Let’s be realistic about Mamdani here, because a lot of people expressed their disappointment in him lately:
At this stage in his campaign, he must have realized that if elected, he will be facing a State government and legislature where the establishment Democrats have every incentives to see him fail.
He will be dealing with a hostile Federal government who can threaten to pull millions and millions of funding and grants on a whim.
He will have to face off a fascist police force, the most militarized in the world, who will be eager to send “warnings” to his family, friends and supporters about their safety.
He must have realized that he will be dealing with the business leaders, the landlord tycoons, the Wall Street bankers, the criminal underworld - all of whom have formed such deep corruption networks with the municipal bureaucracy that all of them are eyeing him as a fresh piece of meat, ready to be squeezed dry, ready to be beaten and tortured into submission.
I would not even be surprised that at this point, his campaign must have received “invitation letters” by many such groups hinting at what role he’s going to have to assume, or else the consequences and the obstructions he will be facing as a mayor.
He has to balance all these forces while keeping the city running. He has to make sure the public services are not disrupted, the public transportations will continue to run, the welfare programs can be adequately financed, the school system will have ample resources, and so on and so forth.
I believe Mamdani is an idealist. He was outraged by the injustices in the world. He wants to change the system. He still believes in democracy. He’s a socialist who probably likes based communist memes on the internet.
But at this point of the campaign, he must have realized that he’s alone in this. He may have supporters and volunteers, but how many of them are willing to take a bullet for him? How many of them are willing to rally behind him to fight the capitalist class to the end? How many of them are ideologically committed enough to sacrifice their own lives to fight for his cause?
Although he’s supported by the DSA, I strongly strongly doubt the DSA has vast infiltration network into the key municipal posts that could deliver Mamdani the results he will need as a mayor. If he does not have the control of the municipal administrative branches, he’s going to be blackmailed by them, or shall we say, the vested interests behind them.
In a way, I feel bad for him. For he has no idea the sick and the twisted of the monstrosity of a system he will be caught into. It must have dawned upon him that he will be facing - alone - a monstrosity that can no longer be reformed. A system that has rotten to the core. A system that has no redeeming value but to be torn down.
But maybe if he plays his role as intended, if he plays his cards right, if he pleases the right people, he could somehow succeed in making some incremental gains, a little bit of progress. That, in his mind, wouldn’t be a bad outcome at all. Perhaps.
Pretty much. If you read his history, he faced no real political opposition. His “opposition” amounts to facing a Democrat in a state assembly primary once. He didn’t even run against a Republican. This is how un-battle-tested he is. We shouldn’t be surprised someone who lived a comparatively sheltered life and who has never faced real adversity would completely capitulate and fold like a lawn chair at the first sign of struggle. With someone as wholly unprepared for facing real adversity as he is, it doesn’t matter what he truly believes because he will not have the moral courage nor the tenacity of will nor the steadfastness to endure and overcome the forces that will do everything in their power to prevent what he wants from coming to fruition.
You don’t need to read a single leftist text to know that people who have never been punched in the face completely crumble when they get punched in the face for the first time. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” We’re seeing him getting punched in the face and watching him crumble under the pressure in real time.
I mean isn’t this just another way to explain the failings of entryism in the electoral context? You’re essentially manifesting support using an apparatus that has no desire for you and doesn’t care for you and it either doesn’t work at all, or if you co-opt it to some extent, you’ve now made enemies that see you fall in line and you’ve outpaced the militancy and support needed to prevent that.
It essentially leaves this type of campaign in the domain of opportunists and fools. Which I feel was already what was said about it repeatedly.
My point is that he needs a movement behind him whose energy he can channel and leverage to threaten the political and the capitalist class.
If you look at the history of labor movement throughout history, the capitalist class is afraid because the organized labor unions have actual means to shutdown critical infrastructure and networks in the cities, ones that would force the capitalist class to at least be willing to negotiate.
I do not believe Mamdani commands such force. I do not believe the DSA has such grassroots infiltration that allows them to control key municipal infrastructures that Mamdani can leverage (maybe they have been secretly planning this behind the scene and may surprise us, but I highly doubt it). If he has no leverage, he will be eaten alive. The city is built on more than a century of corruption. It will not yield to a new mayor that easily.
Adding that he will also have to deal with the media and journalists, who will certainly be on a power trip to paint a specific narratives to be propagated about him if he does not stay in his lane. And we all know that the establishment controls the media.
No I get those points. But assuming Mamdani and all of NYC-DSA also understand those points (as I’m very confident they don’t have that level of infiltration) and the nominal Marxist lines much of the DSA claims to be in (though I know many have accused NYC-DSA of having a reformist bent, even within DSA, and other orgs here accuse DSA of being reformist and opportunist in general) they should have seen the same coming ahead of time.
If we’re assuming some degree of competency, which I think is fair considering even the most baby leftists here know we have a strong lack of militancy, and assuming the Mamdani campaign didn’t know this would be assuming they are stupid, they would have been able to foresee that in such conditions, Mamdani would be forced into a position of capitulation. I’ve talked to people who seem to think the NYC DSA is involved in the capitulation, or are even leading it. Even if that isn’t the case, it means they let Mamdani’s idealism lead themselves into a pit. Thus, from the beginning, they should have known this was a difficulty they would face. Mamdani is not a single actor. And, from my understanding has done these capitulations with either the approval or at the behest of NYC DSA, and has done some of them after consultation with other parts of DSA. This was a campaign done with the understanding that such a force can’t be commanded, and dozens, if not hundreds, have had some degree of oversight for these issues.
I understand that he’s being put in the fire without the gear to protect himself, but all indicators I’ve seen indicates him and those that back him (in the NYC DSA) should have been able to foresee this, including what I’ve heard from others in DSA both here and IRL.
It’s easy for me to say, but if this is the real situation for him, then he should already be expecting failure for all of his stated goals, and instead work toward agitation and spreading class consciousness by demonstrating that reality to the people of New York. By staying quiet about it and adopting a concessionary line, he’s working against his own beliefs.
Let’s be realistic about Mamdani here, because a lot of people expressed their disappointment in him lately:
At this stage in his campaign, he must have realized that if elected, he will be facing a State government and legislature where the establishment Democrats have every incentives to see him fail.
He will be dealing with a hostile Federal government who can threaten to pull millions and millions of funding and grants on a whim.
He will have to face off a fascist police force, the most militarized in the world, who will be eager to send “warnings” to his family, friends and supporters about their safety.
He must have realized that he will be dealing with the business leaders, the landlord tycoons, the Wall Street bankers, the criminal underworld - all of whom have formed such deep corruption networks with the municipal bureaucracy that all of them are eyeing him as a fresh piece of meat, ready to be squeezed dry, ready to be beaten and tortured into submission.
I would not even be surprised that at this point, his campaign must have received “invitation letters” by many such groups hinting at what role he’s going to have to assume, or else the consequences and the obstructions he will be facing as a mayor.
He has to balance all these forces while keeping the city running. He has to make sure the public services are not disrupted, the public transportations will continue to run, the welfare programs can be adequately financed, the school system will have ample resources, and so on and so forth.
I believe Mamdani is an idealist. He was outraged by the injustices in the world. He wants to change the system. He still believes in democracy. He’s a socialist who probably likes based communist memes on the internet.
But at this point of the campaign, he must have realized that he’s alone in this. He may have supporters and volunteers, but how many of them are willing to take a bullet for him? How many of them are willing to rally behind him to fight the capitalist class to the end? How many of them are ideologically committed enough to sacrifice their own lives to fight for his cause?
Although he’s supported by the DSA, I strongly strongly doubt the DSA has vast infiltration network into the key municipal posts that could deliver Mamdani the results he will need as a mayor. If he does not have the control of the municipal administrative branches, he’s going to be blackmailed by them, or shall we say, the vested interests behind them.
In a way, I feel bad for him. For he has no idea the sick and the twisted of the monstrosity of a system he will be caught into. It must have dawned upon him that he will be facing - alone - a monstrosity that can no longer be reformed. A system that has rotten to the core. A system that has no redeeming value but to be torn down.
But maybe if he plays his role as intended, if he plays his cards right, if he pleases the right people, he could somehow succeed in making some incremental gains, a little bit of progress. That, in his mind, wouldn’t be a bad outcome at all. Perhaps.
Blah blah blah excuses for racism
Pretty much. If you read his history, he faced no real political opposition. His “opposition” amounts to facing a Democrat in a state assembly primary once. He didn’t even run against a Republican. This is how un-battle-tested he is. We shouldn’t be surprised someone who lived a comparatively sheltered life and who has never faced real adversity would completely capitulate and fold like a lawn chair at the first sign of struggle. With someone as wholly unprepared for facing real adversity as he is, it doesn’t matter what he truly believes because he will not have the moral courage nor the tenacity of will nor the steadfastness to endure and overcome the forces that will do everything in their power to prevent what he wants from coming to fruition.
You don’t need to read a single leftist text to know that people who have never been punched in the face completely crumble when they get punched in the face for the first time. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” We’re seeing him getting punched in the face and watching him crumble under the pressure in real time.
I mean isn’t this just another way to explain the failings of entryism in the electoral context? You’re essentially manifesting support using an apparatus that has no desire for you and doesn’t care for you and it either doesn’t work at all, or if you co-opt it to some extent, you’ve now made enemies that see you fall in line and you’ve outpaced the militancy and support needed to prevent that.
It essentially leaves this type of campaign in the domain of opportunists and fools. Which I feel was already what was said about it repeatedly.
My point is that he needs a movement behind him whose energy he can channel and leverage to threaten the political and the capitalist class.
If you look at the history of labor movement throughout history, the capitalist class is afraid because the organized labor unions have actual means to shutdown critical infrastructure and networks in the cities, ones that would force the capitalist class to at least be willing to negotiate.
I do not believe Mamdani commands such force. I do not believe the DSA has such grassroots infiltration that allows them to control key municipal infrastructures that Mamdani can leverage (maybe they have been secretly planning this behind the scene and may surprise us, but I highly doubt it). If he has no leverage, he will be eaten alive. The city is built on more than a century of corruption. It will not yield to a new mayor that easily.
Adding that he will also have to deal with the media and journalists, who will certainly be on a power trip to paint a specific narratives to be propagated about him if he does not stay in his lane. And we all know that the establishment controls the media.
No I get those points. But assuming Mamdani and all of NYC-DSA also understand those points (as I’m very confident they don’t have that level of infiltration) and the nominal Marxist lines much of the DSA claims to be in (though I know many have accused NYC-DSA of having a reformist bent, even within DSA, and other orgs here accuse DSA of being reformist and opportunist in general) they should have seen the same coming ahead of time.
If we’re assuming some degree of competency, which I think is fair considering even the most baby leftists here know we have a strong lack of militancy, and assuming the Mamdani campaign didn’t know this would be assuming they are stupid, they would have been able to foresee that in such conditions, Mamdani would be forced into a position of capitulation. I’ve talked to people who seem to think the NYC DSA is involved in the capitulation, or are even leading it. Even if that isn’t the case, it means they let Mamdani’s idealism lead themselves into a pit. Thus, from the beginning, they should have known this was a difficulty they would face. Mamdani is not a single actor. And, from my understanding has done these capitulations with either the approval or at the behest of NYC DSA, and has done some of them after consultation with other parts of DSA. This was a campaign done with the understanding that such a force can’t be commanded, and dozens, if not hundreds, have had some degree of oversight for these issues.
I understand that he’s being put in the fire without the gear to protect himself, but all indicators I’ve seen indicates him and those that back him (in the NYC DSA) should have been able to foresee this, including what I’ve heard from others in DSA both here and IRL.
It’s easy for me to say, but if this is the real situation for him, then he should already be expecting failure for all of his stated goals, and instead work toward agitation and spreading class consciousness by demonstrating that reality to the people of New York. By staying quiet about it and adopting a concessionary line, he’s working against his own beliefs.
I feel like this bit is just applying sinophobic Chinese government consipracies to US politics, the language is the same.
Great bit then.