sikolnam.bsky.social
Rugged institutionalist. Avowed Yankee. NYC/NYS politics, New York Mets, housing, energy transition, policy, transportation, TRAINS, food.
2,009 posts
454 followers
1,781 following
Active Commenter
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Yes, I think ideology is a force both related to and separate from class and material well being. I don’t think this is a particularly hot take.
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Could those interests perhaps be related to things that aren’t purely economics?
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I don’t think the individual quoted is very interested in seriously engaging given the starting point is “material conditions are the only driver and you’re an idiot if you disagree”. Considering you mocked the suggestion that ideas matter, I don't think you’re interested in engaging either.
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He signed into law the CLCPA, requiring that NYS decarbonize its grid, then proceeded to close Indian Point, which provided NYC with 25% of its power, all emissions free. This is not strong, thoughtful leadership.
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No, it’s to fill gaps in access to groceries that the market can’t fill (i.e., food deserts). Mamdani has also promised lower prices, but the main point is to give SNAP recipients (and others in LMI communities) a place to buy fresh, healthy, affordable food if the market can’t guarantee that.
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Yeah, the pitch should be around solving for market inefficiencies that prevent incumbent grocers from taking a risk to open stores in underserved LMI communities (which also dulls the “you’re undercutting the private sector” argument, when that’s not really the point).
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The grocery store is going to be an EDC pilot project that launches in like 2028 after the requisite community outreach. Opponents of the idea are far more bullish on it coming to fruition than I am.
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You’re missing the point. National identity and collective truth require common sources of information. A segmented media environment with left/right narratives shatters that, and it’s hard to see us getting out of our current predicament in this media environment.
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If someone reads this and decides I lost the argument for not engaging in a days-long debate with lots of sources beyond what I’ve observed, that’s fine.
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I don’t claim any position of authority, I’ve just spent a lot of time in conservative rural communities talking policy and “you’re dumb if you don’t see that materialism is the global truth” doesn’t resonate at all with what I’ve observed, nor is there super compelling data supporting the argument.
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Likewise, I know plenty of blue collar conservatives who did extremely well through the Biden years, but for whom 2A and the regulatory state are more important than pocketbook issues. The materialist argument just fails to track with what I see with my own two eyes.
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What I believe is that ideas matter, a lot of people are irrational and idiosyncratic in their voting patterns and beliefs, and social media exacerbates that. You have people living in NYC who refuse to the subway because of what they’ve seen on social media (versus riding it and seeing it’s safe).
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For some people it’s material conditions, sure. But I know way too many Trump voters who don’t necessarily have anything to gain economically but really like Trumpism on the merits to agree that that’s the sole or even primary driver. Ideology is more complex than that an ideas matter!
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There’s a whole body of literature that points to non-material reasons for identify formation and nationality. Material reasons matter for sure, but it’s reductive to think that socio-cultural triggers all boil down to economics, as much as it would be simpler if they did.
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He’ll still need to win a very weird October contest to get across the finish line, so you’ll have time to get your jabs in.
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(He has grown on me, but still.)
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Big congratulations to them for forcing me to vote for the annoying DSA guy who I had zero interest in voting for.
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That’s what a wire is and how news has historically operated, but that means all you’re doing is surface level analysis. There’s a reason that NYT has bureaus in major cities around the globe rather than just relying on Reuters and AP.
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Segmented media focused on providing stories that resonate with a select audience - like Meidas - are a big part of the problem though. Saving (or at this point reviving) democracy requires aligning around common truths. Meidas doesn’t do that when they’re explicitly geared to the left.
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Right. If you look at Taiwanese nationalism, for example, it seems insane - or just ignorant - to chalk it up entirely to material conditions. Sure, that factors, but so do a lot of other things that you’re just pretending don’t exist if you pretend people don’t have non-materially driven ideas.
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The issue is that we still need actual boots-on-the-ground reporting. Indies are great for replacing WaPo and NYT’s useless opinion writers, but the truth quotient needs to be made up of good, trustworthy reporting, which is what we see less and less of (and I don’t see how indies can do it).
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I’m not leaning into any priors for what to expect politically over the next decade.
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Yeah, I’m still skeptical of the theory of the case that views those things in the same light as a 2025 election which should be quite favorable to Dems (for all the reasons 2021 and 2024 were not).
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Just curious: what evidence is there of any “red tide”?
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9/11 conspiracy theories would be set in stone before the second plane hit (most likely blaming The Woke).
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Always framed around *his own struggles to afford to live in a walkable neighborhood*, which makes her chosen line of attack particularly dumb.
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I have to kind of appreciate the near-religious zeal around everything being driven by material circumstances, even if it doesn’t square well with all the literature on identity formation and nationalism.
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Some protest actions may offend some people. Some protest actions may be stupid and counterproductive. To which I say, “And?”
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Longtime fan here. Some of your takes are too spicy for me but this is just a statement of fact. Not really sure what the alternate theory of change is that people see as an alternative.
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The poll that has the race at Cuomo 51 / Mamdani 49 was conducted prior to AOC’s endorsement, so no, not really.
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Eric Adams is actually an idiot *savant* who excels at campaigning in New York and nothing else, so this tracks.
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Keith is better than this and knows better than this.
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The downzonings took their time to be felt, but given how acutely they’re felt now - with housing being arguably the most salient issue in NYC politics - he should rank a lot lower than he does for many. They should be held accountable for setting time bombs.
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Not enough commentary here on how shitty ShakeShack is as delivery food. Our guy rages about taking the elevator and also brags about liking his burgers lukewarm and soggy.
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The funny thing here is a lot of people - myself included - are ranking Zohran under some degree of duress because the powerful picked such a shitty horse to get behind.
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This is also highly possible. Or Cuomo drops out entirely because it will be too embarrassing to get beat twice. Or Adams endorses Cuomo under administration orders. Lots of flavors!
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This is probably the modal outcome and Sliwa is probably the front runner.
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I don’t know if you’re reading the posts before responding, but that is what we are discussing: did he register as an intimidation tactic or will he actually run if he loses the primary? I don’t think that’s clear.
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Will Cuomo want to be embarrassed by getting his ass handed to him twice? My read on the indie run was that it was mostly to stifle dissent now, less about what happens after the primary. Not saying you’re wrong.
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I actually think if Cuomo loses he probably abandons his candidacy before the fall. He and Adams are going to cannibalize each other’s voters and the inevitability bubble will be popped.
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When I explained what they are trying to do to a largely apolitical HK-raised KMT descendant acquaintance, he - without a ton of prior context or background knowledge on US politics - immediately went to “oh, they want to do a Cultural Revolution.”
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My more meta take here is that maybe if NY Dems get embarrassed here it could help clear up the party’s nationally infecting sclerosis. A man can dream.
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And WFP has said they’ll run their own line if he’s the Dem nominee. So either way, we’re likely in for the most interesting fall mayoral race in a generation.
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Truly the funniest outcome that we might end up with an avowed socialist because the loser NY Dems couldn’t push back on a disgraced septuagenarian. They could’ve easily backed Adrienne Adams or Brad Lander and we wouldn’t be here, but now you have people like me enthusiastically ranking Zohran.
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This is also a “tourists pay more” policy, which is good.
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With the standard white collar role shifting to hybrid, I’d imagine white collar workers are a lot more affected by - if not sensitive to - the single-swipe cost than LMI workers who are more often in person five days a week and will hit the break even point on a weekly pass.
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Oh pump this straight into my veins. Ammunition against the most annoying people on the internet. I’m hoping Cuomo comes out in support of the ESG status quo so we can really reveal its supporters for who they are.
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Considering how influential he is all of a sudden, I’m really looking forward to having this one in my back pocket to lay out whenever someone says developers should have no role in housing and the government should do everything. “Oh, you hate developers? Well Zohran doesn’t.”