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Zohran Mamdani’s Not Crazy, The Rest Of Us Are
I have no interest in debating New Yorkers about the merits of a Zohran Mamdani mayorship, but it's
AI and drone policing/warfare might have a significant impact on the conclusion that the rich need to give something to the starving, you know, in a world where morality is passe.
I see Mamdani as a test. Do Ds really believe in a “big tent”? And how bad do they want to win?
The things Mamdani believes are well within the traditional D tent, just not in the wealthy corporate neoliberal establishment VIP part of the tent. The people who support him are traditional D voters, its just that they’ve usually been canvassing in the rain not sipping champagne at high-buck fundraisers.
So do Ds shrink the tent because they don’t like the part of it that is most energized? Put another way, do they want Ds to win, or do they want only some Ds to win?
Related topic – Ds did very well on 2025 Election night – VA, NJ, CA.
Well if “Let them eat cake” could be a dangerous mantra…., instead of driving a Ferarri California wearing haute couture, wouldn’t U feel better drivin’ an F150, GMC or Dodge Ram Rebel. :)(A little humor).
I was hoping somebody would ask this.
Here’s a loaded F150: https://www.palmettoford.com/new-Charleston-2025-Ford-F+150-Platinum-1FTFW7L82SFB55393
Here’s the Ferrari: https://preowned.ferrari.com/en-US/a/north-america/used-ferrari/usa/foreign-cars-italia/ferrari-california/ZFF65LJA2A0172215-1760955306170
The Ford’s $86,000. The Ferrari’s $104,000.
Point being: In today’s world, the price comparison’s not quite as extreme as you might be inclined to believe.
In the same vein, go look at Banana Republic’s full price selection and compare it to, say, the sale section on Helmut Lang’s website.
Helmut’s hardly haute couture, but it’s low-line luxury. The day I pay $200 for a Banana Republic sweater instead of $230 for an on-sale Helmut hoodie is the day I pay $86,000 for a new Ford instead of $100,000 for a used Ferrari.
(That loaded F150 is more expensive than my 2024 Benz AMG. How ridiculous is that?)
rem is right. You should buy the Ferrari immediately.
Yeah, but can the farmers use the AMG as a write off?
You know it’s funny: One of the longest of long-time readers here once suggested I should get a G-Wagon because apparently it weighs enough to qualify for some kind of business write-off. But brand new they’re $40k or so above the high-end of the range I can psychologically justify paying for a vehicle.
You ain’t into the Ford Raptors and Dodge Ram Hellcats, they’re more than the Ferrari
That is an absolutely gorgeous car. I had to take care of some things the past week, so I am getting caught up- in reverse order- but hopefully you have already wired the funds and have that car parked in your garage.
Love that design (impossible to beat a Ferrari in the design department) and the color, too.
Hope, also, that you have a great mechanic 🙂
It should be the “the wealth of nations” not
“the wealth of greedy individuals”
Almost nobody in America is a capitalist.
We are herd animal. We are socialist.
So correct. Aid to Families with Dependent Children, SNAP, Section 8, Medicaid, Social Security, etc. are not programs for the poor. They are programs for the rich. Share just enough so that the poor don’t rise up.
“I’d gladly give up half of my wealth if I was guaranteed to keep the other half.” -Joseph Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy had it figured out.
Excellent insights Sir !!
Nail hit on the head!
As someone living outside the US, I would say the article is spot on. It is inconceivable to me how US citizens have been sold such a bill of goods/myths. No wonder the society is so troubled.
Yeah. We’re crazy as hell over here.
I carried the typical “horrified” attitude of Americans toward European socialist democracies, handed down to me by my parents. Then I visited Swden and learned that the Swedes don’t mind high taxes. They have a productive, creative society. They enjoy the services their government delivers. If they wanted to change to our system, they would vote to do so. They don’t want American capitalism.
Yeah and crucially: Two things can be true at the same time. It’s certainly true that the incentive structures built into American-style capitalism go some way (not all the way, but some way) toward explaining why America’s such an innovative place (although I’d note that a lot of the innovations we attribute to capitalism incentive structures are initially born of government research grants). That in no way invalidates the criticism that says the end result is cartoonish inequality.
There’s no free lunch!
If you take that saying literally and are not living in a jungle (hopefully), what do you propose, say for disabled people, unable to work to earn enough income to survive; or an abused spouse left with a number of mouths to care for and feed on her own?
I prefer the Ferrari 512BB “Boxer” myself. Once upon a time, I received a bonus sufficient to buy said Boxer. I did not, even though it would have been a decent investment, until that lovely 12 cylinder needed its first service, which expense you defer by never driving your investment Ferrari. It was a good thing I didn’t, because the next several years were, financially speaking, not as prosperous.
Excellent article sir.
Coincidentally I was reading Gary Stephenson Trading Game this week , a lot in common with the key points from your article.
Hint on the Ferrari , if you cant plug it into a trickle charger every night, your going to get quite frustrated, lovely car otherwise.
You make a lot of sense. We have veered off from the track and it won’t be pretty.
For those of us with some memory will recall that the income tax system used to be quite progressive up till 1981 with top tax rates of 70%. The great republican financial acumen that sold us the false god of trickle down economics dramatically reduced top rates eventually down to 28%. Darn those pesky left wing wacko democrats raising rates to almost 40% during Clinton’s reign of terror. Such horror. The great concern then was that there might not be any 10 year treasuries issued to price mortgages against. How the times have changed.
In the days of Howdy Doody, there is always a Mr. Bluster!
I am skeptical that Mamdani can provide the ideas/leadership to have any meaningful impact on reducing the income disparity that exists in NYC- based on some of his suggestions; such as halting rent increases on the 1 million, “rent-stabilized”, privately owned apartments (once you qualify, you are in forever- even if your income increases such that you would no longer qualify).
However, admittedly, whatever we are doing now is not working; so if NYC’ers are no better off in 4 years, they will be able to try someone else.
I am in the last half of The Power Broker- so all I can see at this point is existing or the potential for corruption.
A 2% surcharge on individual income over $1 million ( > 20X the median) doesn’t seem like a huge deal to me, especially if it’s used to support a universal public good like mass transit.