as socialists we do not aim to convince people by misleading them about our aims and practices. if you try that then you’ll end up disappointing and pushing them away.
i don’t expect him to say “ACAB” or be a Maoist but there are ways to phrase that kind of sentiment that will command majority support and legitimise that way of thinking amongst a populace constantly browbeaten into not thinking that way. instead he’s choosing to legitimise the role of police in a society which generally mistrusts and fears them. and he already won the election that actually matters. he didn’t back down on anti-zionism before he won the primary and it worked, so why start backing down on issues and flirting with mainstream democrats now?
The general election is still pretty risky. If Cuomo and Adams suddenly merge their campaigns it could be Bernie 2020 all over again. So Mamdani is definitely trying to appeal to the liberal-leaning masses right now.
as socialists we do not aim to convince people by misleading them about our aims and practices. if you try that then you’ll end up disappointing and pushing them away.
I think delivering successful socialist policies is the best way to win people over. I don’t think it matters how you get there.
you can’t deliver successful socialist policies through electoralism in the most violent, expansive capitalist state on earth. you can deliver social democracy, maybe, at the expense of the global south. electoral success in imperial capitalist society = inevitable compromise to the point of abandoning either internationalism or socialist domestic policy.
how is it american exceptionalism. it’s literally a criticism Marxists have levelled against bourgeois democracy for over a hundred years. i’m not even american
Why not? You can “trick” people to support any ideology. Fascists and liberals do this all the time.
Sure, but if he said “all cops are bastards, we need to get rid of them”, he would lose the election.
as socialists we do not aim to convince people by misleading them about our aims and practices. if you try that then you’ll end up disappointing and pushing them away.
i don’t expect him to say “ACAB” or be a Maoist but there are ways to phrase that kind of sentiment that will command majority support and legitimise that way of thinking amongst a populace constantly browbeaten into not thinking that way. instead he’s choosing to legitimise the role of police in a society which generally mistrusts and fears them. and he already won the election that actually matters. he didn’t back down on anti-zionism before he won the primary and it worked, so why start backing down on issues and flirting with mainstream democrats now?
The general election is still pretty risky. If Cuomo and Adams suddenly merge their campaigns it could be Bernie 2020 all over again. So Mamdani is definitely trying to appeal to the liberal-leaning masses right now.
I think delivering successful socialist policies is the best way to win people over. I don’t think it matters how you get there.
you can’t deliver successful socialist policies through electoralism in the most violent, expansive capitalist state on earth. you can deliver social democracy, maybe, at the expense of the global south. electoral success in imperial capitalist society = inevitable compromise to the point of abandoning either internationalism or socialist domestic policy.
That’s American exceptionalism, and it only applies if you are 100% honest in your politics on the campaign trail, which I’m saying you shouldn’t be.
If you woke up tomorrow morning as mayor of NYC, or even president of the US, what would you do?
how is it american exceptionalism. it’s literally a criticism Marxists have levelled against bourgeois democracy for over a hundred years. i’m not even american