Just a reminder to the Mamdani stans in Lemmy, at some point he will (or already has) done things you will disagree with, because you have to make compromises in politics, and I fear the left doesn’t understand that basic fact of the job and are always too ready to completely cut ties with anyone who doesn’t check all the boxes at all times. The left’s motto is “I want it perfect or nothing at all!” and this is great if you’re an artist, not so great if you’re trying to push a largely liberal population to better outcomes.
Whatever missteps you think you will think you’re seeing are going to get amplified by the worst voices on the left too, with a lot of “Wow I thought I liked this guy, but this is uncool” sentiments. Just be ready for it, don’t let yourself be influenced by mobs of people you think are your peers.
edit: yah, lot of people don’t understand the actual job of politics and think they do from watching TV and movies. I worry deeply for our future.
This just reads like a bad faith interpretation of anyone on the left who might have ideological differences between themselves and Mamdani. That doesn’t mean they aren’t pragmatic. For example, if you believe that our current government cannot be reformed then compromise with the right wing is often the least pragmatic way to bring about change. Pretending that this means you’re making perfect the enemy of the good either means you’re being disingenuous or you just don’t understand the perspective you’re critiquing.
Your comment reads as a bad faith interpretation of their post.
It doesn’t matter if it is or not. That’s how it reads.
(stop guessing at the motivations of a poster and deal with their points pragmatically, otherwise it’s all just a fantasy… you have no insight into them (or anyone else)… you are not the “faith decider”)
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and oh look it replies like a duck too, forgive me for thinking it’s a duck. Maybe take your own advice and engage with my points instead of getting so needlessly defensive.
Well your argument sounds like ones I’ve heard 1000x over defending elected officials like AOC whenever they do something like vote to fund Israel’s iron dome or forcibly stop a railway strike. The problem is, trading favors and votes is the kind of game that only works when you have a network of wealthy benefactors. If you think that these types of compromises are necessary, it likely means that you have some degree of blind faith in the American political system.
I am not rejecting my rare-as-fuck, popular pro-social candidate who actually works towards better outcomes over isolated actions that I don’t fully agree with, we have to get out of this black-and-white mentality or we will never have someone “good enough” and that’s what I am rejecting, this fucking binary attitude that both the right and left have embraced with all their heart, what’s most infuriating is this attitude is artificially implanted and people like you think having a 2-dimensional perspective of politics is equivalent to having “principles.”
You’re arguing against a caricature of the left wing critiques levied at politicians like AOC or Mamdani. You’re ignoring how those actions, which are frankly not isolated, are indicative of a very different perspective and theory of change than many on the left have. Pretending that any other theory of change is actually just black and white moralism is an incredibly bad faith way to argue. Honestly, it’s just a ridiculous perspective to have when you would be hard pressed to find similar critiques levied at electeds like say Rashida Talib.
You’re arguing against a caricature of the left wing critiques levied at politicians like AOC or Mamdani.
Sure, because the critiques I see leveled at good, progressive politicians ARE in fact caricatures of actual political criticism, they’re often narrow-minded and out-of-touch with the moral complexity of actual political work.
My problem isn’t with the impotent criticism itself, it’s the millions of people who browse lemmy and twitter and reddit and other online spaces where deeply online, impressional young self-described leftists hang out and get all their values from the majority, and if they see an attack on a leftist or progressive leader that seems effectual and aligned with progressive values, they will latch on immediately and not change their mind, because people just work that way.
I don’t care what your actual criticisms are, I just want people to be aware that not all criticism is going to be good faith, and not all criticism is going to be smart. The left gets caught up in groupthink as easily as the right but hate to admit it. We’re all just people, but the left is particularly good at shooting themselves in the dick because they want their representative to be perfect.
I am sure you understand what I mean when I say Mamdani is going to face a lot of reactionary flack from the left as he does unpopular things as part of his job as mayor, and I think people who aren’t expecting this don’t really know how cities or politics work.
Mamdani WILL make deals and do things that you will have “ideological differences” with, and it’s on us to decide if the criticism he will face is ideological in nature or the expected efforts of the few who will do everything they can to blow up the worst interpretations of the business of city management in order to make people like you and me bicker and fight about if Mandani should still be supported.
edit: can the downvoter please name the DSA candidate in the 2026 NY gubernatorial election, it should be pretty easy to find since I linked the article if they exist
You are correct and I was misinformed, but not by much.
Andrew Delgados running mate India Walton is a DSA member who Mamdani supported earlier. And the DSA is mostly supporting Delgado over Hochul, which has garnered a lot of DSA criticism for Mamdani backing Hochul.
Somewhat related based on arguments I keep seeing, the number of people who don’t understand that Albany is the state capital and that New York is a state as well as a city, and that the mayor of New York has to also deal with a governor, is really frighteningly high. What the fuck are people learning in school? Anything at all?
Legitimately there is a problem with stupidity on Lemmy. I don’t know if it’s because the average user is younger than other sites or what, but I have seen the absolute dumbest, most blatantly wrong shit get upvoted all over the place and there are a number of people who will get into arguments over obvious misreadings of articles.
Prolly depends on where they are from, I’m from SoCal and was convinced that New York was a city state until I was like 11. I could see other people having the same thought for even longer if they aren’t told explicitly like how my history and geography classes did, looking at you Utah and your idiotic claim that you guys colonized San Bernardino, you cunts.
It’s not entirely wrong to think of nyc that way. It’s not strictly true, but practically the city dictates much of the state’s politics. It’s similar with Chicago and Illinois.
The left is unrepresented in this two party system. Why do Blue states still use First-past-the-post voting if democrats are so concerned with 3rd party voters and the spoiler effect? Republicans arent stopping this state level legislation from being passed.
the politically correct thing is very often not the morally correct thing and it sucks. it’s the reason i am not in politics and also not in prison (i think i would probably set something on fire)
Well said, and I agree. I have done a lot of community work but backed out of actual political work when I had the offer because I know how gross the game will feel to swim around in it. I have mad respect to the rare political leaders out there who retain their values and sanity while dipping into a world that treats all our lives and futures like pieces on a gameboard, where you have to be willing to sacrifice pieces to win.
Just a reminder to the Mamdani stans in Lemmy, at some point he will (or already has) done things you will disagree with, because you have to make compromises in politics, and I fear the left doesn’t understand that basic fact of the job and are always too ready to completely cut ties with anyone who doesn’t check all the boxes at all times. The left’s motto is “I want it perfect or nothing at all!” and this is great if you’re an artist, not so great if you’re trying to push a largely liberal population to better outcomes.
Whatever missteps you think you will think you’re seeing are going to get amplified by the worst voices on the left too, with a lot of “Wow I thought I liked this guy, but this is uncool” sentiments. Just be ready for it, don’t let yourself be influenced by mobs of people you think are your peers.
edit: yah, lot of people don’t understand the actual job of politics and think they do from watching TV and movies. I worry deeply for our future.
This just reads like a bad faith interpretation of anyone on the left who might have ideological differences between themselves and Mamdani. That doesn’t mean they aren’t pragmatic. For example, if you believe that our current government cannot be reformed then compromise with the right wing is often the least pragmatic way to bring about change. Pretending that this means you’re making perfect the enemy of the good either means you’re being disingenuous or you just don’t understand the perspective you’re critiquing.
Your comment reads as a bad faith interpretation of their post.
It doesn’t matter if it is or not. That’s how it reads.
(stop guessing at the motivations of a poster and deal with their points pragmatically, otherwise it’s all just a fantasy… you have no insight into them (or anyone else)… you are not the “faith decider”)
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and oh look it replies like a duck too, forgive me for thinking it’s a duck. Maybe take your own advice and engage with my points instead of getting so needlessly defensive.
I don’t think you actually don’t understand what kind of attacks or pushbacks I’m talking about, which makes me question the whole reply.
Well your argument sounds like ones I’ve heard 1000x over defending elected officials like AOC whenever they do something like vote to fund Israel’s iron dome or forcibly stop a railway strike. The problem is, trading favors and votes is the kind of game that only works when you have a network of wealthy benefactors. If you think that these types of compromises are necessary, it likely means that you have some degree of blind faith in the American political system.
I am not rejecting my rare-as-fuck, popular pro-social candidate who actually works towards better outcomes over isolated actions that I don’t fully agree with, we have to get out of this black-and-white mentality or we will never have someone “good enough” and that’s what I am rejecting, this fucking binary attitude that both the right and left have embraced with all their heart, what’s most infuriating is this attitude is artificially implanted and people like you think having a 2-dimensional perspective of politics is equivalent to having “principles.”
This isn’t “principles” it’s performative.
You’re arguing against a caricature of the left wing critiques levied at politicians like AOC or Mamdani. You’re ignoring how those actions, which are frankly not isolated, are indicative of a very different perspective and theory of change than many on the left have. Pretending that any other theory of change is actually just black and white moralism is an incredibly bad faith way to argue. Honestly, it’s just a ridiculous perspective to have when you would be hard pressed to find similar critiques levied at electeds like say Rashida Talib.
Sure, because the critiques I see leveled at good, progressive politicians ARE in fact caricatures of actual political criticism, they’re often narrow-minded and out-of-touch with the moral complexity of actual political work.
My problem isn’t with the impotent criticism itself, it’s the millions of people who browse lemmy and twitter and reddit and other online spaces where deeply online, impressional young self-described leftists hang out and get all their values from the majority, and if they see an attack on a leftist or progressive leader that seems effectual and aligned with progressive values, they will latch on immediately and not change their mind, because people just work that way.
I don’t care what your actual criticisms are, I just want people to be aware that not all criticism is going to be good faith, and not all criticism is going to be smart. The left gets caught up in groupthink as easily as the right but hate to admit it. We’re all just people, but the left is particularly good at shooting themselves in the dick because they want their representative to be perfect.
Can you elaborate?
I am sure you understand what I mean when I say Mamdani is going to face a lot of reactionary flack from the left as he does unpopular things as part of his job as mayor, and I think people who aren’t expecting this don’t really know how cities or politics work.
Mamdani WILL make deals and do things that you will have “ideological differences” with, and it’s on us to decide if the criticism he will face is ideological in nature or the expected efforts of the few who will do everything they can to blow up the worst interpretations of the business of city management in order to make people like you and me bicker and fight about if Mandani should still be supported.
Already happening. He has a good working relationship with governor Hochul and endorses her above a DSA candidate.
But she put out her neck for him and made things possible. If he did not reciprocate nobody in Albany would cooperate with him any more.
There’s no DSA candidate in the primary. Hochul was running against another centrist (who has since withdrawn due to no chance of winning).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_New_York_gubernatorial_election
edit: can the downvoter please name the DSA candidate in the 2026 NY gubernatorial election, it should be pretty easy to find since I linked the article if they exist
You are correct and I was misinformed, but not by much.
Andrew Delgados running mate India Walton is a DSA member who Mamdani supported earlier. And the DSA is mostly supporting Delgado over Hochul, which has garnered a lot of DSA criticism for Mamdani backing Hochul.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/02/socialists-not-thrilled-mamdanis-guv-endorsement-even-zohran-gets-it-wrong-sometimes/411228/
https://www.leftvoice.org/the-problem-with-municipal-socialism-a-response-to-liza-featherstone/
Somewhat related based on arguments I keep seeing, the number of people who don’t understand that Albany is the state capital and that New York is a state as well as a city, and that the mayor of New York has to also deal with a governor, is really frighteningly high. What the fuck are people learning in school? Anything at all?
I’m Canadian, so I didn’t learn anything about new York at all.
Legitimately there is a problem with stupidity on Lemmy. I don’t know if it’s because the average user is younger than other sites or what, but I have seen the absolute dumbest, most blatantly wrong shit get upvoted all over the place and there are a number of people who will get into arguments over obvious misreadings of articles.
Prolly depends on where they are from, I’m from SoCal and was convinced that New York was a city state until I was like 11. I could see other people having the same thought for even longer if they aren’t told explicitly like how my history and geography classes did, looking at you Utah and your idiotic claim that you guys colonized San Bernardino, you cunts.
It’s not entirely wrong to think of nyc that way. It’s not strictly true, but practically the city dictates much of the state’s politics. It’s similar with Chicago and Illinois.
“The Left needs to fall in love; The Right simply falls in line.”
The left is unrepresented in this two party system. Why do Blue states still use First-past-the-post voting if democrats are so concerned with 3rd party voters and the spoiler effect? Republicans arent stopping this state level legislation from being passed.
Is your question rhetorical or are you actually asking me because you don’t know the answer?
the politically correct thing is very often not the morally correct thing and it sucks. it’s the reason i am not in politics and also not in prison (i think i would probably set something on fire)
Well said, and I agree. I have done a lot of community work but backed out of actual political work when I had the offer because I know how gross the game will feel to swim around in it. I have mad respect to the rare political leaders out there who retain their values and sanity while dipping into a world that treats all our lives and futures like pieces on a gameboard, where you have to be willing to sacrifice pieces to win.