨
And don’t sit down next time ffs lol