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Robin Liberte’'s avatar

The NYC mayoral primary shows that young people will vote Democratic (and vote early!) if progressive or social democrats are on the ballot. It’s time for the Democratic Party to rebrand itself as the left-wing populist party it was always meant to be. One that fights for the Middle and Working Classes (including the working poor), AND the most vulnerable in our society, like the elderly, veterans, LGBTQ+, etc. “Out with the Schumercrats, now!”

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Wilfred Day's avatar

That should be "The Middle, Working and Workless Classes."

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Robin Liberte’'s avatar

👍🏼👍🏼

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Dr Hassan Hamed's avatar

I hope this is a great start for America.

Mamdani showed commitment to and concern about New Yorkers , not donors, not foreign countries or AIPAC , I hope he will be the next mayor of New York, and he will be a good example for “ Americans First”

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Mick's avatar

Nice essay Corbin, but two things - taxation is socializing society that needs everyone on the same page. Capitalism cannot be saved, it is the killer. And what is 'their fair share?' The massive accumulation of mammon is the rot at the center of any society's heart. We not only do not need nor can afford billionaires, we cannot afford multimillionaires. We cannot afford private wealth when the public is the victim/host of this parasitic mental illness - hoarding as addiction. No person/corporation should be private in wealth grabs. All corporations must be not-for-profit and employee/customer owned. Corporations need a reason to exist beyond bulemnia. All persons who earn more than 4 million/yr. are taxed at 99 percent, period, no exceptions. The 4 million is taxed at the same rate as someone who makes 40k$/yr. Greedy people do not need to be incentivised, they need a deep cleanse and a real job assisting society/planet to survive, then thrive. We build nothing that does not mitigate, in real time, 110 percent of all extraction/destruction. We build no more landfills to shove blown up buildings into. We tear apart the current useless govt. system of unaccountability, right next to the same treatment for corporate function. Now for the first thing - ALL resources of any kind go into surviving the climate catastrophe. Period. That will take 100+ years of continuous effort. You know of any wealthy person or corp. who will even look at that right now? Zero takers. Everyone, every citizen, does way more with way less. We are insanely spoiled and lazy and selfish. Our consumption levels, all the way from top to bottom, are egregious, wasteful, unrecyclable, and deadended. We have so much to do, and we have zero time to do it. This is what your great influence needs to focus on 24/7.

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Arthur Hays's avatar

I couldn't agree more. You are saying what maybe only a few people only lightly hint at. We are truly at a crossroads, for lack of a newer term.

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John Schwarzkopf's avatar

He needs to follow the FDR playbook. FDR was the last great, successful president who built shit and rescued the US from the Republican Great Depression. Definitely primary every corporate democrat that doesn't agree with his vision. Sharing this post with my subscribers.

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Sean I Ahern's avatar

If Mamdani is to govern according to his lights he will need to create a public bank to fund housing and infrastructure otherwise he will remain dependent on the very same financial elites he ostensibly opposes.

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Arthur Hays's avatar

Main takeaways:

A Muslim Democratic Socialist won the nomination for mayor in the biggest city in the country.

He didn't squeak by,. He crushed.

He won mostly by inspiring and involving tons of younger people, while appealing to ALL working people (not this demo or that demo, but literally ALL) through speaking in reality, not in pie-in-the-sky market bullshit slogans.

All the money, power, greed couldn't stop him from this victory. This was people-powered.

Once he takes office, everyone will need to help him in any way they can to make his plans a reality. Because all that money, power, and greed will be working full-time against him.

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Rebecca Abercrombie's avatar

Actually, Corbin—Mamdani’s Socialistic policies are the core strength for us. Capitalism is CENTRAL to the extraction aspect to this cluster fuck of a political system…as is the concept of corporations. We don’t want to save Captialism from itself—we want to create a social system that—oh, I don’t know—supports and nurtures the members of that society, which in turn will create a real force for the good of “people, planet, and peace”. We want to break up corporate monopolies—not just attempt to make them behave.

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Kerron Walker's avatar

When are we ever going to see the problem with both the democratic party and the republican party and run both off the field?

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Linda McCaughey's avatar

agreed. "bad" and "less bad" just doesn't inspire anybody.

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Matthew Knight's avatar

He ran as a candidate with the Working Families Party, which believes that you can’t win as an independent, but could win as a WFP candidate within the Dem Party. His race and three others in NYS are proof of concept.

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TomLaney's avatar

More reform bullshit. There are 140 MILLION Americans now in poverty. Most of them are fulltime workers. Thank the Dems and their company unions.

We need a Solidarity Movement that can win strikes, win the Peace and win good jobs for all. Fuck Capitalism and war.

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John's avatar

Strikes are both good and necessary. but they're also a symptom of a structural problem. Thought experiment: what if workers had 50? 60? percent of the voting rights in any corporation, by law. The shareholders collectively get what's left. Change the fundamental rules of management-worker relationships, merger viability, shareholder extraction, and so much more.

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Bob Morris's avatar

Mamdani won the Democratic primary. That is the Democratic Party at work. I just felt like I needed to remind you and other commenters that we are the Democratic Party and we should celebrate our victory and focus on beating the Republican Party candidate. That is the critical next step, and we won’t complete that step if we are focusing on beating up other members of the Democratic Party. Let’s be brave, lock arms and go beat the Republicans!

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Rebecca Abercrombie's avatar

Maybe the really progressive parts of the Democratic Party, but not so much the mainstream centrists—why do you think Mamdani—a Socialist—won?

This is the deviousness of this system that really can’t be bothered with actual representation of the public interest—it relies on the power of being the only other”game in town”…which leads to voter apathy, and the party’s continuation….

The Republicans have been enabled/supported at virtually every stage by the Democratic establishment, with its constant blah-blah about bi-partisanship—a mythical concept never really espoused by Republicans….

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Valentina Kostadinova's avatar

Stellar analysis of the root causes of our problems. I hope the approach you suggest works. I'm sure the fight against it will be vicious

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R D Noisemaker's avatar

I live nowhere near NYC and hadn’t even heard of Mamdani until a few days ago but he sure sounds like a breath of fresh air. Nice to have some good news for a change!

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Patrick Leggett's avatar

Cuomo is a plague upon New Yorkers, and Democracy…. He and the RethugliKKKans are equally corrupt…

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MakeTheWorldSafeForDiversity's avatar

If accusations of antisemitism don't work, what does the democratic party have?

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JerryM's avatar

Genocidal babykillers ?

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Justin Wells's avatar

Why didn't you acknowledge that he's a member of the DSA? That was core to how he got elected and the reason why people trust and want to vote for him. Those other things are good but him being DSA must be something we acknowledge when we're discussing how he got where he is now because that's what the Democratic Establishment is really afraid of, and why everyone came out of the woodwork to endorse Cuomo against him

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Wayne Teel's avatar

I agree. It is welcome that someone who cares about people, and costs, gets into a position where they can do something. I would add one thing to your message. We have to claw back the existing housing concentration now controlled by large corporations or financial firms. This will require increased regulation and enforcement, the very thing the MAGA thugs running the government wish to eliminate. Regulation is needed for most services with inelastic demand, foremost among them medical care and medicine. Housing is second. Inelastic demand means that even small changes in supply results in large fluctuations in price. Controlling a large portion of the market makes it easy to manipulate supply and dramatically increase profits. What the market will bear becomes a form of extortion without regulation.

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