Plenty of New Yorkers who voted for Zohran Mamdani in last month’s City Hall election previously backed Donald Trump at the ballot box, despite their obvious political differences, new data reveals
further proof that the “left/right” political divide is bullshit
i heard a great lecture on it last week calling it an “empty significand” because it doesn’t mean anything. the idea behind it is that if you reduce the meaning within your category, that’s a good thing because you’re implementing the intersection set of many different people’s political view, which is necessarily going to be rather small.
most people just want to live. they vote for mamdani, because they want to live and recognize they need economic support to do so, and they voted for trump because he promised (but didn’t deliver) on lowering the cost of living. most people don’t really care about anything else.
The left right divide is real but the way we frame it in the US is wrong. It’s not about some amorphous culture war issues the media pushes though - it’s about class and who controls the levers of power. What people are asking for with the way they vote is for some of that power to be shifted back into the hands of the working class.
The need for economic support is a need for more equitable redistribution of resources across society writ large. The only way to have sustainable and long term working class prosperity is for some of that power to be permanently wrested from the hands of the rich. Some would argue that ultimately all of that power must be taken away.
This is also why politically we should focus on real and simple examples on how leftwing politics can and will improve the lives of the majority of people. This doesn’t mean, that we should stop protesting against fascists and their action, or that we shouldnt aim for a revolution to overthrow capitalism, just that we should always aim for improving everyone’s lives and this also means, that we shouldn’t block reformist actions just because they are reformist.
further proof that the “left/right” political divide is bullshit
i heard a great lecture on it last week calling it an “empty significand” because it doesn’t mean anything. the idea behind it is that if you reduce the meaning within your category, that’s a good thing because you’re implementing the intersection set of many different people’s political view, which is necessarily going to be rather small.
most people just want to live. they vote for mamdani, because they want to live and recognize they need economic support to do so, and they voted for trump because he promised (but didn’t deliver) on lowering the cost of living. most people don’t really care about anything else.
“It’s the economy, stupid.”
It’s really the only issue in any election.
The left right divide is real but the way we frame it in the US is wrong. It’s not about some amorphous culture war issues the media pushes though - it’s about class and who controls the levers of power. What people are asking for with the way they vote is for some of that power to be shifted back into the hands of the working class.
The need for economic support is a need for more equitable redistribution of resources across society writ large. The only way to have sustainable and long term working class prosperity is for some of that power to be permanently wrested from the hands of the rich. Some would argue that ultimately all of that power must be taken away.
This is also why politically we should focus on real and simple examples on how leftwing politics can and will improve the lives of the majority of people. This doesn’t mean, that we should stop protesting against fascists and their action, or that we shouldnt aim for a revolution to overthrow capitalism, just that we should always aim for improving everyone’s lives and this also means, that we shouldn’t block reformist actions just because they are reformist.