I get and agree that more progressive candidates are a good thing, but how much unilateral power does the mayor of one city really have, even if it’s NYC? Why is everyone, up to the top of the US government, chiming in on it?
Mandami is not a corporate candidate, he’s chosen by the people, and billionaires spent hundreds of millions of dollars to try to prevent him from winning. It’s a sign that the rich don’t have total control, and that their control may be slipping.
NYC is a trend setter
It probably doesn’t, but if it’s not one of Trump’s peodphile friends, it’s probably better for everyone. Don’t support Nazis, pedos or fascists.
I think the point is that it’s potentially trendsetting - if someone to the left of the Democrat establishment can win a hotly contested election against both the Republican candidate and the establishment Democrat candidate, with a tax-the-billionaires agenda in one of the economic centers of the US, maybe there’s still hope for the US at large. It shows that you can win elections with this kind of candidate and agenda, and despite fighting against both the Republicans and the Democrats.
If you can make it progressive there, you can make it progressive anywhere.
To add on to this, it puts a seriously progressive candidate in a position to actually implement some of the changes progressive folks have been championing, which has basically never happened before. If things work out well, it will serve as a real-life demonstration of the merits of leftist policy, which will hopefully force moderates/centrists to maybe confront some of their deeply held assumptions and start pulling in the right direction.
Results are a HUGE thing the opposition is scared of. They’re making sounds like Mamdani’s plans are bound to fail. They sound like bullies when you stand up, “I’m not afraid of you!” Well, if you weren’t scared of me, you wouldn’t have to announce the fact.
If they weren’t afraid of positive results they’d be laughing, “Fuck him. Let him burn NYC to the ground and everyone will see how these policies work out.”
Because if NYC was a country, it would be in the top 15 countries by GDP…
It’s kind of a big deal.
This needs more upvotes.
It’s quite likely the most powerful mayoral position in the USA.
How so? What powers does NYC mayor have that make the position so powerful?
The size of the population alone makes it one of the larger economies in the world, at the city-scale. It’s home to countless investment firms and Wall Street. It’s one of the most profitable real-estate markets. Many who go into business there are looking to profit off of the scale of both the sheer number of customers and the amount they can charge.
If his policies work there, it will be a huge rebuke to the idea that we must let the rich have everything they want in order for society to function.
NYC has motion.
He can’t enact those all policies on his own though, right? There must be city and state legislatures that he must work with on at least some of the big things he promised. If those assemblies are set against him, how much can he do?
If those assemblies are set against him, how much can he do?
Probably not much. But elected executives tend to hold a sort of “people’s mandate”. So he might be able to push his agenda, at least in part, via soft power. And if he can’t, he can rail against the council members publicly and possibly get people elected in those positions who do agree with him.
I will note that, imo, this is one of the flaws of allowing people to directly elect executives - they tend to take on a king-like position in the public imagination. Really people should be focused more on their individual representitive, as this is far more democratic.
That remains to be seen, but the hype is around having someone who will at least try.
Largest city in America and Mamdani is a socialist, we are heading in a very positive direction
In fairness, all our politicians are socialists. They only differ on individual/personal welfare vs. corporate welfare (industry subsidies, privatizing essential services, taxing workers more and capital owners less; gutting consumer protections, environmental regulations, and antitrust policy)
Corporate wellfare is the antithesis of socialism. Corporatism, libertarianism, oligarchy are words that come to mind.
Do not confuse these terms. If rational discourse is to be had, we must be clear on our meaning and intent.
You might want to spend some time learning about basic socialist theory. The wiki article actually isn’t terrible.
In addition to the other comments, New York City alone has a bigger population than several entire states.
It’s a big deal because Mamdani is a self-proclaimed socialist. And his victory gives a shred of hope to the rest of us who want to see the country run by rational, empathetic people rather than billionaires.
