Politicians from both capitalist parties are terrified that Mamdani’s dominant primary victory signals the emergence of a mass socialist movement in the heart of global finance capital.
So, the gambit of authoritarian regimes in those situations is: If you see an opposition leaving controlled status and gaining popularity, and you know that suppressing that popularity (at their home) is hard, the main course of action is beating it down, brutally. Thought you could put hope into a candidate of your own choosing as people? Well, we will just put him into a prison and/or deport him, and/or terrorise you with blunt force, while telling everyone outside your group, that you are part of the evil to be defeated.
If that works or backfires on them heavily depends on conviction and organisation of the (working class) people of New York. So if you are part of that, don’t let yourself be intimidated, and be prepared for some fucked up suppression attempts. (best way of preparing is joining with organisations and networking with friends and neighbours for mutual aid and independent communication/info networks when shit hits the fan.)
New Yorkers don’t give a fuck about other New Yorkers unless they’re in the shit. You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. This is literally the best thing Republicans could do to lock Mamdani’s win.
Yeah I think that’s one of the things people that don’t always get.
Like you walk down the street and no one’s going to say hi to you, or engage with you much at all. People think that means we’re unfriendly. No, it’s more that we see ten thousand people every day and there’s no way to engage with all of them. Some of them don’t even have a shared language.
But if someone needs help? People step up. I saw a lady trip and fall down the stairs at the subway and a whole lot of people fake running over to make sure she was okay. Bike accident? Lots of people that had been in the background suddenly were helping.
People aren’t perfect. I saw a guy screaming at a woman he was with and no one stepped in, but I like to think there’s a line past which more people would intervene.
It really depends, there’s just a huge variance in city layout and regional cultures, so going from one to another can completely change things. Someone who likes the way things are in NYC isn’t necessarily going to like living in Orlando, Houston or Los Angeles, and won’t find the same culture. Heck, even within the same state, they can be pretty different.
No I meant the way people interact with each other. People in Budapest are the same, you actively have to ignore others to go about your way, too many scammers and weird people around. And also people fighting public transit vehicles.
But then a Serbian motorcyclist broke down a few weeks ago in the city and a bunch of locals made it their mission to get him the parts needed to continue his journey. Another occasion, a bus broke down, the passengers got off, and helped push it off the road to avoid a traffic jam.
I assume that’s just like every bigger city, right?
I don’t know, you get different vibes in different cities. Not exactly the same thing, but I (a pasty white guy) wear a Brujería hat I bought at a concert around NYC all the time, and the most that will ever happen is somebody asking me if I know what it is/about the band, then telling me how much they like them, or some old religious ladies freaking out about it being the Spanish word for witchcraft. Wearing the same hat in Los Angeles earlier this year, in different subway stations, I had a few cholos just glaring at me the whole time I was there and looking for a fight.
Some cities are a lot more segregated than others to this day, and you get places where you won’t be treated well if you’re not from the right group. Others, people just stick to themselves, for one reason or another. Like, if your car breaks down in Newburgh, NY, or the wrong part of Newark, NJ, you’re probably not getting any help from strangers, and if someone does come to help you, there’s a decent enough chance they’re trying to either rob you or carjack you. In some cities, about the most someone will do to help you out if you’re in trouble is to suggest that you don’t belong where you are, and that you ought to reconsider what you’re doing there.
These stunads have never been to NY. They really don’t realize the clout they’re giving Zohran by doing this.
So, the gambit of authoritarian regimes in those situations is: If you see an opposition leaving controlled status and gaining popularity, and you know that suppressing that popularity (at their home) is hard, the main course of action is beating it down, brutally. Thought you could put hope into a candidate of your own choosing as people? Well, we will just put him into a prison and/or deport him, and/or terrorise you with blunt force, while telling everyone outside your group, that you are part of the evil to be defeated.
If that works or backfires on them heavily depends on conviction and organisation of the (working class) people of New York. So if you are part of that, don’t let yourself be intimidated, and be prepared for some fucked up suppression attempts. (best way of preparing is joining with organisations and networking with friends and neighbours for mutual aid and independent communication/info networks when shit hits the fan.)
New Yorkers don’t give a fuck about other New Yorkers unless they’re in the shit. You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. This is literally the best thing Republicans could do to lock Mamdani’s win.
Yeah I think that’s one of the things people that don’t always get.
Like you walk down the street and no one’s going to say hi to you, or engage with you much at all. People think that means we’re unfriendly. No, it’s more that we see ten thousand people every day and there’s no way to engage with all of them. Some of them don’t even have a shared language.
But if someone needs help? People step up. I saw a lady trip and fall down the stairs at the subway and a whole lot of people fake running over to make sure she was okay. Bike accident? Lots of people that had been in the background suddenly were helping.
People aren’t perfect. I saw a guy screaming at a woman he was with and no one stepped in, but I like to think there’s a line past which more people would intervene.
edit: fix autocomplete error
We’re kind but not nice. LA is nice but not kind.
You just described most European cities I lived in. What are other US cities like then?
It really depends, there’s just a huge variance in city layout and regional cultures, so going from one to another can completely change things. Someone who likes the way things are in NYC isn’t necessarily going to like living in Orlando, Houston or Los Angeles, and won’t find the same culture. Heck, even within the same state, they can be pretty different.
No I meant the way people interact with each other. People in Budapest are the same, you actively have to ignore others to go about your way, too many scammers and weird people around. And also people fighting public transit vehicles.
But then a Serbian motorcyclist broke down a few weeks ago in the city and a bunch of locals made it their mission to get him the parts needed to continue his journey. Another occasion, a bus broke down, the passengers got off, and helped push it off the road to avoid a traffic jam.
I assume that’s just like every bigger city, right?
I don’t know, you get different vibes in different cities. Not exactly the same thing, but I (a pasty white guy) wear a Brujería hat I bought at a concert around NYC all the time, and the most that will ever happen is somebody asking me if I know what it is/about the band, then telling me how much they like them, or some old religious ladies freaking out about it being the Spanish word for witchcraft. Wearing the same hat in Los Angeles earlier this year, in different subway stations, I had a few cholos just glaring at me the whole time I was there and looking for a fight.
Some cities are a lot more segregated than others to this day, and you get places where you won’t be treated well if you’re not from the right group. Others, people just stick to themselves, for one reason or another. Like, if your car breaks down in Newburgh, NY, or the wrong part of Newark, NJ, you’re probably not getting any help from strangers, and if someone does come to help you, there’s a decent enough chance they’re trying to either rob you or carjack you. In some cities, about the most someone will do to help you out if you’re in trouble is to suggest that you don’t belong where you are, and that you ought to reconsider what you’re doing there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_New_York