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Samizdata quote of the day – New York elects avowed socialist edition On paper, he is the kind of Democrat that might have been invented in a laboratory of perverted social science by a MAGA Dr. Frankenstein: a socialist, an immigrant, a Muslim, son of a movie director and a professor of postcolonialism, holder of a degree in “Africana studies,” a 34-year-old whose experience runs the gamut from co-founder of the Bowdoin College chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to membership of the New York state Assembly for the last five years, with stints as a rap producer and tenant organizer. Have I missed anything? Well, his employment experience does include a gig as “third assistant director” on the 2016 Disney movie “Queen of Katwe,” whose director, Mira Nair, is Zohran’s mom.
– Gerard Baker, writing in the Wall Street Journal about Zohran Mamdani, who won by a clear vote yesterday night.
That old line from H L Mencken of people getting the government they want “good and hard” is getting a lot of use these days.
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Samizdata quote of the day – New York elects and avowed socialist edition
– sure we need the “d”?
Will things in New York city deteriorate fast enough to ensure a sweeping victory for the Repblican candidate for President in 2028?
So much for Disneyland North. Manhattan will now be returning to its pre-Batman Gotham status.
@James Strong
Will things in New York city deteriorate fast enough to ensure a sweeping victory for the Repblican candidate for President in 2028?
No, on the contrary. I see a lot of conservatives licking their lips waiting for schadenfreude, but New York is the financial hub of the country, arguably of the world. As New York is crushed under this dreadful new regime we will all suffer, the US and world economy will suffer. And regardless of who is actually to blame, people’s pain at he grocery store translates at the ballot box.
And even were there to be an even bigger exodus from New York, not just of people but of financial businesses, that will take a LONG time. And let’s be clear, these people are not above bribery. So they will put in places cutouts and deals to try to prevent many of the biggest financial institutes from leaving. It is just everyone else who will be miserable.
So there is nothing good about this, nothing at all, for anybody.
Wanna know the future of New York? This guy did some of his campaign ads in Arabic.
Hard to believe in my youth I used to admire and idealise New York. Now it’s one of the places I have the most contempt for, and I felt that long before I knew who Mamdani was.
I’m old enough to remember the hellhole that was NYC in the 1970s. Homelessness, squalor, a corrupt police force (think Frank Serpico), and a soaring murder rate.
There was a comedian then named Nipsey Russell. His shtick was to tell his jokes in little rhymes. One of them ran: “Things are so bad in New York, the economy is so sick, the Statue of Liberty’s not holding her torch. She’s just standing there flicking her Bic.”
It took nearly two decades, and Rudy Giuliani becoming mayor, to turn the city around, but things did get better. I suspect that whatever damage Mamdani inflicts the city will survive him.
Another Detroit coming soon?
It’s very interesting.
The libertarian view on this result is “This is not a bad thing, all things considered”, given that the guy is obviously not a bad sort. It should be cheered on.
There is another view, of course. It is not libertarian, indeed *cough*. Toodle-pip.
Sometimes our base suppositions are 180 degrees off. That makes communication difficult. ” . . . obviously . . . “? 😉
I’d discount what he has said in the past year, and lean more heavily on his life before that, and so your “obviously” rings rather untrue to me. Plus, I suspect that your “not a bad sort” is defined differently than mine is. Mine goes more to ideology than to personal characteristics.
Now that he’ll hold power, we’ll get to see his true self. So, perhaps I’ll change my mind in a year or two.
That strikes me as one of the most portable areas of business. What is there about NYC qua a city that makes it indispensable to finance?
Let no one say “the people of New York City did not know what they voted for” – they knew, they were told – repeatedly, and a majority of them voted for the person – a majority, so Curtis Sliwa dropping out would have made no difference (even if everyone who voted for Mr Sliwa had voted for Mr Cuomo, Mr Mandani would still have won). Mr Mandani stands for the destruction of Israel (the extermination of seven million Jews – which some people from Jewish families CHEER in New York) and the destruction of liberty (of “capitalism”) in the United States and other Western nations – and the replacement of what liberty remains (the fragment of liberty that remains – only a shadow of the liberty that New York and elsewhere once had) and its replacement by the slavery of Collectivism.
Yes, I know, many of the people who voted for Mr Mandani were immigrants whose English is not good enough to understand written or spoken arguments (only slogans promising them “free” this or “free” that) – and, yes, the left have long controlled the education system (including most private schools) and most (although not all) of the media. There are many excuses that can be made – both for the immigrants and the native born people who voted for Mr Mandani.
However, deep-down, the people who voted for Mr Mandani knew (they knew) they were voting for evil – and they did so of their own free will. Just as the people who voted for Mr Jay Jones (who desires not only to murder his political opponents – but also to murder their children) to be Attorney General of Virginia knew (they knew) they were voting for evil – and they did so of their own free will.
First, I would refer the Gentle Readers to Mamdani’s victory speech, which is available online. Note particularly the pride in being both a Muslim and a Socialist AND his statement that ‘There is no problem too large for the government to solve, and no concern too small for government to be involved in.” I reiterate a previous plea for people to get themselves, their families, and their assets out of New York City, including corporations and institutions. I would add that holding the debt obligations [bonds, etc.] of NYC and its components may not be wise. Finally, as a retired Peace Officer I advise NYC Police, Fire, and EMS personnel to be ready to bail out, otherwise they might find themselves involved in events both morally and constitutionally unjustifiable.
Subotai Bahadur
The one good thing that may come out of all this horror – is an end to the “filibuster” rule in the United States Senate.
Everyone knows that the Republicans could pass a budget, a budget with real reductions in government spending, and could ratify appointments in a timely manner – “the Democrats will not let us – you see we need 60 votes” is PATHETIC – it is unacceptable.
Either govern – or resign. No more “we need 60 votes” nonsense.
Fraser:
But financial services are not as reliant on face.to-face interactions as they used to be.
Warren Buffett does his business from Nebraska, why can’t the NYSE do its business from Florida?
Besides, i remember you predicting that De Santis would get the nomination in 2024 and go on to defeat. Shouldn’t you be more cautious in your predictions?
But not as big reductions in gov.spending as under the current shutdown.
Snorri – there are not major reductions in spending under the shutdown – and some of the delays will end up costing money. There are some real reductions – but nothing like could be achieved with a proper budget (if the Republicans removed their heads from their backsides – and ended the filibuster rule, nothing can be achieved if it requires 60 votes in the Senate).
But I agree with you about financial services – there is no need for the to be in New York City.
The dominance of New York in banking and finance came in the late 19th century – partly as a result of the Civil War era National Banking Acts (which favored the New York banks) – it does not even have the oldest stock market (that is in Philadelphia – but, with computers, the stock market could be anywhere).
The time of New York City as a major financial center is coming to an end – it will NOT end at once, but by the end of Mr Mandani’s term, everything will have moved out of New York City.
As for the “Islamic factor” – “how could New York City vote for a follower of the Crescent Moon to preside over the 25 anniversary of 9/11?” and other such statements.
Step forward former President Bush – whose reaction to 9/11 was to make a speech saying how wonderful Islam was – a speech that would have been worthy of His Majesty King Charles the third.
Such an attitude (whether based on ignorance or dishonesty – I do not know) not only doomed the war in Afghanistan (and elsewhere) to defeat – it also undermined resistance to Islam in the United States.
Witness, for example, the new Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
Just as a funny segue – here in Minneapolis, in the mayoral race, we are celebrating because the incredibly progressive Democrat incumbent squeaked by with a win over the explicitly socialist and Islamic DSA candidate.
The Somali community is promising riots.
Watch this space!
bobby b – yes, a “community” that hates the United States, and should have never have been allowed in to the United States (the city gates should be open for friends, but closed to enemies – which also includes the Mamdani family, the father makes no secret of his hatred for the West), is making threats. The socialist candidate for Mayor of Seattle (NOT a Muslim) also lost.
The Lieutenant Governor (Elect) of Virginia is interesting – the lady is supportive of “Gender Affirming Care” for infidel boys.
A common Islamic practice for male slaves was castration. Renaming an old practice makes it sound “modern” and “Progressive”.
As for Neonsnake well if the “Toddle-pip” person thinks that Mr Mamdani is “not a bad sort” then the “liberty” that Neonsnake wants is the liberty to steal, destroy, and murder.
Funny point about the Somali community here in Minnesota:
More than half of them are quite close to what I would call conservative in their values. Strong family ties, work ethics, small business creators – I know some, especially among the elders, and they’re overall great, stable people who want to succeed and fit in.
But they are completely dominated at the community level by an almost warlord culture of activists who are committed to taking whatever they can get from everyone else. (Led, of course, by Ilhan Omar.)
It’s like an old New York City machine state with them. They rule over their small society with an iron hand, demanding everyone’s ballot forms, and punishing dissenting voices. The Minneapolis City Council is dominated by their voices, along with the usual cadre of guilty white women.
Most of the normal Somalis are simply too scared to object – just as they were in Somalia – and the warlord-supporting voices tend to be well-rewarded. (See the so-far-total of between 1 and 2 BILLION DOLLARS that that community has stolen in the last 24 months from the State of Minnesota and the federal government. The crim trials have been extensive and awesome.)
If they can kill off the warlords, the rest of the Somalis will, I think, be good neighbors. But they’re pretty cowed so far.
Please don’t tell me anyone here sincerely believes the Republicans would cut spending if they got rid of the filibuster.
Regarding the election of the idiot Mamdami to be Mayor of New York City, nobody really seems to have paid much mind to whether he will actually have tge powers to fulfil much of anything that he has promised.
He’s promised to tax the rich to pay for his many and costly promises, but New York City is not a state and has only limited powers of taxation, and none of those powers vest in the Mayor. State income taxes are voted by state legislators in Albany, few of whom will be much interested in voting tax increases to pay for the promises of a city mayor far away. City taxes are voted by the city council, who will likewise have little interest in voting tax increases.
His promise of of a free bus system is likewise not within his powers to make – he does not control the NYC Mass Transit Authority.
He may be able to implement a rent freeze as he has promised – remains to be seen.
As far as most of his other promises are concerned, they are dependent upon tax revenues which (as noted above) he has no ability to raise. They will, necessarily, die on the vine.
His most-ludicrous promise – that he will have Israeli Premier Netanyahu arrested if he sets foot within NYC – is so patently beyond any power he possesses as mayor that I’m frankly bemused, not only that he was stupid-enough to make it, but that voters were stupid-enough to believe it is something that he has the power to do.
He honestly seemed to believe that he was running to be some sort of King of an independent nation of New York City, who merely had to promise whatever he wanted in order to make it so. Hopefully, the voters will soon figure out that they’ve been dragged into his fantasy, that it bears little relation to reality, and they will either toss him out on his ear, or leave. It will be amusing to watch.
llater,
llamas
llamas: Everybody keeps telling me that the mayor of NYC has very limited powers, and won’t make nearly the difference that he claims he will make, and so it’s no big deal.
But then I remember the eras of the various mayors of NYC, and it appears to me that, statutory powers or not, that choice of mayor made a huge difference in the city’s life.
By the “he has no powers” thinking, a Dinkins was a de Blasio was a Guiliani was a Bloomberg was a Beame.
But they weren’t. There were huge differences in what they affected.
@bobby b
That strikes me as one of the most portable areas of business. What is there about NYC qua a city that makes it indispensable to finance?
You can make movies anywhere, so why do all the movie people live in Hollywood? You can make amazing technology anywhere and zoom it to communicate. So why is it that nearly all big tech companies are in Silicon Valley? Why? Because people are there, and despite the zoom revolution, people face to face still matter. And especially so in all these industries which are extremely incestuous. You have to be having dinner regularly to be part of the network of people who move the billions.
But it certainly can move. In fact I hear there are stock exchanges being set up in both Florida and Texas. But it takes a long time to make it happen. Morgan Stanley cannot just shut up shop and move to Dallas, and the NYSE is not moving to Tampa any time soon.
@Snorri Godhi
But financial services are not as reliant on face.to-face interactions as they used to be.
See my comment to BobbyB above.
Warren Buffett does his business from Nebraska, why can’t the NYSE do its business from Florida?
Warren Buffett is a huge outlier. His mantra is buy and hold, so he isn’t doing a lot of trades and deals. And, FWIW, he owns NetJets, so I think he can get around pretty easily.
Besides, i remember you predicting that De Santis would get the nomination in 2024 and go on to defeat. Shouldn’t you be more cautious in your predictions?
With all due respect, what a dumb thing to say. You think that because I was wrong about something a long time ago that I am now no longer able to comment on anything? FWIW, I don’t remember saying that, but I don’t doubt you are right. The Trump election was nothing short of a miracle, and I still find it hard to believe that he managed to navigate through such impossible odds.
Sadiq Khan’s powers are also limited but he has made huge, probably irreversible, progress towards the “evolution” of a once great city.
Some political persuasions and demographics are an awful lot better than others in making limited, and often highly questionable, powers go a very long way.
P.s. I am astonished that Omar Fateh was not elected as Minneapolis Mayor. A thousand Tom Hanks related memes will now have to be put on hold.
A fun task for any journalist will be test Mandani on his skills in understanding a balance sheet, revenues and outlays.
Popcorn 🍿
bobby b – I have read what you say, and I respect your personal experience. However, Islam is what it is – and this, I believe, will invalidate your hopes.
John – yes Mayor Khan has done great harm, and “Mayor Mamdani” will have much greater powers to do greater harm. By the way – Mr Fateh was not elected Mayor of Minneapolis because most people there are still white Americans – although many women did vote for him (as their maternal instinct has been used against them – they no longer have children and love them, they have been taught to love “refugees” instead), some women managed to break free of the indoctrination of the education system and the media (including the entertainment media) and voted against him.
Johnathan Pearce – I respectfully disagree with you. I think Mayor Elect Mandani could answer questions about a balance sheet and revenue and outlays – I suspect you believe he will do harm out of honest ignorance, whereas I think he will do harm on-purpose – deliberately.
To destroy what was once (admittedly many years ago) the greatest “capitalist” city on Earth and was once the greatest “infidel” city on Earth, would be a major achievement – it would mean he would become a hero to both his Islamic and his Socialist supporters around the world.
Remember he wants to destroy the city – the “Social Justice” stuff is just a means to that end.
Mr Mamdani is, to some extent, best understood as a combination of two characters from the film “The Dark Knight Rises” – Bane and the lady who turned out to be really in control of the plan to destroy “Gotham” (New York).
Mr Mamdani’s victory speech was instructive – no more Mr-Nice-Guy – his hatred (vicious hatred) for Americans (and Westerners in general) was obvious – as was his desire to utterly destroy what is left of liberty (of “capitalism”).
And Mr Mamdani has already served a useful purpose – he has revealed that people such as “Neonsnake” are not well meaning but misguided – they are evil.
In Virginia the new Attorney General (most senior legal officer) is someone who not only wants to murder his political opponents – he wants to murder their children as well, he wants to watch as their children “die in their arms”.
And in Maine (nice civilized Maine) the Democrats not only voted AGAINST voter I.D. (so that the voter fraud the media denies happens – can carry on happening) they also elected a murderer as a Democrat councilor.
But it was only “second degree” murder (what we call “manslaughter”) because she claimed that the tourist she tortured to death had called her a “racist” name.
So it is not just theory Johnathan Pearce – it is not just “joking” about murdering people and murdering their children, the Democrats vote for people who put theory into practice and actually do kill people.
“They are our neighbours – they would never murder us”.
Their minds have been poisoned against you, poisoned by the education system and the media (especially the entertainment media) – they will turn on you, and you (conservative Americans) must be ready to defend yourselves, your families and your fellow conservatives.
You are no longer dealing with “political opponents” – you are dealing with enemies, enemies who want you, and your family, dead.
The murderer of Charlie Kirk had never even met him – the murderer had been TAUGHT to hate Charlie Kirk – and such would-be murderers are Legion now.
For example, if someone rams a car into immigration officers trying to murder them, the City Council of Los Angeles will give-the-man-an-award.
They will give a would-be murderer an award – for his attempt to murder immigration officers.
This is not the “lunatic fringe” of the Democrats – this is the mainstream.
They want to do to all conservatives what they did to Charlie Kirk.
First as tragedy, then as farce…
We’ve been here before, but this time around the masks have dropped.
Behold the first “limousine liberal” – the article nicely summarizes his failed mayoral tenure, which gutted the middle class and any remaining manufacturing base in NYC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lindsay
Mamdani was elected by the “progressive” grandchildren of the “liberal” New Yawk Jews who elected Lindsey… I can say that because that is my original tribe. My aunties were taken with Lindsey’s patrician image just like the grandchildren have fallen for Mamdani’s radical chic.
The grandparents were organized-labor social-welfare “liberals”… some are shocked that the kids are full-blown nihilist-Marxists.
But only some… most have full-blown TDS and have pasted anti-ICE stickers on their wheelchairs.
I keep telling my Israeli friends that we have enough crazy Leftie Jews of our own… musn’t let these people in when it all collapses.
Like, I suspect, just about everyone else on this blog I am appalled by the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of NYC. But surely his election is a symptom: people are willing to vote for a self-avowed socialist because they perceive the current system as not working for them.
I’m not sure what to do about it, though. From a libertarian standpoint, that the current system is not working should be a good opportunity to promote deregulation, tax cuts and the like. Unfortunately, the chances of that catching on in contemporary New York are just about zero. But just about zero is not the same as zero, so I still think it’s worth a try; from little acorns do mighty oaks grow, and all that.
bobby b:
“I’d discount what he has said in the past year, and lean more heavily on his life before that”
I honestly don’t know much about him outside of what I’ve read and seen in the last year-ish. Whilst I don’t agree with *all* of his proposals, by any means, he’s been pretty full-throated about supporting marginalised groups, and appears to be on the side of the working class rather than the ownership class, which to me speaks well of him.
Given that the (only realistic) alternative was Cuomo, I can certainly understand why people are pleased with the result. Proof will be in the pudding and whatnot, of course.
“And Mr Mamdani has already served a useful purpose – he has revealed that people such as “Neonsnake” are not well meaning but misguided – they are evil.”
lol
@bobbyb – of course you are right, and I was unclear, focussing mostly on the actual powers and fiscal capacities of the mayor. From a social and political viewpoint, of course, Mamdani will have tremendous impact – NYC will be bathed in a constant stew of Pride/climate change/trans/TDS/soak-the-rich/Free Palestine/Free S**t for Everyone/systemic racism/Defund the Police/ nonsense, most of which will have no positive impact for NYC residents, but will serve to support his rise to ever-higher things in the Democrat party, where failing the voters and trashing the constituency is no bar whatever to progress. From Coleman Young, to Nancy Pelosi, to Maxine Waters, to Gavin Newsom, to AOC, and so on, the Democrats have consistently elevated leaders who managed to exploit the sheer magic of an electorate who would vote for them regardless of how badly they were represented or how self-evidently corrupt their so-called ‘leaders’ were. Mamdani is just the latest iteration, he won’t be the last.
llater,
llamas
One *minor* reason why i believe that the modern Western diet induces brain damage, is that modern Western people do not realize that, in North America, “”the left”” has always been the party of power, and “”the right”” has always been the party of we the people.
OK, there are many people (including Paul Marks!) who understand that. But most of them (including Paul Marks) still do not understand that their fellow citizens do NOT understand that.
I am certainly pleased. Why prolong the agony?
Besides, i have never much enjoyed visiting NY City.
I actually enjoyed more driving around in LA.
But London beats both, AND Paris, for me.
(Although i have been to Paris only during 2 miserable winters.)
As we saw with Brexit, there was no collapse in the number of job in the City of London. The reason the jobs are here is that London has a huge pool of individuals with skill in the area of finance and business.
Any financial company contemplating moving from New York to Florida will need to think hard about whether their employees will come with them, or resign, or demand to work from home permanently. There is a lot of ruin in a major city.
By contrast, London’s problems are not wholly due to our mayor, who I believe has comparatively little power compared to the mayor of New York. Mainly, London’s problems are due to Britain’s problems.
Of course, if and when New York financiers move to Miami, they are likely to take their values with them, and the cycle starts over. There is something to be said for restrictions of movement to be applied between individual states/regions, or at least political suffrage/citizenship being required at both the state and national level.
@Ben David
I keep telling my Israeli friends that we have enough crazy Leftie Jews of our own… musn’t let these people in when it all collapses.
Jewish people confuse me — obviously I’m speaking in generalities here, each individual Jewish person obviously has his or her own thinking — but on the one hand Jews have shown themselves to be exceptionally smart, innovative, hard working and with good judgement. In everything that is, except voting. In voting they seem deeply self destructive. FFS they just voted for a “from the river to the sea” guy. This is the very definition of self destructiveness.
I’m a huge admirer of the Jewish people, that they have survived and thrived despite the fact that it seems the whole world has been against them for three thousand years. This is quite remarkable. After the Holocaust they moved to a howling, empty wilderness, devoid of resources and transformed it into a paradise in the desert. Also remarkable. So why oh why do their lose their minds in the voting booth?
Oh, and completely off topic, but I need to rant about it… it seems the shutdown is going to affect air travel because controllers are not being paid. This is such an insane situation only the government could spin it up. The airlines are still paying for ATC via the fees they pay to the airport. However, because the money goes through the sticky fingers of the government it is a whole huge political football. Why can’t the airlines just pay the ATCs directly through the airport? Why is the federal government involved at all?
And as to SNAP, again why is the federal government involved at all? Surely that is a local matter? I saw this video of a perfectly able bodied New Mexico woman in her fifties complaining about how hard SNAP was to live on, and she should know since she has been on SNAP for THIRTY YEARS! How is that possible? Then the governor of New Mexico kicks in with a “we are a compassionate government and we will cover what Donald Trump is screwing up”. Sure, great. Why isn’t it a state (or come to that county) responsibility anyway? How is it possible that there are nearly fifty million people on SNAP? You can get a job at McDonalds that will more than cover any money you’d get from SNAP, plus they give you a free meal to boot! Of course if you have a true disability that is an entirely different matter. But if you can work and you aren’t, why on earth should we feel any need to help you, except in the short term?
I mean I understand the desire to help the truly destitute, Americans are charitable people and will and do help. But this, and our welfare programs in general, are truly insane. Bristling with graft, dishonesty, fraud and theft. And I think the worst part, bristling with ingratitude. This is why I hate the word “entitlements”. If we called it what it is “charity” at least their would be some acknowledgement from the recipients that they are receiving help from the generosity of others, and might show some gratitude, and perhaps seek the dignity of providing for themselves.
OK, rant done.
(Oh for non Americans, SNAP, supplemental nutritional assistance program, or food stamps, is a federal program that helps low income people by providing debit cards they can use at grocery stores.)
neonsnake – may your lies turn to ashes in your mouth, you will then have some difficulty in laughing.
Fraser Orr – your question about the self destructive behaviour of some (some) Jews has already been answered by Ben David, it is depressing but such self harming people exist – their “compassion” and “empathy” leads to their own destruction, but it also leads to the destruction of other people – and that should not be forgiven.
Food stamps – Clodius established free food in the city of Rome (interference in the price of grain, by government supply, goes back further – and that was bad enough) the collapse of the Republic happened a few years later – as one would expect.
The Federal “Food Stamps” program, as you know, dates back to 1961 – and has exploded in recent years (quite deliberately – for illegal immigrants and others). I am told that Brazil is even worse than the United States in this respect.
As for ending the shutdown and getting a rational budget, and passing needed such as proper I.D. and proof of citizenship for elections.
Everything depends on getting rid of the 60 vote rule nonsense in the Senate – the “filibuster” must go.
Paul, I have constantly argued in favour of those less fortunate, be those historically and/or currently marginalised groups, or simply the working classes. Sometimes the solutions that I advocate for are not strictly “libertarian”, in the context that “the state breaks our legs, and then gives us crutches and expects us to be thankful”. Advocating for strictly libertarian solutions without looking at the broader context is for 12 year olds.
I would massively prefer them not to break our legs in the first place, but I will not pretend that I’m unhappy at the provision of crutches if that’s all that is being done.
The state does enormous damage in first degree terms with all of it’s many laws that prop up the rentier class (Tucker’s Big Four come to mind), and then weakly mitigates against them with welfare etc to prevent an uprising. You would throw out the second degree mitigations that keep people alive without addressing the first degree harms that have put them in that position to begin with. That is flat-out evil.
You appear to perfectly happy with people’s legs being broken (including your own, from what I’ve gathered about your personal situation), and then you will cheer on a state that takes their crutches and throws them away.
Accuse me of telling “lies” all you like. Accuse me of being “evil” all you like. You know (“know”, not “not know”) that neither of those things are true.
Statistically speaking, this seems to be true only of American (& Canadian??) Jews.
British, French, and of course Israeli Jews do not vote auto-genocidally … again, statistically speaking. Actually, British & French Jews vote more “conservatively” than their Gentile compatriots.
Another twist is that the vote of American Jews has actually very little impact, when compared to their intellectual (Marcuse, Hofstadter, Chomsky, Alinsky, etc) and financial (Soros et al) impact on American politics.
Still, it is interesting (if troubling) that most American Jews share the views of the few of their number who will be the last to feel the impact of the like of Mamdani.
Good advice.
neonsnake – you have openly stood with evil, having full knowledge of what it is.
You are evil.
Snorri – it is the same strange kink that led some (some) Jews to support the Black Panthers in the 1960s – people whose first targets were Jewish merchants in the cities, who they robbed. Some of these merchants were also murdered.
However, some Jews did undergo a learning experience – for example David Horowitz recommended a close friend of his to the Black Panthers to do their accounts (yes – they had account books), unsurprisingly they murdered her (because she found out that some of the Comrades had sticky fingers).
His leftist friends told Mr Horowitz to forget his friend – they followed the Neonsnake line that fellow leftists must be supported (for “class” reasons or whatever). But Mr Horowitz found he could not forget his friend – some Jewish merchant in the inner city being robbed and murdered as a “capitalist exploiter” was one thing – but a personal friend was a bridge too far for him.
So, although the process was very difficult for him, David Horowitz turned-away-from-evil.
It is difficult – but it is possible, someone can follow evil and (with great moral effort) decide not to follow evil any more.
We all viewed the victory speech of Mr Mamdani – even someone who was totally ignorant of his politics, could see the hate filled monster that he is – but even he (yes – even Mr Mamdani) could, at least in theory, turn away from evil – it is possible.
We all have evil within us – for example envy of others, and the desire to drag down people who are more successful, or more beautiful (or whatever) than ourselves, but we can also all overcome that evil – with sufficient moral effort.
It is not easy – for example I have a lot of evil in ME (hatred, anger, the desire to inflict revenge – and so on) and I struggle with it every day, every person does – everyone struggles with the evil within themselves, if only in small ways.
But it is possible to resist it. And we must call it out when we see it – in others, and in ourselves.
Fraser:
Read my comment again, and you’ll find that that is not what i said.
On that, we can agree.
A city which is full of leftist morons and default liberals who don’t pay attention voted for the bastard progeny of Edward Said. A shocking turn of events. I shall enjoy pointing and laughing as he accelerates New York’s death spiral.
A bit late, i wish to comment on this remark from Jon Eds:
It seems to me that it will be the employees, not the company, that will suffer the Mamdani effect sooner & harder.
My prediction is that the financial companies will follow their employees to warmer and more conservative climes. Gradually, then suddenly.
“From the river to the sea” is clear enough – Mayor Elect Mamdani knows this means the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea, seven-million-dead-Jews.
But those people, such as Alex Soros (Soros Jr is in charge these days – his father is in his 90s) who believe it is “just” the Jews of Israel who are to be murdered, are fools. Alex Soros, and people like him, do not understand that their “friend” Mayor Elect Mamdani just sees them as “capitalists” – to be used and then eliminated. As Lenin said “the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them”.
Nor is it “just” Jewish origin “capitalists” who are to be eliminated – all “capitalists” are to be eliminated (“first the Saturday people – but then the Sunday people” as the old saying goes), Mayor Elect Mamdani believes, or pretends to believe, that poverty is caused by “capitalist” “class” “exploitation” and “oppression” – Mayor Elect Mamdani believes that the “class interests” of “the workers” are opposed by the “class interests” of “the capitalists” the “owner class”.
There can be no peaceful coexistence with people who hold that the “class interests” of “the working class” are opposed to the “class interest” of the “owner class”.
Sadly in reality there is no “owner class” – there are some individual owners, and they have wildly different political and cultural beliefs and normally work AGAINST each other in political and cultural conflicts, but most of the economy is really not owned by anyone – it is controlled by institutions (due to biased tax laws and biased regulations) – pension funds and the like, whose shares are “managed” by entities such as BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard – who have shares in-each-other.
Biased tax laws and biased regulations have given us a position where such men as Larry Fink (who has never created a business, producing anything, in his life) are important figures – the head of BlackRock and, now, the head of the World Economic Forum.
For many years Mr Fink has backed DEI and other policies (including mass immigration – mass immigration of people who hate and despise the United States, mass immigration of enemies, yes-enemies, of the United States) that have produced Mayor Elect Mandani.
It is said that, as a man of Jewish ethnic background, Mr Fink now regrets what he has done for so many years – well it is a bit late for regrets now Mr Fink.
Before people jump in – I accept that the “big three”, in spite of having shares in each other, have some differences.
For example, Boston based State Street, headed by Robert P. O’Hanley, has historically been very much the same page politically as New York based BlackRock – supporting what used to be called Environmental and Social Governance (it keeps being renamed, but the goal of “ESG” or whatever it is now called, namely a totalitarian international Corporate State, remains the same – with “climate”, or whatever, being used as a excuse for this totalitarian agenda), whereas the people who control the, rather secretive, Vanguard entity (based in Pennsylvania – in a small town it is said to control, “better to be based in a small town you control – than be based in a big city you do not control”) are said to have some doubts.
I still regard it as unhealthy for the American economy (and the American Republic), due to biased tax laws, warped regulations and (my alleged “hobby horse”) the flow of Credit Money (which should not exist – see the Cantillon Effect), to be dominated by three share management entities – plus the Credit Bubble banks.