So...Asmongold is someone who....is a bit interesting. He has a really populist streak in him, but then he just turns into a chud for no fricking reason. Or at least, no valid reason, and this is one of them. So, he had a segment tonight where he reacted to Mamdani, and I had to cringe so hard over it.
First, he starts going on about how the US is capitalist and if you dont like capitalism you should gtfo. Uh....yeah we have historically been capitalist, and even I still support capitalism, but socialists can at least run on their ideas. And honestly? people get too riled up over labels. Even if this guy is an ideological socialist, he's not gonna eliminate all of capitalism. Some of his policies are a bit further left than I would like, like rent control and government owned grocery stores, but he's thinking at least. And I dont think he will be as bad as the right acts like he would be. Like, the derangement syndrome is real. They act like were gonna go USSR because this guy is in power. Like they're full red scare mode. Meh. I mean, I am open to supporting socialists if they support good policies. Im mixed on this guy, but tbqh, i say give him a chance. He isnt doing what I would personally propose, I'd probably be more in the yang 2021 camp all things considered, but eh...he can't be worse than adams.
I feel like people on both sides of the aisle get too riled up over "socialism." The left tend to get so fixated on it to the point of brain rot where they'll throw perfectly good candidates under the bus because "omg they're not socialists", but then the right will start acting like anyone who calls themselves socialists automatically equals lenin and stalin and mao. Most american socialists are "democratic socialists" or "social democrats", which is far more moderate than that. Again, I do think Mamdani is too far left. I think rent control is bad because economically it just leads to shortages long term, and I think that government owned grocery stores are a socialist virtue signal. Like let's put things in the hands of the government just because. Same energy as the people on the right who want to privatize everything. Is it so hard to admit that sometimes the government does some things better, but other things are best left to the market? I dont feel like this is controversial but people get all ideological over this and it's dumb.
Anyway, Asmongold had other cringe moments like turning it into a race and gender thing because Mamdani wanted to lower property taxes for lower income people but raise them for higher income ones. Except he framed it from a racial perspective. Now, the racial is dumb. I admit that. I hate the dems for leaning into the race and gender stuff too much. I believe ideas should be color blind, but if that has certain effects on different races and genders in practice simply due to privilege existing, so be it. Asmongold, he went all "I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY WANNA DISADVANTAGE ME." Like, I kinda get it. i HATE when democrats do that stuff, but again, I dont think mamdani's ideas will have a purely racial outcome. Like, I live in a minority majority neighborhood. Im white. If this city were NYC, mamdani's plans would lower my family's property taxes, despite being white. Ya know? So why would i vote against that? Again, sometimes class oriented policies are gonna intersect with race and gender, simply because privilege is a fact of life. And that's okay. I just despise leaning into the racial and gender based framing over the class framing. But here, I can understand what mamdani is saying and i can also compensate for that framing and understand what is being proposed. It's actually a class thing. Rich neighborhoods pay more, poor ones pay less. Boom. Good idea. Asmongold falls into the trap I WOULD NEVER VOTE FOR THESE RACE OBSESSED DEMOCRATS. Again, kinda get it, but try to read between the lines a bit. He's falling for the typical right wing trap. Again, look at the details proposed. Unless he explicitly only gives tax breaks to home owners of color, like explicitly, which would be racist and probably violate several laws and constitutional stuff itself, it's not a big deal.
To be fair, asmongold kinda understands the appeal to mamdani. He understands that when people feel their security is threatened, they become more reactionary and vote for strong men. In a sense this is the populist era. People are becoming desperate because capitalism isnt working for them, so they're voting for extremists on the left and right. Right wing ones categorically have awful ideas, and yet Asmongold is a trump cheerleader. Again, he's kind of this populist demographic, but then goes full on in the chud direction. The left offers far more productive solutions. Again, I'm mixed on this guy in particular. I dont think mamdani is some democratic party savior, but nor do i think he's some communist devil. He's just some young guy with these socialist ideas, some of them are good, some not so good, and eh...I dont think he would be bad as mayor, but i also dont think he's necessarily a model for the party. I am cut from a different ideological cloth, and am more in that "human centered capitalist" direction, after all. I am leftist in my rhetoric, but a bit more moderate in my solutions than leftists are. I'm ultimately a liberal with some leftist flair. And that's what we need. We dont need literal leftists as their solutions are flawed and inefficient, like this guy's. But we do need someone who can speak like a leftist and then offer intelligent solutions. And again, im not full centrist either. I cant stand the centrist wing of the party. Again, we need something in between those two extremes. Not quite government owned grocery stores, but more than just tax breaks for people who have 7 kids and 2 jobs and only if you apply on a tuesday after the full moon. Ya know? Again, think more yang 2020-2021. And he ran for mayor of NYC too so...look at what he proposed. I'd probably be closer to that.
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