Split New York City Mayoral Race

[Derec]

Is the proper time and place to serve watercress sandwiches with crusts in your forthcoming your etiquette book?

 

[Politesse]

But I grew up under actually existing socialism, and know that it does not work.

We all did. Our American economy is a blended system by design.

 

[Derec]

We all did. Our American economy is a blended system by design.

BS. While every economy has a public sector, that does not make them socialist.

"Actually existing socialism" refers to socialist countries, i.e. those where economies are dominated by public ownership and control of the means of production, such as those in the Warsaw Pact, but also countries like Titoist Yugoslavia.

 

[Politesse]

We all did. Our American economy is a blended system by design.

BS. While every economy has a public sector, that does not make them socialist.

"Actually existing socialism" refers to socialist countries, i.e. those where economies are dominated by public ownership and control of the means of production, such as those in the Warsaw Pact, but also countries like Titoist Yugoslavia.

It does not surprise me that you would think so. I rarely meet conservatives who understand the distinction between socialism and communism in the first place, let alone what it would mean to adopt some socialist principles but not others. It's always silly lopsided conversations like "So I was thinking, we would really benefit from unionizing the support staff here at our lucrative company whose stock I am heavily invested in" "OH SO YOU WANT MONEY TO BE OUTLAWED EH?"

 

[Derec]

It does not surprise me that you would think so. I rarely meet conservatives who understand the distinction between socialism and communism in the first place

I understand the distinction pretty well.
The countries like USSR that are called "communist" colloquially were not actually communist, but socialist. Note the name, "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". Similar with Titoist "Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia".
Sure, they were ruled by communist parties, but communism was the end-goal of the evolution of socialist societies, and one that had not been achieved in any actually existing socialist country.
That's where jokes like these come from:
Caller: We are told that the communism is already seen at the horizon. What then is a horizon?
Radio Yerevan: Horizon is an imaginary line which moves away each time you approach it.
And
This is Armenian Radio. Our listeners asked us, "When the final phase of socialism, namely communism, is built, will there still be thefts and pilfering?"
We're answering: "No, because everything will be already pilfered during socialism."

, let alone what it would mean to adopt some socialist principles but not others.

Mamdani may have toned down his rhetoric when he decided to run for mayor, but only a few years ago he was much more honest about what his endgame is. I do not trust that the change of rhetoric represents a genuine change in what he wants to accomplish.

It's always silly lopsided conversations like "So I was thinking, we would really benefit from unionizing the support staff here at our lucrative company whose stock I am heavily invested in" "OH SO YOU WANT MONEY TO BE OUTLAWED EH?"

Except Mamdani is on video talking about his end goal of seizing the means of production, and on another video talking about abolishing private property. Both have been posted upthread.

 

[bilby]

I grew up under actually existing socialism, and know that it does not work.

Great.

Did you also learn from that experience that it isn't brought about by city mayors, no matter how large or wealthy their city?

Or are you too busy trying to scare people to notice that the New York Mayor doesn't control US federal or constitutional law, but is instead bound by it?

Mamdani could be the most fervent revolutionary communist since Lenin, and he still couldn't turn NYC into a replica of your "actually existing socialism" - because that isn't one of the powers a city's mayor has.

You seriously need to stop being scared of non-threats. The fear of non-threats is the most significant contributing cause to the rise of MAGA insanity, which unlike Mamdani, is a very clear and present threat to the USA.

 

[Derec]

Did you also learn from that experience that it isn't brought about by city mayors, no matter how large or wealthy their city?

That does not mean that he can't do a lot of damage. For example, I think his rent freeze is part of a gambit to force expropriation of landlords who own rent-controlled apartment buildings. That would be well within his power.

You seriously need to stop being scared of non-threats.

And you seriously need to stop being blind to threats. Just because Mamdani cannot declare People's Republic of New York as mayor does not mean he cannot do a lot of damage.
But there is also a longer term threat. He is hailed by some as the future of the Democratic Party. The danger is that DSA types that think like him take over the Democratic Party nationwide like Trump/MAGA took over the Republican Party.

The fear of non-threats is the most significant contributing cause to the rise of MAGA insanity, which unlike Mamdani, is a very clear and present threat to the USA.

I think both are threats. MAGA is more immediate, since they have federal power, but that does not mean that Mamdani/DSA are benign.

 

[Politesse]

Whoever heard of a benign politician? A ballot is a vote for the crook whose interests most align with yours, or generously, with the overall health of your nation as you understand it.

 

[Derec]

Whoever heard of a benign politician?

Fair enough. I was grading on a curve, taking this into account.

A ballot is a vote for the crook whose interests most align with yours, or generously, with the overall health of your nation as you understand it.

Indeed. Mamdani's policies may appeal to many people's shortsighted focus on self-interest, but they will not be good for the City, nor for those same people's long-term self-intrest. That too is where he and Trump are alike.

 

[laughing dog]

Is the proper time and place to serve watercress sandwiches with crusts in your forthcoming your etiquette book?

Your pronouncements on what is not appropriate to eat during an interview and how not to eat. When did you become Amy Vanderbilt of etiquette?

 

[unapologetic]

Your cutesy byword for "an election", I guess?

Well I consider the MAGA takeover of the republican party to be hostile.
Rump does not believe in, refuses to accept, elections he does not win.
The Repug controled congress refuses to compromise. Treats their voteing as winner take all.
So yes we are in 'hostile takeover' territory.

 

[Politesse]

That would be very relevant to the conversation if there were any evidence that Mamdani had cheated in his election. But he didn't.

 

[steve_bank]

On the flip side progressives ignore basic economics despite negative consequences of policy

Even in a communist system with no profit motive and no private property there is still economics. Allocation of resources, compensation(who gets what and how much), what gets produced, how much and so on. There s still financial accounting and responsibility.

I was born in NYC in 1951 and grew up in the Tri State area. Rent control in NYC was always an issue,.

NYC's rent control has not failed outright, but its implementation has created unintended negative consequences, leading to a smaller housing supply, deteriorating housing quality, and higher rents in unregulated units, as landlords are disincentivized to invest in maintenance or build new units when profits are suppressed below market rates. This creates a paradoxical situation where a significant portion of the rent-stabilized housing stock remains vacant while overall housing costs increase.

Here in Seattle drivers complained tey did not make enough money deiiverng food so the city placed a fee on deliveries. Prices for food delivery went up, demand went down, drivers complained they were mang less money than before.

I recenty heard an idea to tax big business like Boeing and Amazon to subsidize small business that can not make not on their own. Another welfare program.

Progressive Washington and Seattle keeps adding social programs and is chronically running out of money.

Our new governor campaigned on not taxing our way out of the financial crisis, and it did not last long.

The solution is to spend first tyhen find something to tax to pay for it.

Part of our finncial prbem was a relnce on federal welfae to suport soical prgms we can not pay for.


If the socialist gets elected I don;t think it loos good for NYC.

I listener to an in interview where he said he thinks there shiould be no billionaires.

Wealth disp0arity is always directed at big bushiness. What about the wealthy Hollywood actors, artists, musician,s bands. Mick Jagger invested the band's money and made them all rich. How about Oprah and Taylor Seift?

Progressives never seem to think things through.

Free market capitalism enables yourr favorite carft beers and wines. Your favorite musicians, bands, and TV shows., Movies.

Ideological progressives do not understudy basic economics. They think with a god like wave of the hand they will fix all wrongs.

 

[Politesse]

Progressives never seem to think things through.

Conservatives don't think at all.

 

[TomC]

Here in Seattle drivers complained tey did not make enough money deiiverng food so the city placed a fee on deliveries. Prices for food delivery went up, demand went down, drivers complained they were mang less money than before.

I don't understand.
Why did anybody deliver food if it didn't pay enough to so? Were they forced to do it? If nobody wants food delivered enough to pay for it then I wouldn't bother either.
Tom

 

[unapologetic]

Why did anybody deliver food if it didn't pay enough to so?

Maybe you're lucky, but most people I know are working jobs they hate.
Maybe they don't hate food delivery, and want to survive doing it.

 

[steve_bank]

Qualifications


Has a degree in African Studies. No organizational experience. Ideology will rule.

Before running for office, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention and housing counselor. There, he assisted lower-income non-white homeowners in Queens with eviction notices and efforts to remain in their homes.[29] He said the experience motivated him to run for office to address the housing and affordability crisis.[29]
Music career

Mamdani is a fan of hip-hop and has composed and produced rap music.[30] In 2016, under the moniker Young Cardamom, he collaborated with Ugandan rapper HAB on an EP titled Sidda Mukyaalo, which is Luganda for "No going back to the village".[31] The duo performed at that year's Nyege Nyege festival in Jinja, Uganda.[32] They first started working together in 2015, and their first song was Kanda [Chap Chap], about chapati, an Indian food that has been adopted as a Ugandan staple. Both rap in English and Luganda (and HAB also raps in Nubi and Swahili), and Mamdani said the "lyrics and choice of language are rebuttals of what Ugandan society expects of us—that someone with some South Sudanese roots is forever 'Nubi' and that Indian Ugandans are actually just Indians in Uganda".[33] Mamdani also credits Ugandan producer Hannz Tactiq, who provided the beat and would "record, mix & master" for them, and in whose studio they worked until late at night.[32][33]

In 2019, Mamdani released a single titled "Nani" under the moniker Mr. Cardamom, an homage to his maternal grandmother,[34] whom he described as "a source of joy, wisdom, and love".[35] Cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey plays his grandmother in the single's music video.[36] Mamdani also curated and produced the soundtrack for his mother Mira Nair's 2016 film Queen of Katwe.[37][38] As the film's music supervisor, he was nominated in the 2017 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards.[39]

We went through this in Seattle with the city council ‘defend the police’. Led by councilwoman Kshama Sawant who identifies as communist and wanted to ‘tear the system down’ and replace it wiith her vision of true democracy.

As the extreme progressive policies failed they got voted out eventually replaced by more moderates.

It destroyed the polce department and we are still catting up. Crime went up as police numbers went down.

I do not think his supporters know what they are really getting. He is an extreme activist with an agenda. Not a capable administrator. Like Trump supporters they think they are going to get some personal gain.

Mamdani Pushed to Cut 1,300 Officers From a ‘Racist’ N.Y.P.D. in 2022

Zohran Mamdani has said that critical remarks he made in 2020 about the police do not reflect his views. But as a state assemblyman in 2022, he still held anti-police positions.

www.nytimes.com

Mamdani Pushed to Cut 1,300 Officers From a ‘Racist’ N.Y.P.D. in 2022

At the time, Mr. Mamdani called for the New York Police Department to reduce its work force “by 1,300 officers through attrition.” He pushed to “immediately” end police overtime, freeze hiring, cancel new officer classes and “institute a moratorium on all new equipment purchases.”

Is he Marxists? He is looking at NYC through a bias of old African colonialism. His roots are in Uganda not America and western liberal democracy and free market economics.

Neither the academicMahmood Mamdani nor his son, politician Zohran Mamdani, are Marxists, though both have been described as such by opponents. Mahmood Mamdani is a scholar who has extensively studied colonialism and anti-colonialism, often using a critical lens that has led some to label him a Marxist. Zohran Mamdani, on the other hand, is a self-described democratic socialist. Africa.

 

[steve_bank]

Progressives never seem to think things through.

Conservatives don't think at all.

Fro where I sit as an independent centrist the left looks just as irrational as the right.

On the continuing budget resolution the left is getting squirrelly. Outright crazy rhwetoric.

Mamdani is about as qualified to be NYC mayor as Trump is president.

 

[ZiprHead]

On the continuing budget resolution the left is getting squirrelly. Outright crazy rhwetoric.

Can you point to some of this "crazy rhetoric"?

 

[bilby]

Fro where I sit as an independent centrist

Mate, you personify classical conservatism. You are not at the centre of anything, unless it is perhaps the centre of the right wing of politics.

Sure, you are left of MAGA. But so is literally everyone who isn't MAGA.