As much as we are New York exceptionalists, the struggle that New Yorkers are facing here is not a distinct one. Itās a struggle to afford rent, child care, groceries, public transportation. Thatās a struggle working people are facing across the country and frankly across the world.
And for a long time, especially here, the idea that democratic socialists could have answers to these struggles and a vision that could go beyond recognizing them and actually resolving them was treated as if it was an intellectual premise. And what weāve shown over the last six months is this is what it looks like if you operate with democratic socialist principles. You put the city on a path to universal child care. You speed up the slowest buses in the country.
I think what people are looking for is a politics that is relevant to their day-to-day life, and too often it feels as if those on the center-left are simply explaining why things are this way, as opposed to answering how we can make them better.
I know Mamdani is funny and he's good on social media and he's also young and cute which doesn't hurt but I think the fundamental issue is he sounds like a sane human being who means what he says, which is a normal experience anywhere but in politics where it's absolutely shocking.
and I think to beat him you can't call him a raving lunatic, like obviously people do and some people even believe that, but realistically you have to out-sane him with sensible policy proposals that aren't coming from someone who would be cast as the villain in a children's movie.
I think whenever we talk about the importance of increasing taxes on the wealthiest in order for everyone to have a chance at affording life in the city, you will hear the idea of capital flight. And what weāve seen time and again is a lot of the fear-mongering is not actually borne out.
I think, similarly, when weāre talking about a proposal to tax the secondary homes of nonresident New Yorkers that are worth more than five million dollars, itās hard to find a New Yorker on the street who will tell you thatās a step too far.
like this exactly, it just doesn't sound like Radical Socialism Out of Control, and while you can try and make it scary you also need to present a compelling alternative that goes beyond "if we tax houses worth over five million dollars their owners will stop creating jobs out of pique"
The left frames this as folks that own a business throwing a fit, when it's clearly a logical choice, and one for which they advocate.
"If the place you live doesn't offer the opportunities you desire, move to a place that does."
sure, but if he's taxing non-resident houses, this has already happened! a profitable business opportunity generally remains profitable after taxation, and if effective redistribution ends up boosting consumer demand then it could even become more profitable.
