After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.
His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal child care and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive.
But some have hit back, highlighting the quirk of geography that underpins some of this view. “He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said Dutch environmentalist and former government advisor Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election.
Verbeek backed this with a comment he had overheard in an Oslo café, in which Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal.
People get complacent. They will think this one voting season means a blue trend. They are so far from wrong it’s just… you gotta laugh. We are on the cusp of martial law… if this isn’t your primary political concern, then I dunno how to help you.
The ‘enemy’ the Americans face today is much more comparable to the ‘enemy’ the Europeans faced until the 19th century and before. The power of rich families and (large corporations) diminished in Europe in the 20th century, making the push for a better lifestyle a lot easier. Slaves and peasant weren’t complacent of themselves, they were made powerless by the system they were born in. If you look at history, the more powerful the US became on the world stage the more civil rights were established in less powerfull but equally developed nations. It’s no coincidence that since the second world war the Europeans increasingly got better healthcare, education, pensions etc while the American progression on civil liberties slowly came to a pause. It’s a complicated story, but complacency is a luxury only the well off can afford. A lot of those that are not fighting the system are busy getting by and trying to get to the end of the month.