In an interview on Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend, Mamdani warned that if the American Dream is just an ideal that’s out of within reach, then people may start to give up.
The democratic socialist compared it to legendary NYC Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s observation during the rise of fascism in Europe, saying people turned away from democracy not because they were tired of liberty, but because they were tired of being hungry.
“So if democracy doesn’t mean the better life that it has to, it’ll lose its worth. And the same thing with the American Dream: if it’s something you can only see when you turn on your TV or you hear about that one guy you grew up with who made it, that doesn’t mean enough,” Mamdani said.
Nepo babies are taking every opportunity, and the cute name doesn’t change the reality of it.
When enough people realize it, it won’t matter how “cool” some of them are.
Generational wealth inequality destroys everything, and it’s going to keep getting worse. Not just because the vast majority gets fucked over, but because the people who get to run shit are chosen because how wealthy their daddy was.
The masses can keep shit functional for a while, but once that pattern starts you quickly run into the rich idiots at the top causing so much damage the rest can’t keep society moving.
The wealthy are always the ones directly to blame for violent social upheaval, because they were the only ones with the power to fix it without violence. Their iron grip on their parents stolen wealth means there’s no other option.
Just a matter of when.
Where are the Carnegie types to build public infrastructure? Y’know, improve the lives of the rest of society that gave them enough power to amass such wealth.
There’s no such thing as a “self-made billionaire”, it’s made off the exploitation of the folks below. Everyone has a great idea or two, but getting lucky isn’t just being “God’s chosen one” (or whatever nonsense people use to deflect that billionaires existence is unjust). It’s full out exploitation in the highest order, but because they toss some breadcrumbs we do the dance for them.
Where are the Carnegie types to build public infrastructure? Y’know, improve the lives of the rest of society that gave them enough power to amass such wealth.
Jesus fucking christ…
They did that stuff so they’d have an excuse to lobby for tax changes
None of that shit was for the good of society, it was to trick idiots into voting for tax cuts for the wealthy.
As soon as they got the tax cuts, the wealthy stopped doing those projects.
Because the sole reason was PR
How the fuck are so many people seeing the broad strokes and not only missing the finer details, but missing who painted the fucking picture.
Gates and even Musk seemed “ok” at one point, they were all pieces of shit their entire lives, they just stopped paying the PR costs
Thing is, I really don’t care if it’s just PR, so long as that PR involves taking good actions.
It’s the same way how a fear of eternal damnation and hellfire does not by default make you a good person, but it can cause you to perform the same actions as a genuinely good person would. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you were really feeling it or not, as long as you acted like a good person.
I feel the same way about the rich. I don’t really care if you really want to be a good person or not. If some billionaire’s entire philanthropic history revolves around strictly just not wanting to get eaten by the peasants, that’s fine by me. I don’t really care if you really love trans kids in your heart of hearts, but if you donate some of your money to helping them, it keeps you off my dinner menu for another day.
We can’t expect the rich to be good people at heart, because that doesn’t really ever happen (with some VERY rare and VERY special exceptions), but we can compel “good” behavior out of them if they fear the unwashed masses. For me, that’s good enough for most cases.
Thing is, I really don’t care if it’s just PR, so long as that PR involves taking good actions
But you fucking should, that’s the entire point I’m making
If we just fucking taxed them, then the wealth would go back into circulation. If we let them pick where to donate, it just makes idiots think letting billionaires be in charge of billions of dollars might not fuck us all.
It always will Even if takes a generation or two, eventually they’ll decide that they really should be in charge because they have the most money. The only way to stop it is to stop letting people accumulate that much, and we do that thru taxation.
More than one thing can be true.
I’m just not seeing the goodwill to society from the current billionaires. They’re all ratfucks but at least of yesteryear they tossed us a bone or two.
I’m just not seeing the goodwill to society from the current billionaires
You didn’t see it from Carnegie either…
Why the fuck can you not understand this?
They were laying the groundwork so their descendants can say “wealthy businessmen know better than anyone else”.
Look at our fucking president, he is the direct and natural consequence of people not understanding what you can’t. The difference is most of them didn’t have someone desperately trying to help them realize the most basic part of that
But at this point, I’m throwing in the towel on you.
I hope someone can explain this to you later, if not then hopefully you’ll at least stop repeating the same billionaire propaganda people have been falling for this time.
Like, you can manage that, right?
If you won’t learn how to help us, at least stop fucking helping the billionairez.
Can you do that for the 99.99999% of humans on the planet?
Someone’s angry lol.
I mean I’m angry at the billionaires too, but why be angry at me? I’m all about class consciousness and not feeding the machine… but me a) not being American, b) merely suggesting some goodwill from the massive resource extraction by the billionaire class. Why you hating the player and not the game?
I’m just trying to understand where the Epstein class lost their fear? Where are the third spaces like arboretums and libraries being built today by them? I don’t see it. Maybe they had fear back then because they had to see their neighbours faces everyday, now we’re so disconnected.
But yes, please attack me more it helps us so much.
David Ellison feels attacked.
Not sure if I had to put “/s”Even worse is that having a fair living wage and decent social services is seen as the big meany communism
It’s been that way for a long time. The best way to succeed, maybe the only way, is to be born rich.
Unless the US gets back to the pre-1980 tax policies (among many other factors), it’s going to become even harder to reach.
If you want the American Dream, you’re going to have to get it the same way our grandparents did.
Invade Korea.
The American dream is a scam. You have a better chance of being bitten by a shark or struck by lightning.
And you would be lucky to get bit by a shark, it’s not as bad as they say, it’s actually pretty great.
The “American Dream” is propaganda. Typical single family home in the suburbs, and a “traditional family values” family.
Every State Lottery Office: “Holy shit we got an ad!”
What is “The American Dream”?
It always seems to be portrayed idealistically as a single family home in a car dependent suburb. A large driveway, and massive front lawn with a white picket fence. Something like in the image below.
Almost all these similar photos have a “traditional family values vibe”, white family, stay at home mom, two kids of different genders. Honestly it all just screams propaganda to me.
On top of all that when you “zoom out”, that typical “American Dream” becomes a car dependent hellscape ike the one below. With no way to get around.
I don’t know, but not everyone has a wish to live in a place like this. Give me walkable transit oriented mixed use neighborhoods with “missing middle” housing types any day.
Throw in “third-place” public areas where I can hang out with friends and family outside of home and work. Give me regional trains between cities, subways and trams, dedicated bus infrastructure. Give me safe cycling networks and dedicated trails. Give me city parks and fresh produce markets I can walk to.
The original American dream was independence and self sufficiency which was realized through land grants and farming. At some point, the dream got switched to owning a house that is only a collection of monthly expenses, and without any income-producing potential which farming granted. I’m not sure how many other shifts occurred along the way.
