Make America Great for Young People Again
Much has been made of the rapid political ascent of Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City. In my social and social media circles, there is elation from some and dread from others that a self-described “socialist” has ascended to one of the highest and most influential roles in the country. To the extent that this divide falls along age, class, and ideological lines, I am more in the latter camp than the former. That makes me considerably far less enthusiastic than his supporters. But I am far less pessimistic than his detractors. At any rate, just like another polarizing New York City figure who engenders both passionate support and utter contempt, the way American democracy works is if you get more votes you get the office. And so, just as Donald Trump now inhabits the White House because he got more electoral votes than Kamala Harris, the preparation begins for a Mamdani administration in the Big Apple.
While Mamdani’s electoral success can be chalked up to many things – he is likeable and charismatic, represents a youth movement that has particularly appealed to younger folks, and has signaled an inclusiveness that appeals to voters turned off by President Trump’s rhetoric – I would argue the biggest takeaway from his win is that even for a complex office as mayor of the largest city in the US, he staked his campaign on a singular focus on affordability and never relented from talking about the pain of the problem and the promise of solution. So, before we get to deciding whether his solutions will work, let’s give him his flowers for tapping into the majority sentiment in New York City and having the discipline to stick with the message throughout his campaign.
Now, many of my friends and colleagues disagree vehemently with what Mamdani is proposing for New York City, and that should he be successful in implementing his solutions it will portend the end of New York City as we know it, transforming a great world city into a shell of its former self, riddled with crime and emptied of people and resources. In fact, some are predicting he won’t be successful in getting anything done and are hoping that is the case, so opposed are they of his methods and so afraid of their potential consequences.
As important as Zohran Mamdani is, as significant as the
mayoralty of New York City is, this is a discussion that taps into a much
broader topic today, that of faith in capitalism versus opposition to
capitalism. Particularly along age lines, you have one group that is fed up
with capitalism and its consequences, open to and excited about socialistic
approaches to resource allocation and social equity and pocketbook concerns,
and another group that finds this philosophy naïve and dangerous and
predictably ruinous.
You know where I land on this debate. But pause for a minute to understand why young people are disillusioned with and antagonistic towards capitalism, and why Mamdani is proving to be so popular to this growing voting bloc. As a father of two young adults, it’s easy for me to observe, vicariously through my daughter and son, what it feels like to try to start a life, a career, and a family, and feel like what used to be common aspirations are impossibly inaccessible. College feels prohibitively expensive to afford. Buying a home is out of reach, and the rent is too damn high so good luck saving up until a future date when it is in reach. And the number of entry level white collar jobs with benefits available to this generation is shrinking by the minute, as employers hold off staffing up due to economic uncertainty or increased use of artificial intelligence.
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