A Positive Tuesday

“He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.” —Voltaire This year’s news cycle has been especially brutal. It therefore seems worth it to briefly reflect on Tuesday’s two positive developments in the United States. Firstly, Dick Cheney passed away. It might seem callous to enjoy seeing an obituary, but Dick Cheney’s demise is an optimistic reminder that, if all else fails, time itself will eventually free us from the murderous monsters that haunt our world from their corporate boardrooms. In case you’re unfamiliar Dick Cheney, you will undoubtedly know his accomplishments—from the Iraq War to the international torture program and the unleashing of unlimited NSA surveillance. One short parable sums this man up: he was compared to Darth Vader and took it as a compliment. George Lucas, the creator of that villainous character, considered the comparison too kind. In lieu of justice being served through a court or an international tribunal, his victims will have to settle for his gravestone. It will suffice. The second positive story was the mayoral victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Mamdani himself is an impressive candidate; his campaign is perhaps the most impressive of my lifetime. If he delivers on his policies, such as combating the enormous cost of living by freezing the rent and providing free public transportation, it will significantly soothe the damage caused by the ravages of capital exploitation, which are quite pronounced in New York City. It is, after all, the financial capital of capitalism. The victory of an avowed democratic socialist in capitalism’s capital has significantly rattled the C-suite cages. Not only have the richest New Yorkers bankrolled his opponent’s campaign, both the Republican and Democratic parties have mobilized to defeat him—unsuccessfully. They have expressed much surprise that a “socialist” would run a capitalist city, but in truth, it’s not at all surprising. In Volume I of Capital, Marx wrote that capitalism “constantly reproduces the capital relation itself, i.e., the relation of the capitalists on the one hand, and wage workers on the other.” In simpler terms, the richer some capitalists get, the poorer and more numerous their workers become. That’s why Marx theorized that the place where capitalism would produce its opposition would be where capitalism was strongest. So I’m not surprised that New York would be the perfect city for a capitalist-critic to run for mayor. Zohran Mamdani was denounced by the party managers for being “radical” or “too extreme” and a “socialist,” despite the accusers clearly not understanding what that term even means. Nothing that Mamdani advocates for has qualified as socialist, and certainly not as radical. Germany adopted a universal healthcare system in 1883, with other countries moving in similar directions. In New Zealand, for instance, the Public Health Act of 1872 laid the basis for their universal healthcare system. Austria followed Germany’s model in 1888. What candidates like Mamdani and Bernie Sanders are trying to do is drag, with all their might, the United States into the 19th century. While both the Republican and Democratic Party are determined to keep the United States suspended in relation to the developed world, stuck in 18th-century stasis. Yet the reaction from the political establishment—of both parties—to Mamdani’s successful campaign based on such mild reforms was utter hysteria. Herein lies the real hope that Mamdani represents: his popularity heralds a rejection of the shallow career-oriented Washington liberals. The farrago of nauseating attacks levied against Mamdani (and by extension, against his supporters) by these obviously insincere ladder-climbers only backfired. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand even called Mamdani a jihadist in a radio interview. Chuck Schumer, another New Yorker and leader of the Democrats in the Senate, has supported Mamdani’s opponent Andrew Cuomo, a previous New York mayor who had to resign in disgrace after sexually harassing female staffers. He was also laughably corrupt and, during the pandemic, he forced nursing homes to admit people who tested positive for COVID-19, which killed many elderly New Yorkers. Cuomo couldn’t even be bothered to pronounce Mamdani’s name correctly. He kept calling him “Mandami,” switching the M and the N. The Democratic Party would rather support the return of that corrupt, oversexed, murderous, illiterate half-wit than represent working-class interests. But, hey, Andrew Cuomo was also supported by President Trump, so I guess the Democrats finally found one of those bipartisan positions they seem to like so much. There are reasons to be worried and cynical: so-far grassroots social movements in the US have not been able to survive elections (think about the 2003-2008 anti-war demonstrations, Occupy Wall Street, or the Black Lives Matter protests). Unfortunately, elections are seen as the vehicle for enacting change and therefore these movements often coalesce around a presidential election. Whatever the outcome, whether people feel dejected or victorious, the struggle feels concluded and people go back home. So far, nobody has articulated that the goal of these movements ought to be fundamentally changing the power-structure inside of the Democratic Party, or constructing a brand new one. Without such fundamental structural change, the outcomes of elections will matter very little. The party leaders are the ones who determine which representatives get elevated within the Party. Ironically, the Democratic Party does not have a democratic structure.Without adopting this North Star, our social movements will remain unable to survive past a single election. This is a topic worth exploring in more detail, which I will do in the future, but I’ll refrain from being too much of a “party pooper” today, so I won’t expound on it any further. In any event, the two forces we saw on display this Tuesday, the mortality of our enemies and the left-wing backlash to the recalcitrant Democratic management, should provide us some glimmer of hope. And that is currently a rare commodity.