It was not long ago that I had cause to suggest that Plaid Cymru's victory over Reform and Labour in the Caerphilly by-election was a reason for hope, and nothing has changed my view on that since then.
Now we have another cause for hope. As the New York Times has reported:
Zohran Mamdani, after a triumphant campaign built on progressive ideas and a relentless focus on affordability, will become the city's first Muslim mayor, and its youngest in more than a century.
They added:
In nearly every facet of Mr. Mamdani's identity — his ethnicity, his religion, his democratic socialism, his age, Mr. Mamdani represents change. And in his first remarks since he was declared the winner of Tuesday's election, Mr. Mamdani, 34, shied away from none of that.
Then they noted this
“I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older,” Mr. Mamdani said, in one of several laugh lines of the night. “I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.”
This is a stunning victory, with Mamdani taking more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Why does this matter? Firstly, because he is:
- Of Indian descent
- A Muslim
- A democratic socialist, and unashamedly so
- And young at 34.
Secondly, because he beat the old-school corporate Democrat Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent with vast financial backing after failing to win the Democratic nomination, and could not turn his high-powered support and money into victory.
Third, because the Republicans came nowhere for all practical purposes, having backed Cuomo in a sign of their desperation.
But, fourth, most of all, because this result is so fundamentally upsetting for the status quo of politics in the USA and elsewhere, by showing that if a person of conviction, using arguments based on justice, and with the gall to display both those things in public, stands up to power, a mass of people welcome them with open arms.
The people of New York (who are admittedly not representative of the USA as a whole, but are nonetheless a bellwether for what might be true in many cities elsewhere) have shown:
- They don't want those associated with corruption and abuse, as Cuomo was
- They reject the existing hierarchies of power, as Cuomo again was
- They do not want the status quo of neoliberalism
- They do not accept that there is no alternative
- They are willing to believe change is possible
- They will trust those who say that it is, if they can communicate the message in ways people understand.
Of course, the pressure on Mamdani now is huge. People will expect overnight change and he will not be able ot deliver it. But something will have changed, nevertheless. From the Clintons, to the Obamas, to the Bidens and the Harris camp, the message is clear: your days as cowardly politicians who saw problems and then walked away from them because neoliberal economics said that only markets could solve the issues you refused to address are over.
Markets have not delivered, and nor has politics of your sort. It has, instead, failed, and now it is time for those who understand that only action by elected officials can change things to take the reins and deliver what people do not only want but desperately need if they are to have a chance of surviving in places that are as inhospitable to economic (and every other form of) well-being that cities like New York now are, through no fault of those living there.
That is the Madani message.
It is one of hope.
It is one of clearing the dead wood.
It suggests that change is possible.
It signals the end for the old-style Democrats, and simultaneously for Labour as we have known it here in the UK.
Those who have corrupted supposed left-wing politics by forcing it rightward have had their day.
Now it is time for real change.
I live in hope.
Taking further action
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here.
One word of warning, though: please ensure you have the correct MP. ChatGPT can get it wrong.
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In the face of authoritarianism, defeat is not permanent.
People need to lick their wounds, gather their thoughts, gather their energy and their passion against repression.
Then change happens. And it may happen faster than expected, just as the takeover happened faster than expected.
The hurts and harms of tyranny are the tinder. What it awaits is the match to light it.
There’s hope too in Holland where Kurt Wilders did poorly.He said ,I think, that it was fixed and on the news this morning they said Trump stated if he had had his own name on the ballot forms his party would have won.Such arrogance and bad losers.When the Democrats lost to Trump they accepted it humbly.
I remember before the vote last year , where Trump got in, he said if he lost he would not accept it and what with the ‘attack’ on the White House he shows himself to be a nasty, narcissistic selfish man.
I hope the same fate will await Reform as happened to Wilders.Reading about them they seem to be a total shambles
“he shows himself to be a nasty, narcissistic selfish man.”
More like Time Bandit style pure concentrated evil
My view is that the political centre – both centre-right and centre-left – is undergoing collapse across ‘western democracies’. In some times and places this facilitates the rise of further left parties – for example Syriza, Podemos (still effectively part of the governing coalition in Spain) and LFI (France) – and in other times and places the further right rises. But the real driver is neither left nor right policies – it is the fact that the old centre-left-or-right duopolies are expressions of the status-quo, and it is this that is failing. Significant groups of voters feel this, see that the political centre has no real solutions, fails in practice, and they want more radical change. Both activists and voters are moving to the extremes. In the US this has meant an extreme right takeover of the Republican Party – and maybe now a further left takeover of the Democrats. In France it has meant the decline of both the old duopoly parties and rise of more extreme parties.
But I think there are also specific lessons to learn from Mamdani (and Polanski, for example, in the UK) – and these include understanding that elections are not going to be won on the centre-ground anymore – at least until we again establish a status-quo most people are reasonably happy with – and especially that it’s now best to say loudly and clearly what you think regardless of how the other side might seek to distort it.
I’m not convinced that describing Polanski or Mamdani as “extremists” is either valid or useful.
They are not right wing, but they are really not extreme leftists, either.
They do not accept that neoliberalism is the only way to run economies – but there are other options that were not imagined by Marx or his followers.
There is a political argument that Polanski and Mandami reflect the actual centre ground of the electorate. What they don’t do is fit in the ruling class definition of the “centre-ground”. This “centre ground” is the post cold war free market society of Reagan-Thatcher. It is the ideology of the Westminister media bubble. It is the ideology of those who aspire to work in the West Wing. In this “centre ground”, we are only given the chance to change the bells and whistles. Those that tie us to a rigid idea of the “centre ground” don’t want the centre ground to gain power.
Very hopeful. As you say, it doesn’t lie in Mamdani’s power to make all the changes, certainly not at speed, and the orange one has threatened NY funding. But I don’t doubt he will be transparent and level-headed about this and people will understand better what needs to change to allow progress.
It’s certainly very good news from New York, and the rise in popularity and membership of the Green Party here since the election of Zack Polanski as leader gives us a bit of hope too.
So much still to change..
In my own frustration and anger with matters as they are, it is all too easy to forget that what usually brings down injustice and corruption is the lack of modesty as they think they become kings and queens of the world.
Over time, driven by fanaticism, the reality of what these people are reveals them for who they are. They bring themselves down. That is when people will give others a chance. Let’s hope we see more of it.
Yesterday, I saw a CNN programme where a panel was discussing Zohran Mamdani.
One of the panellists, Scott Jennings, a conservative political commentator – and racist – remarked that fellow panellist, David Hogg, an activist, had donated $300,000 to Mamdani’s campaign fund. He went on to say that it must have been the only “non-Islamo-Marxist” donation that Mamdani’s campaign got.
Hogg’s reply? People were voting for Mamdani because his message resonated with them; they were fed up of Rolex watch-wearing people, like Jennings, lecturing them on affordability.
Elsewhere the Democrats did very well; in Virginia and New Jersey (Governors) and California’s/Newsom’s Proposition 50 passed (re-districting to counteract gerry-mandering by Texas Republicans) and in other elections. I agree, however, that the Democrats’ old-guard need to be retired; their time is up.
The high cost of living, high unemployment, loss of affordable health care and food stamps for the poor, tariffs etc., as well as a tone-deaf Great Gatsby themed party for the wealthy is not going down well. It has taken too long but people are beginning to fight back. The oligarchs and their pet politicians maybe on track to get the Order of the Boot.
Hope lives.
The party Democrats did their best to prevent this happening, and are trying to scupper left wing candidates elsewhere in the States. Let this be a lesson for them, and let Caerphilly be a lesson for the equally craven Labour Party apparatchiks here in the UK, that their cowardice is as harmful to democracy as any Trumps or Farages.
Yes, excellent news from New York – and indeed from everywhere in the US that had elections, with Democrats winning in every single race (e.g. Governors, state elections and state supreme courts, etc), by large margins. And the polls on all issues looking really ugly for King Donald and his MAGA cult. See Rachel Maddow for an excellent and comprehensive break down: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show (third segment from the top).
That said, the same polls show 30% still identify as MAGA – BUT – approaching 50% identifying with the No Kings movement. Meanwhile Trump did an interview with 60 Minutes – the same programme that Trump sued because they edited out a small section of an interview with Kamala Harris shown four weeks before the election.
Cowardly CBS paid Trump $16 million to settle that case. So, with the boot on the other foot, an enterprising US journalist had a look at the transcript of the interview with Trump. CBS broadcast 37 minutes. But the actual interview ran to over an hour. Why edit is so (and also reposition some of sections)?
Well, I spent an enjoyable hour yesterday evening reading the transcript. And my comment on X after doing that was:
‘Just read the entire transcript. Bloody hell fire! Trump’s even more demented than I thought. No wonder CBS never broadcast the entire interview. Trump’s an egotistical, narcissistic, compulsive liar. He brags nobodies’ ever seen anything like it – too right. Bonkers beyond words.’
For those who might want to check on my conclusion, the link to the transcript is below. If you don’t want to read it, then just scroll through and have a look at how much CBS deemed so bad they didn’t want to broadcast it (marked blue on the left side of the pages). But even in the broadcast segment Trump’s responses are full of lies. Ultimately, though, this confirms my view that MAGA is a cult, because nobody in their right (or right wing) mind can read this and think Trump should be anywhere other than sitting in his retirement home at Mar a Largo.
https://decodingfoxnews.substack.com/p/trump-cbs-interview-what-was-and?r=1nd17&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
,
Thanks
The Free Dough Geeks website has a summary of Mamdani’s headline policies
State-run grocery shops.
Redirect police funding to social services.
Raise taxes sharply on high earners and companies.
Impose a rent freeze on regulated apartments.
Pay for all bus fares.
Mandate a $30 minimum wage.
Free childcare.
Spend heavily on green housing projects.
Limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
I’m not sure that people who can afford bus fares should get them for free and would withdraw the passes from pensioners excepting those on Pension Credit. It’s only £2.50 anyway and taxis are good value. But that seems a good set of programmes with the right amount of populism.
Thank you, Lucy.
The tax breaks given to Musk’s group of companies alone, over $950m, would cover the free bus services.
When property is put up for sale, they can / will be acquired by City Hall.
State run grocery shops and even chemists are to be found in Italy and work well.
NYC should copy North Dakota and set up a banking utility. Brazil, too, for a cashless app.
I had to turn off the Today programme as Justin Webb kept referring to cheap public transport and crèches as extreme left. On the hour, the newsreader referred to Mamdani as radical left. The BBC is not good for one’s health.
“State-run grocery shops”
If one believes in affordable social housing where rents fund investment not profit & dividend payouts to the rentier, then why not social grocery stores where fair prices are paid out to TRUE food producers and not profit & dividend payouts to food processors.
“One word of warning, though: please ensure you have the correct MP. ChatGPT can get it wrong.”
To be on the safe side, just send “it” to all the UK MPs. Flood the email mailboxes!
If it is not to much effort feel free to copy each US Congress Critter as most Senators and House Representatives are too preoccupied with campaign fundraising to realize you are in the UK as there is a London Kentucky, Glasgow Kentucky, Durham North Carolina, Lincoln Nebraska and Birmingham Alabama.
LOL! LOL!
Not allowed, or rather, they can just ignore it.