If you want a vision for America, listen to Zohran Mamdani’s interview. Clear, cogent, cohesive, principled, and inclusive, with a focus on the issues for every American who is feeling the effects of the continuing concentration of wealth in the uber-rich. As mayor of New York his focus is on programs to improve the life and viability of New York City, as it should be, but he also believes in justice, and fairness that is universal.
And, most of all, he can laugh, and laugh at himself, and at the questions meant to box him into positions that can be turned into talking points on the far right and the far left. The NYTimes reporter was clearly angling for clickbait on disarray on the left.
I remember John F. Kennedy’s inspirational rhetoric when I was a pre-teen, and how clear it was that he was an exceptional politician. I think Mamdani is different, more down to earth, more approachable, but equally gifted. He is sunshine to Trump’s darkness. He is hope in the face of despair.
He and AOC and Jon Ossoff and JB Pritzker and other new voices are going to be the pillars of the opposition to the Trump regime. But they need to join forces and start hammering out a unified platform ahead of the midterms, not the pundits and consultants who never have to face the electorate, and are catering to the lobbyists and donors to the PACs that pay them.
Mamdani reminds me of Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor and the person most responsible for our having Social Security. Her theory of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." Mamdani, Bernie and the others err in calling their program Democratic Socialism. It is, in fact, Pragmatic Capitalism, what we find ii the Scandinavian countries. Happiest people on earth. No Socialism. We had the New Deal under FDR and Perkins, creating the largest Middle Class ever. It's Pragmatic Capitalism at work. Install a fair tax system and make life affordable for all.
"Mamdani, Bernie and the others err in calling their program Democratic Socialism." I agree, and so does Adam Smith. He created capitalism on the foundation of his theory of moral sentiments (1759). Being moral (treating others they way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot) is the second hardest thing a human being can do, but it is pragmatic because the hardest thing is living with the long-term negative consequences that result from not being moral.
Smith didn't invent "socialism", Marx did. If you want to understand the definition of the word, you need to read Marx.
Then you'll see why "democratic socialism" is absurd, since all real socialism is (1) always democratic, and (2) always a form of capitalism.
Since political literacy is extremely low in the US, however... Democrats who aren't afraid of using the word "socialism" in the correct sense are obliged to add "democratic" to it. That's all.
It IS socialism. Marx defined socialism as a form of capitalism. It's the next stage in the development of the means of production and redistribution of wealth, that's all.
The first stage, when moving out of a feudal system and largely agrarian economy, is a savage form of capitalism (the industrialization phase), where wealth is no longer a privilege you're born with, but something that many more people can now acquire if they become CEOs of a private business. At the same time, with the aristocracy disappearing, no new legislative mechanism adapted to the new economy is in place yet. The result is that CEOs can do whatever they want with their employees, so... they tend to exploit them horribly.
That leads to the creation of unions (workers/employees sticking together and using their power to negotiate better conditions inside a specific company).
In a socialist economy, unions from many different companies work together and negotiate with lawmakers to install a new, fairer legislative system, allowing more people to thrive.
The third and last stage is communism. Now, private ownership of companies is abolished altogether, with a democratically elected government directing the entire economy for the benefit of all - no more exceptions.
Europe's socialist parties are all democratic. And they all support capitalism. That's why no socialist party has to add the word "democratic" to its name. Only in the US, where ignorance is much higher, do people associate "socialism" with "dictatorship" and "anti-capitalism" and then adding the word "democratic" becomes necessary.
And yes, the New Deal was socialism. That's why neoliberalism was invented, to try to destroy it. From the very beginning, neoliberals openly admitted that in the end, capitalism and democracy are incompatible. Today, the neoliberal GOP (neoliberals formally took over the party with Reagan) drew the logical conclusions of its core ideology and decided that only neofascism as a form of government will allow them to keep a form of savage capitalism. They're basically saying that Marx is right: if you let capitalism evolve "organically", it WILL lead to socialism (and perhaps, eventually, communism).
There are no real communist economies yet, for now, so we don't know how that would work. But Northern Europe has been regularly governed by socialists. Result? Higher levels of health and education, longer life span, lower unemployment and poverty rate, paid sick leave, free mandatory health insurance, and a much smaller income gap. And a GDP that is as good as that in the US, which is still mostly stuck in savage capitalism (since "we the people" systematically vote out Democrats, only because they install socialism in a democratic way, which means gradually, through the legislative democratic process... ).
Thank you, EUWDTB, for this genuinely superb explanatory piece. It is indeed the best such summary of the very many I've read.
Not only is it clearly and accessibly written; neither does it simmer with the poisonous arrogance of the pampered, insufferably pompous academic übermenschen whom neoliberalism has allowed to become the [intentionally alienating] voice of Marxism -- this by silencing, probably forever, all USian working-class voices.
(Note how the USian academic presentation of Marxism is a perfect example of our masters' irresistibly cunning, thus infinitely Evil strategy of appearing to democratically allow the study of a controversial topic while reducing it to odium by the attitude of the presenter. The same strategy -- using existentially fascist male athletic-department personnel [I apologize for the redundancy] to teach middle-school and high-school history and social studies -- creates a population that despises all such scholarship and thus perpetuates its own subjugation.)
Thank you again; speaking as the editor and part-time college instructor I once was, your text here is really, really fine.
If what you mean by "capitalists" are the ultra wealthy American oligarchs, nothing will persuade them to do anything other than horde as much money as possible. They ignore the fact that if our population were only 3.4 million people, probably none of them would be billionaires, but because we are 340 million, we have about 1100 billionaires. It's the people who create the wealth. "New" Pragmatic Capitalism puts in place a fair taxation system that makes it possible to build and operate schools, hospitals, armed forces, health and science research, Medicare, Social Security, infrastructure and a whole lot more. In the past it was known as the "New Deal." The Chinese have an old saying: "An inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time." None o the billionaires spent a single day in the U.S. Armed Forces. I spent four years in the U.S. Army. The average lifespan for males in the U.S. today is 76.5 years. So I paid 7.2% of my projected adult life helping to ensure that they can horde great wealth. Some gave their lives. Their greed is palpable and unconscionable.
I suggest that we call the economic system that creates the wealth of nations "capitalism," and the economic system that creates the wealth of the ultra wealthy "capitalism in name only."
Seriously? The people invented electric cars? The internet? Computers? Software? Vaccines? Cars? Planes? MRIs? CAT scans?
Without guidance from the evil despicable eyeball stealing billionaire "oiigarchs," you have sub-Saharan Africa. Africa has billions of people. Where are all the billionaires (other than by theft)? Arabs have oil money (by expropriating American and British discoveries and refineries). Where are the Arab patents?
Your Mandami leftist ideology blinds you to facts of how wealth is created. Mandami, by the way, comes from a colonialist Indian family in Uganda, where Indians control 70% of the wealth.
Richard, coming from the marketing world, I concur that calling any school of thought "Democratic Socialism" is an absolute branding nightmare, no matter how accurate the label might be.
Maybe if Colt firearms had named their high-powered AR-15 the "Mass Killer," we wouldn't have so many of them around.
I'm not sure that "Pragmatic Capitalism" is any more helpful. Both words carry some undesirable baggage.
What I can say with all certainty is that in the consumerist U.S., branding is everything. Mamdani, AOC, Bernie et al need a better brand.
Well said, Mr. Rowett. Given my own marketing background, I absolutely agree. The problem is that by our masters' intent, the USian population is probably the most bottomlessly ignorant, chronically unteachable population in all human history.
Atop that, the Moronic Majority's conditioned, reflexive hatred of socialists and socialism is easily transformed into fanatical support for Nazism, which (unless defeated as in WW II), not only guarantees unlimited capitalist profiteering, but grants the capitalists' the omnipotence within which they are encouraged to fulfill their darkest Trumpstein fantasies.
The Moronic Majority's irremediable ignorance and the unquenchable hatred it encourages is [the] most important barrier to success in the struggle to avoid resurrecting the failed, plutocracy-tyrannized nation that spawned the ChristoNazis’ “Unified Reich.”
Nevertheless I believe the vital need of "Mamdani, AOC, Bernie et al" for effective branding could be fulfilled by focus-grouping. (The late Blanka Eckstein was both a client -- I edited some of her reports -- and a very dear friend.) The problem is there is no one able to organize it nationally as it should be organized. And even were such organization attempted, the lesson of Occupy tells us the effort would fail. (Occupy, remember, was destroyed from within by its younger activists' fanatical rejection of any and all efforts to achieve disciplined solidarity. I repeatedly witnessed this as one of Occupy's labor-movement elders. The younger participants' reaction, underscored by an astonishingly intense anti-unionism, was unquestionably an expression of the self-obsessed egotism and moral imbecility fostered by neoliberalism. Such is the weaponization by which our diabolically cunning masters have made solidarity impossible, thus prohibiting revolution or even reform.)
Hence my belief our masters -- unless we are liberated as in World War II -- will never allow us to construct a [new] Republic capable of ensuring, in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, a “...birth of freedom...that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
I didn't see much difference between the Occupy Movement and a bowel movement. The end result was a handful of ... well ... you know.
As Will Rogers said, "I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat."
I don't know if some wise person said it and I've forgotten, or some wise person should have said it: "How you start is how you end up."
Because I'm closely familiar with the origins of Walmart, I'm not surprised that the company has turned out to be what it is. Sam Walton was not the kindly old pickup-driving grandpaw his PR made him out to be. He was a bitter, belligerent old coot who was chauffeured to his office every day. Back in the 1960s, Ben Franklin was a franchise division of TG&Y Stores in Oklahoma City. Every franchise agreement included a non-compete clause. A shopping center developer maneuvered TG&Y into a three-location deal. If they wanted anchor spaces in two shopping centers in other parts of the nation, they had to anchor a shopping center in Bentonville, AR, where Walton had his Ben Franklin store. TG&Y bit the bullet and took the deal. Walton was pissed. He sued and lost. He vowed to put TG&Y out of business and opened his first Wal*Mart across the highway from the new TG&Y Store. He sent his employees across the road to check prices, then underpriced the same items by pennies. He learned how to make "knock-offs" in China from buyers he poached from TG&Y. In the end, Walton made good on his threat when TG&Y was shuttered in 1985. But I've always said Walmart was bound to be evil because it was started out of spite.
Similarly, the origins of the U.S. are not something to be proud of when you strip away all the whitewash. What we see today should come as no surprise.
The Washington Post editorial board has a moderately hysterical piece today describing how taxes will have to increase to pay for Medicare for all. Your comment is a nice antidote to anyone upset by the Post's (Bezos-inspired?) alarmism.
Christopher, I was a decades-long subscriber to WaPo until Bozo hired the scandal-ridden Brit, Will Lewis, who immediately set about changing every headline to glorify Donald, at which time I cancelled my subscription.
Now, I pay HCR & Co. to read that rag so I don't have to.
WaPo isn't even useful as birdcage liner anymore. No self-respecting parakeet will sh*t on it.
HCR is indeed a treasure. I have an online subscription to the WSJ and the Post so I can write comments on the editorials and op eds when the needle pegs on my sophistry meter. It's all going into the void I know, but it offers a way to record what I think are the counterarguments that need to be made somewhere so that somebody might see them and take them into account.
Bravo Richard! Pragmatist and Proud. Enough with the oligarch v. socialist/communist bs. We don't have to reinvent the wheel just Focus like Frances did on what's needed.
You got bugs in your lettuce? Let US get 'em out!
It's been one hundred years, we need a new, New Deal!
U.S. voters are so gullible to messaging and semantics. While "Pragmatic Capitalism" and Democratic Socialism can and hopefully will co-exist again, the S word is still toxic to too many voters. I think this effort by MAGA to skip right over Socialism to Communism is bad strategy.
Remarque Institute, NYU, Tony Judt. Democratic Socialism. I thought Mamdani might have learned it there, but maybe during his years at NYU Professor Judt (origin: British working class) may have had a wider influence in NYC than is generally recognized. He died of ALS at 62, his last works dictated to Timothy Garton Ash, who is better known.
“Pragmatic Capitalism” is a wrenching term except for those who don’t know history. It hurts much worse than reading Marx.
It seems to me part of the platform is to get to work now on a way to counter what might happen to the next elections. I wish Congress would pass a law that no one can tamper with or take any voting boxes without at least two non-partisan officials present to monitor and keep the chain of custody. I can just see the boxes disappearing now, and all those votes being discarded because they had been tampered with somewhere out of sight. At least if the Republicans vote against any such laws it will be clear they are in it for the cheat.
Yes and data states have on registered voters should be kept private. In Lee County, Florida, mine was shared with Republican party who are texting me about primaries. Trying to influence me. Not ok.
Ah, but you forget that Trump is bragging that he is the only President in history who didn’t accept the salary. Chickenfeed compared to the graft and corruption, but hey, it’s the thought that counts…
In a way, I fear for Mayor Mamdani. He seems to be the elixir that could cure what ails our country. I am not a New Yorker but have been thoroughly impressed with this young man’s views and, thus far, his actions. You mentioned JFK as a comparison and I thought that was very apt. Young Kennedy was offering something new and different to a post war country, very similar to what the young Mayor is doing in NYC. And, I, for one, am excited about the possibilities but I am just one. There are many, too many out there who simply either fear, hate, loathe or are just frightened by his positions and by his description of himself as a Democratic Socialist.
I say none of that to alarm BUT I was a very young person when JFK offered hope then was snuffed out; when brother, Bobby tried to do the same then was also horribly taken; then when Dr. King was sending messages of hope and togetherness only to be eliminated. My point being, our country NEVER seems to be ready for what it needs… throughout our 250 year history. I am hoping and praying that, because of the narcissistic wannabe dictator occupying our White House, NOW just might be the time. However, we must protect the likes of Mayor Mamdani, AOC, Governor Pritzker, Pete Buttigieg and others who are valiantly trying to provide the leadership we need.
I agree. At the same time, the NYT today posted an article about the Senate race in Maine, calling it once again a CORONATION.
The NYT is doing tremendous harm to democracy in the US. Again and again. They did the same thing with Harris in the summer of 2024.
When there's not a lot of time, the process needs to be sped up, obviously. The idea that it would be "anti-democratic" (as the word "coronation" in this context is clearly designed to suggest) to do a faster convincing of delegates process than usual is utterly absurd.
In the meantime, a neofascist GOP grabbed power and is literally changing the US government into a fascist one step by step, day by day.
Many modern Western democracies don't even let people pick candidates, it's the parties themselves who do so. Why? Because a democracy vitally needs COMPETENT lawmakers and people running the executive branch of government, and people with a strong moral spine. Only if you work together with them for a long time can you know whether or not a candidate has these skills.
Today, everything has become "entertainment". The only question is: can the candidate entertain the base enough so that it feels strongly inspired? If yes, we'll call it a good candidate, if not, out with him.
In 2024, Harris had more experience than the last four presidents upon entering the White House, and she very clearly had a strong moral spine. But hey, when asked one absurd question after the other (often based on Trump tweets or other fake news), she needed time to come up with a reasonable answer, so... so many people thought... that must mean that we can't trust her.
You'd almost begin to understand why those neofascists imagine that we shouldn't give "the mediocre masses" any power, when it comes to governing a country...
Probably a year or so ago, I was severely chastised by someone on this forum for saying that I didn't "like" Hilary Clinton--and that part came after expounding upon why I thought she was the best, most prepared and experienced candidate in modern history. (And I did vote for her.) My answer of saying I don't have to LIKE someone to vote for them--although that is a plus!--was equally attacked.
My observation that she is an attorney, was spouse of both a governor and POTUS gave her inside observance of the job AND was both a US Senator and Secretary of State and thus highly, highly qualified and experienced didn't do it. I HAD TO LIKE her.
I know just what you mean, though I've heard she's much more "likable" in person. I thought she was a dreadful candidate who would have made a superb President and I voted for her too.
It's absurd indeed. We're not marrying them, we look at the options available and then vote for the person who is, ideologically, most aligned with the direction we believe the country should be headed toward and who has the most experience and seems to have the strongest moral spine. That's all.
The GOP and the legacy media turned politics into a spectator sport. That cannot but destroy democracy...
I never really liked Hillary either but she would definitely have made a fantastic president - and one that would have been incomparably better than Trump, needless to add.
I think that what makes her less "likeable" is that, just like Kamala Harris, she seems to have a smile/way of laughing that comes across as a bit "forced". Is it forced or is this the natural way some women laugh though? Who cares!! It's utterly irrelevant...
A perfect illustration of the importance of messaging. You're an intelligent person who was influenced by something as "utterly irrelevant" as a "forced laugh." Of course, it didn't change your vote. But things like this can make a difference in our "spectator sport" media landscape.
Thanks for the sunshine and your comments re Mamdani interview. Def agree opponents of present admin need to get together to discuss a strong, united platform. Pritzker, AOC, et al, all good people. 👍🏻
I completely agree that these "new voices" need to join forces and develop a platform! Simply being anti-Trump is not going to cut it, especially among Republican-leaning independents and people who feel that the Democratic Party has abandoned them.
The point is that if the opposition to Trump can’t compromise among themselves on a platform that moves us away from oligarchy and towards repairing the social safety net and the rule of law, how are they going to do it if they get the chance to govern? This platform isn’t meant to be the be-all and end-all of restoration. Trump will veto it anyway unless there is a miracle and there are 2/3 majorities in both houses. People want to see a return to ethics and integrity, frameworks for new laws to deal with corruption in government, big money out of politics, equal opportunity, and a secure social safety and affordable health care, and a rational foreign policy without more wars.
Put a dozen of the best young voices together in a room for a week and I bet they could generate a platform that covered the bases that was doable, and had something firmly in the direction of “better than the way it is now.” Add in a handful of grey heads like Krugman and Obama and Whitehouse and Warren and Raskin, for some reality checks and to referee, and to sell the unified platform that results, and I think there is a real chance to get to a trifecta in 2028. But if the opposition blows the midterms, the trifecta will be out of reach and we will face another decade of paralyzed government.
Georgia, you and a few of us can't be the only smart people in the nation. We keep talking about a shadow government formulating a countermeasure against Project 2025, and yet from the people who have the resources to make this happen, we get nothing. It's infuriating.
A while ago I did a note on the four different Democratic groups supposedly each writing their own new platforms, backed by somewhat shadowy backers. All were centrist. I haven’t seen anything since, but I haven’t looked consistently.
" focus on the issues for every American who is feeling the effects of the continuing concentration of wealth in the uber-rich."
You misunderstand economics of the "über rich." They do not take someone else's share of a pie. They bake new ones. Not sure what the $$ cutoff is for your definition, but the publicly visible billionaires created their wealth out of nothing. They didn't take it from someone else. A second major error is nor realizing that the creation of new industries and major companies has created, not diminished, wealth. The hated (among commenters here ) billionaires have created more than 20 million new jobs directly, and a multiple of that through the multiplier effect.
Mandami is a smiling, joking, charming catastrophe. He doesn't know how to build anything.
If you don't like the Trump ideologues, wait till the Manadami ones expand.
Given current non-replacement birth rates and the growth in the % of the population that does not create jobs and performs poorly in our economy, the future of social security is truly imperiled. Imposters like Mandami lead people to the cliff.
Sometimes life sends an unmistakeable message --- night off, be with Buddy, enjoy the next morning. All of us care about your health, mental and otherwise, Heather.
Germany annually commemorates the July 20 Plot on July 20th to honor the military officers and civilians who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime in 1944. The federal government holds solemn wreath-laying ceremonies in Berlin, primarily at the Bendler Block and Plötzensee Memorial.The July 20th Plot (also known as Operation Valkyrie) was led by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. On July 20, 1944, he planted a briefcase bomb inside Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters in an attempt to assassinate the dictator. Although the bomb detonated, Hitler survived with minor injuries. The coup collapsed, and Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were executed that same night. Around 200 members of the resistance were killed by the Nazis in the subsequent purge.Today, the day represents courage and conscience, honoring those who put humanity above their own lives to oppose the Nazi regime. The commemoration alternates annually between two primary historic sites
May I live to see such a commemoration in this country. Better hurry, I’m old. How wonderful to be reminded that a whole country can regain its heart and soul after such evil.
Grab a lovely day when you can. We finally made it to the Cheech Museum of Mexican American Art in Riverside yesterday. Jaw dropping amazing art work. A very beautiful day as well. Plans approved. Permit soon to rebuild our Altadena home.
"A lovely day with family and friends" is part of our history, too. At school I heard about wars, troubles and turmoils when we talked about history, but I seldom heard about joy. Can you do a post or two on the history of American joy? Who got to have joy, and who didn't, and what ppl did to bring each other joy.
Listening to the widow of the murdered man, Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford Maine, I was struck with how loving & articulate she communicated the life they shared. In her native language translated to English, she shared what her husband’s life meant to her and her 3 year old daughter. Being recent immigrants they had to live life on the economic edge. But she told of a family where her husband put her and her daughter in the center of his universe and that they lived rich full lives.
I had a brilliant time with family and friends celebrating my two daughters’ birthday, born 6 years apart, one 50, the other 50+. We have things to be grateful for. 🎂🥂💐🌞
Sounds like a good decision and everyone should recharge every so often, Heather probably less often than most and no doubt more deserved. I’m clear out here in SoCal listening to crickets chirp as day is fading. The simplest pleasures in life can seem to best soothe the soul. Thank you Professor for contributing to our knowledge of who we are and the history of this Democracy we hold dear.
Great idea!
Here is a dose of sunshine for your day.
If you want a vision for America, listen to Zohran Mamdani’s interview. Clear, cogent, cohesive, principled, and inclusive, with a focus on the issues for every American who is feeling the effects of the continuing concentration of wealth in the uber-rich. As mayor of New York his focus is on programs to improve the life and viability of New York City, as it should be, but he also believes in justice, and fairness that is universal.
And, most of all, he can laugh, and laugh at himself, and at the questions meant to box him into positions that can be turned into talking points on the far right and the far left. The NYTimes reporter was clearly angling for clickbait on disarray on the left.
I remember John F. Kennedy’s inspirational rhetoric when I was a pre-teen, and how clear it was that he was an exceptional politician. I think Mamdani is different, more down to earth, more approachable, but equally gifted. He is sunshine to Trump’s darkness. He is hope in the face of despair.
He and AOC and Jon Ossoff and JB Pritzker and other new voices are going to be the pillars of the opposition to the Trump regime. But they need to join forces and start hammering out a unified platform ahead of the midterms, not the pundits and consultants who never have to face the electorate, and are catering to the lobbyists and donors to the PACs that pay them.
nytimes.com/2026/07/18/…
My sister who lives in Manhattan absolutely adores Mamdani. She said in all the years that she has lived there. No one has been better than him.
Mamdani reminds me of Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor and the person most responsible for our having Social Security. Her theory of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." Mamdani, Bernie and the others err in calling their program Democratic Socialism. It is, in fact, Pragmatic Capitalism, what we find ii the Scandinavian countries. Happiest people on earth. No Socialism. We had the New Deal under FDR and Perkins, creating the largest Middle Class ever. It's Pragmatic Capitalism at work. Install a fair tax system and make life affordable for all.
"Mamdani, Bernie and the others err in calling their program Democratic Socialism." I agree, and so does Adam Smith. He created capitalism on the foundation of his theory of moral sentiments (1759). Being moral (treating others they way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot) is the second hardest thing a human being can do, but it is pragmatic because the hardest thing is living with the long-term negative consequences that result from not being moral.
Smith didn't invent "socialism", Marx did. If you want to understand the definition of the word, you need to read Marx.
Then you'll see why "democratic socialism" is absurd, since all real socialism is (1) always democratic, and (2) always a form of capitalism.
Since political literacy is extremely low in the US, however... Democrats who aren't afraid of using the word "socialism" in the correct sense are obliged to add "democratic" to it. That's all.
Republicans claim to be capitalists. Democrats shouldn't be afraid to call Republicans capitalists in name only.
Thank you, James. If only you-know-who had had you as mentor, instead of Roy and Vlad, we’d be in utopia now instead of dys-.
He wouldn't have listened to me. My message is to people who support people like Mamdani, Bernie, and AOC.
It IS socialism. Marx defined socialism as a form of capitalism. It's the next stage in the development of the means of production and redistribution of wealth, that's all.
The first stage, when moving out of a feudal system and largely agrarian economy, is a savage form of capitalism (the industrialization phase), where wealth is no longer a privilege you're born with, but something that many more people can now acquire if they become CEOs of a private business. At the same time, with the aristocracy disappearing, no new legislative mechanism adapted to the new economy is in place yet. The result is that CEOs can do whatever they want with their employees, so... they tend to exploit them horribly.
That leads to the creation of unions (workers/employees sticking together and using their power to negotiate better conditions inside a specific company).
In a socialist economy, unions from many different companies work together and negotiate with lawmakers to install a new, fairer legislative system, allowing more people to thrive.
The third and last stage is communism. Now, private ownership of companies is abolished altogether, with a democratically elected government directing the entire economy for the benefit of all - no more exceptions.
Europe's socialist parties are all democratic. And they all support capitalism. That's why no socialist party has to add the word "democratic" to its name. Only in the US, where ignorance is much higher, do people associate "socialism" with "dictatorship" and "anti-capitalism" and then adding the word "democratic" becomes necessary.
And yes, the New Deal was socialism. That's why neoliberalism was invented, to try to destroy it. From the very beginning, neoliberals openly admitted that in the end, capitalism and democracy are incompatible. Today, the neoliberal GOP (neoliberals formally took over the party with Reagan) drew the logical conclusions of its core ideology and decided that only neofascism as a form of government will allow them to keep a form of savage capitalism. They're basically saying that Marx is right: if you let capitalism evolve "organically", it WILL lead to socialism (and perhaps, eventually, communism).
There are no real communist economies yet, for now, so we don't know how that would work. But Northern Europe has been regularly governed by socialists. Result? Higher levels of health and education, longer life span, lower unemployment and poverty rate, paid sick leave, free mandatory health insurance, and a much smaller income gap. And a GDP that is as good as that in the US, which is still mostly stuck in savage capitalism (since "we the people" systematically vote out Democrats, only because they install socialism in a democratic way, which means gradually, through the legislative democratic process... ).
Thank you, EUWDTB, for this genuinely superb explanatory piece. It is indeed the best such summary of the very many I've read.
Not only is it clearly and accessibly written; neither does it simmer with the poisonous arrogance of the pampered, insufferably pompous academic übermenschen whom neoliberalism has allowed to become the [intentionally alienating] voice of Marxism -- this by silencing, probably forever, all USian working-class voices.
(Note how the USian academic presentation of Marxism is a perfect example of our masters' irresistibly cunning, thus infinitely Evil strategy of appearing to democratically allow the study of a controversial topic while reducing it to odium by the attitude of the presenter. The same strategy -- using existentially fascist male athletic-department personnel [I apologize for the redundancy] to teach middle-school and high-school history and social studies -- creates a population that despises all such scholarship and thus perpetuates its own subjugation.)
Thank you again; speaking as the editor and part-time college instructor I once was, your text here is really, really fine.
Yes! But let's call it the NEW Pragmatic Capitalism so capitalists might actually buy into it?
If what you mean by "capitalists" are the ultra wealthy American oligarchs, nothing will persuade them to do anything other than horde as much money as possible. They ignore the fact that if our population were only 3.4 million people, probably none of them would be billionaires, but because we are 340 million, we have about 1100 billionaires. It's the people who create the wealth. "New" Pragmatic Capitalism puts in place a fair taxation system that makes it possible to build and operate schools, hospitals, armed forces, health and science research, Medicare, Social Security, infrastructure and a whole lot more. In the past it was known as the "New Deal." The Chinese have an old saying: "An inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time." None o the billionaires spent a single day in the U.S. Armed Forces. I spent four years in the U.S. Army. The average lifespan for males in the U.S. today is 76.5 years. So I paid 7.2% of my projected adult life helping to ensure that they can horde great wealth. Some gave their lives. Their greed is palpable and unconscionable.
I suggest that we call the economic system that creates the wealth of nations "capitalism," and the economic system that creates the wealth of the ultra wealthy "capitalism in name only."
" It's the people who create the wealth. "
Seriously? The people invented electric cars? The internet? Computers? Software? Vaccines? Cars? Planes? MRIs? CAT scans?
Without guidance from the evil despicable eyeball stealing billionaire "oiigarchs," you have sub-Saharan Africa. Africa has billions of people. Where are all the billionaires (other than by theft)? Arabs have oil money (by expropriating American and British discoveries and refineries). Where are the Arab patents?
Your Mandami leftist ideology blinds you to facts of how wealth is created. Mandami, by the way, comes from a colonialist Indian family in Uganda, where Indians control 70% of the wealth.
Just call it what the rest of the world has always called it: socialism.
Socialism is, by definition, democratic, and it's a form of capitalism.
Let's hope that over time, more Americans will discover this...
Richard, coming from the marketing world, I concur that calling any school of thought "Democratic Socialism" is an absolute branding nightmare, no matter how accurate the label might be.
Maybe if Colt firearms had named their high-powered AR-15 the "Mass Killer," we wouldn't have so many of them around.
I'm not sure that "Pragmatic Capitalism" is any more helpful. Both words carry some undesirable baggage.
What I can say with all certainty is that in the consumerist U.S., branding is everything. Mamdani, AOC, Bernie et al need a better brand.
Well said, Mr. Rowett. Given my own marketing background, I absolutely agree. The problem is that by our masters' intent, the USian population is probably the most bottomlessly ignorant, chronically unteachable population in all human history.
Atop that, the Moronic Majority's conditioned, reflexive hatred of socialists and socialism is easily transformed into fanatical support for Nazism, which (unless defeated as in WW II), not only guarantees unlimited capitalist profiteering, but grants the capitalists' the omnipotence within which they are encouraged to fulfill their darkest Trumpstein fantasies.
The Moronic Majority's irremediable ignorance and the unquenchable hatred it encourages is [the] most important barrier to success in the struggle to avoid resurrecting the failed, plutocracy-tyrannized nation that spawned the ChristoNazis’ “Unified Reich.”
Nevertheless I believe the vital need of "Mamdani, AOC, Bernie et al" for effective branding could be fulfilled by focus-grouping. (The late Blanka Eckstein was both a client -- I edited some of her reports -- and a very dear friend.) The problem is there is no one able to organize it nationally as it should be organized. And even were such organization attempted, the lesson of Occupy tells us the effort would fail. (Occupy, remember, was destroyed from within by its younger activists' fanatical rejection of any and all efforts to achieve disciplined solidarity. I repeatedly witnessed this as one of Occupy's labor-movement elders. The younger participants' reaction, underscored by an astonishingly intense anti-unionism, was unquestionably an expression of the self-obsessed egotism and moral imbecility fostered by neoliberalism. Such is the weaponization by which our diabolically cunning masters have made solidarity impossible, thus prohibiting revolution or even reform.)
Hence my belief our masters -- unless we are liberated as in World War II -- will never allow us to construct a [new] Republic capable of ensuring, in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, a “...birth of freedom...that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
I didn't see much difference between the Occupy Movement and a bowel movement. The end result was a handful of ... well ... you know.
As Will Rogers said, "I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat."
I don't know if some wise person said it and I've forgotten, or some wise person should have said it: "How you start is how you end up."
Because I'm closely familiar with the origins of Walmart, I'm not surprised that the company has turned out to be what it is. Sam Walton was not the kindly old pickup-driving grandpaw his PR made him out to be. He was a bitter, belligerent old coot who was chauffeured to his office every day. Back in the 1960s, Ben Franklin was a franchise division of TG&Y Stores in Oklahoma City. Every franchise agreement included a non-compete clause. A shopping center developer maneuvered TG&Y into a three-location deal. If they wanted anchor spaces in two shopping centers in other parts of the nation, they had to anchor a shopping center in Bentonville, AR, where Walton had his Ben Franklin store. TG&Y bit the bullet and took the deal. Walton was pissed. He sued and lost. He vowed to put TG&Y out of business and opened his first Wal*Mart across the highway from the new TG&Y Store. He sent his employees across the road to check prices, then underpriced the same items by pennies. He learned how to make "knock-offs" in China from buyers he poached from TG&Y. In the end, Walton made good on his threat when TG&Y was shuttered in 1985. But I've always said Walmart was bound to be evil because it was started out of spite.
Similarly, the origins of the U.S. are not something to be proud of when you strip away all the whitewash. What we see today should come as no surprise.
The Washington Post editorial board has a moderately hysterical piece today describing how taxes will have to increase to pay for Medicare for all. Your comment is a nice antidote to anyone upset by the Post's (Bezos-inspired?) alarmism.
Christopher, I was a decades-long subscriber to WaPo until Bozo hired the scandal-ridden Brit, Will Lewis, who immediately set about changing every headline to glorify Donald, at which time I cancelled my subscription.
Now, I pay HCR & Co. to read that rag so I don't have to.
WaPo isn't even useful as birdcage liner anymore. No self-respecting parakeet will sh*t on it.
HCR is indeed a treasure. I have an online subscription to the WSJ and the Post so I can write comments on the editorials and op eds when the needle pegs on my sophistry meter. It's all going into the void I know, but it offers a way to record what I think are the counterarguments that need to be made somewhere so that somebody might see them and take them into account.
Bravo Richard! Pragmatist and Proud. Enough with the oligarch v. socialist/communist bs. We don't have to reinvent the wheel just Focus like Frances did on what's needed.
You got bugs in your lettuce? Let US get 'em out!
It's been one hundred years, we need a new, New Deal!
I recently read a novel about Perkins and added her to my list of heroes.
Bravo, Richard!
U.S. voters are so gullible to messaging and semantics. While "Pragmatic Capitalism" and Democratic Socialism can and hopefully will co-exist again, the S word is still toxic to too many voters. I think this effort by MAGA to skip right over Socialism to Communism is bad strategy.
I've lived in the city for 45 years -- and I love Mamdani!
Pea green with envy for your sister, Marlene! Hells Bells, it is taking all I got to keep from moving to NYC!
Remarque Institute, NYU, Tony Judt. Democratic Socialism. I thought Mamdani might have learned it there, but maybe during his years at NYU Professor Judt (origin: British working class) may have had a wider influence in NYC than is generally recognized. He died of ALS at 62, his last works dictated to Timothy Garton Ash, who is better known.
“Pragmatic Capitalism” is a wrenching term except for those who don’t know history. It hurts much worse than reading Marx.
It seems to me part of the platform is to get to work now on a way to counter what might happen to the next elections. I wish Congress would pass a law that no one can tamper with or take any voting boxes without at least two non-partisan officials present to monitor and keep the chain of custody. I can just see the boxes disappearing now, and all those votes being discarded because they had been tampered with somewhere out of sight. At least if the Republicans vote against any such laws it will be clear they are in it for the cheat.
It is clear NOW. You are 100% right. Those mentioned should form a shadow party that we can support and make Chuck and the chunks irrelevant.
Yes and data states have on registered voters should be kept private. In Lee County, Florida, mine was shared with Republican party who are texting me about primaries. Trying to influence me. Not ok.
He's turning down the raise in salary passed by the NY City Council, which makes a nice contrast to some folks in Washington.
Ah, but you forget that Trump is bragging that he is the only President in history who didn’t accept the salary. Chickenfeed compared to the graft and corruption, but hey, it’s the thought that counts…
I wonder if anyone is keeping a running tab on Trump's grift, not to mention the unauthorized use of American military forces.
progwoman, ask and ye shall receive.
https://www.americanprogress.org/feature/trumps-take/
Argh! Even higher than I feared.
⬆️👏🏼
He's great -- the attitude, youth, caring and buoyancy he brings is a complete breath of fresh air for the city.
Buoyancy—love that as a description of him!!!
He does seem to have that quality about him!
In a way, I fear for Mayor Mamdani. He seems to be the elixir that could cure what ails our country. I am not a New Yorker but have been thoroughly impressed with this young man’s views and, thus far, his actions. You mentioned JFK as a comparison and I thought that was very apt. Young Kennedy was offering something new and different to a post war country, very similar to what the young Mayor is doing in NYC. And, I, for one, am excited about the possibilities but I am just one. There are many, too many out there who simply either fear, hate, loathe or are just frightened by his positions and by his description of himself as a Democratic Socialist.
I say none of that to alarm BUT I was a very young person when JFK offered hope then was snuffed out; when brother, Bobby tried to do the same then was also horribly taken; then when Dr. King was sending messages of hope and togetherness only to be eliminated. My point being, our country NEVER seems to be ready for what it needs… throughout our 250 year history. I am hoping and praying that, because of the narcissistic wannabe dictator occupying our White House, NOW just might be the time. However, we must protect the likes of Mayor Mamdani, AOC, Governor Pritzker, Pete Buttigieg and others who are valiantly trying to provide the leadership we need.
I agree. At the same time, the NYT today posted an article about the Senate race in Maine, calling it once again a CORONATION.
The NYT is doing tremendous harm to democracy in the US. Again and again. They did the same thing with Harris in the summer of 2024.
When there's not a lot of time, the process needs to be sped up, obviously. The idea that it would be "anti-democratic" (as the word "coronation" in this context is clearly designed to suggest) to do a faster convincing of delegates process than usual is utterly absurd.
In the meantime, a neofascist GOP grabbed power and is literally changing the US government into a fascist one step by step, day by day.
Many modern Western democracies don't even let people pick candidates, it's the parties themselves who do so. Why? Because a democracy vitally needs COMPETENT lawmakers and people running the executive branch of government, and people with a strong moral spine. Only if you work together with them for a long time can you know whether or not a candidate has these skills.
Today, everything has become "entertainment". The only question is: can the candidate entertain the base enough so that it feels strongly inspired? If yes, we'll call it a good candidate, if not, out with him.
In 2024, Harris had more experience than the last four presidents upon entering the White House, and she very clearly had a strong moral spine. But hey, when asked one absurd question after the other (often based on Trump tweets or other fake news), she needed time to come up with a reasonable answer, so... so many people thought... that must mean that we can't trust her.
You'd almost begin to understand why those neofascists imagine that we shouldn't give "the mediocre masses" any power, when it comes to governing a country...
Probably a year or so ago, I was severely chastised by someone on this forum for saying that I didn't "like" Hilary Clinton--and that part came after expounding upon why I thought she was the best, most prepared and experienced candidate in modern history. (And I did vote for her.) My answer of saying I don't have to LIKE someone to vote for them--although that is a plus!--was equally attacked.
My observation that she is an attorney, was spouse of both a governor and POTUS gave her inside observance of the job AND was both a US Senator and Secretary of State and thus highly, highly qualified and experienced didn't do it. I HAD TO LIKE her.
I know just what you mean, though I've heard she's much more "likable" in person. I thought she was a dreadful candidate who would have made a superb President and I voted for her too.
It's absurd indeed. We're not marrying them, we look at the options available and then vote for the person who is, ideologically, most aligned with the direction we believe the country should be headed toward and who has the most experience and seems to have the strongest moral spine. That's all.
The GOP and the legacy media turned politics into a spectator sport. That cannot but destroy democracy...
I never really liked Hillary either but she would definitely have made a fantastic president - and one that would have been incomparably better than Trump, needless to add.
I think that what makes her less "likeable" is that, just like Kamala Harris, she seems to have a smile/way of laughing that comes across as a bit "forced". Is it forced or is this the natural way some women laugh though? Who cares!! It's utterly irrelevant...
A perfect illustration of the importance of messaging. You're an intelligent person who was influenced by something as "utterly irrelevant" as a "forced laugh." Of course, it didn't change your vote. But things like this can make a difference in our "spectator sport" media landscape.
How exactly does this illustrate "the importance of messaging"?
My vote for Hillary wasn't based on marketing, it was based on studying her record. As all votes in a democracy should be...
Thanks for the sunshine and your comments re Mamdani interview. Def agree opponents of present admin need to get together to discuss a strong, united platform. Pritzker, AOC, et al, all good people. 👍🏻
Thank you, Georgia for this piece. I hope the state becomes as enlightened as your name.
Pete Buttigieg is also a fantastic communicator; we need him back in office at a high level...maybe the highest.
I completely agree that these "new voices" need to join forces and develop a platform! Simply being anti-Trump is not going to cut it, especially among Republican-leaning independents and people who feel that the Democratic Party has abandoned them.
The point is that if the opposition to Trump can’t compromise among themselves on a platform that moves us away from oligarchy and towards repairing the social safety net and the rule of law, how are they going to do it if they get the chance to govern? This platform isn’t meant to be the be-all and end-all of restoration. Trump will veto it anyway unless there is a miracle and there are 2/3 majorities in both houses. People want to see a return to ethics and integrity, frameworks for new laws to deal with corruption in government, big money out of politics, equal opportunity, and a secure social safety and affordable health care, and a rational foreign policy without more wars.
Put a dozen of the best young voices together in a room for a week and I bet they could generate a platform that covered the bases that was doable, and had something firmly in the direction of “better than the way it is now.” Add in a handful of grey heads like Krugman and Obama and Whitehouse and Warren and Raskin, for some reality checks and to referee, and to sell the unified platform that results, and I think there is a real chance to get to a trifecta in 2028. But if the opposition blows the midterms, the trifecta will be out of reach and we will face another decade of paralyzed government.
I would add Pete Buttegieg, who has been talking about a vision for the future rather than returning things to the way they used to be.
Hi. Do you -- or anyone else here -- know where else that interview can be found for those of us who aren't subscribers to the NYTimes? thanks
Gifted link https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/magazine/zohran-mamdani-interview.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zFA.zB1s.7k0OvR_31G4Y&smid=url-share
Georgia, you and a few of us can't be the only smart people in the nation. We keep talking about a shadow government formulating a countermeasure against Project 2025, and yet from the people who have the resources to make this happen, we get nothing. It's infuriating.
A while ago I did a note on the four different Democratic groups supposedly each writing their own new platforms, backed by somewhat shadowy backers. All were centrist. I haven’t seen anything since, but I haven’t looked consistently.
Last time I checked, contemplating the amount of lint that has accumulated in one's navel has little to no effect on the course of human events.
" focus on the issues for every American who is feeling the effects of the continuing concentration of wealth in the uber-rich."
You misunderstand economics of the "über rich." They do not take someone else's share of a pie. They bake new ones. Not sure what the $$ cutoff is for your definition, but the publicly visible billionaires created their wealth out of nothing. They didn't take it from someone else. A second major error is nor realizing that the creation of new industries and major companies has created, not diminished, wealth. The hated (among commenters here ) billionaires have created more than 20 million new jobs directly, and a multiple of that through the multiplier effect.
Mandami is a smiling, joking, charming catastrophe. He doesn't know how to build anything.
If you don't like the Trump ideologues, wait till the Manadami ones expand.
Given current non-replacement birth rates and the growth in the % of the population that does not create jobs and performs poorly in our economy, the future of social security is truly imperiled. Imposters like Mandami lead people to the cliff.
We've been trying to get people to ask Professor HCR to take some time off coz she deserves it. Finally, nature or ISP company heard us all!
I'm with you. Take the night off. Enjoy it!
Thank you for always providing us such helpful information.
Sometimes life sends an unmistakeable message --- night off, be with Buddy, enjoy the next morning. All of us care about your health, mental and otherwise, Heather.
I just had the best time with my family! I’m so glad you did, too!!
Good! Yes, the world is too much with us, late and soon, as Wordsworth observed. Take more time off. Work will wait. 🙏💐
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
Republican vipers never sleep. May they self-destruct…. Been waiting
Germany annually commemorates the July 20 Plot on July 20th to honor the military officers and civilians who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime in 1944. The federal government holds solemn wreath-laying ceremonies in Berlin, primarily at the Bendler Block and Plötzensee Memorial.The July 20th Plot (also known as Operation Valkyrie) was led by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. On July 20, 1944, he planted a briefcase bomb inside Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters in an attempt to assassinate the dictator. Although the bomb detonated, Hitler survived with minor injuries. The coup collapsed, and Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were executed that same night. Around 200 members of the resistance were killed by the Nazis in the subsequent purge.Today, the day represents courage and conscience, honoring those who put humanity above their own lives to oppose the Nazi regime. The commemoration alternates annually between two primary historic sites
May I live to see such a commemoration in this country. Better hurry, I’m old. How wonderful to be reminded that a whole country can regain its heart and soul after such evil.
Glad you enjoyed your day! Thank you for all you do!
Glad you took a break. Thanks for continuing to provide me and others what we need to continue the fight.
Grab a lovely day when you can. We finally made it to the Cheech Museum of Mexican American Art in Riverside yesterday. Jaw dropping amazing art work. A very beautiful day as well. Plans approved. Permit soon to rebuild our Altadena home.
That you are able to rebuild your house is encouraging news. May everything work out well for you.
Such happy news. Onward for you, RR.
So lovely and peaceful. We need more water and less Donald. Glad you took a break and read the signs. Rest well!
So did I, with my friends and family for my birthday celebration. You look at the Atlantic, I the Pacific. Perfect bookends. Thanks for all you do.
"A lovely day with family and friends" is part of our history, too. At school I heard about wars, troubles and turmoils when we talked about history, but I seldom heard about joy. Can you do a post or two on the history of American joy? Who got to have joy, and who didn't, and what ppl did to bring each other joy.
I love this idea!
So well deserved, and thank you so much for all you do for us!
Lovely, calm and soothing image. I hope it reflects your mood, Heather. Enjoy your evening off!
Family is why we do good things.
Listening to the widow of the murdered man, Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford Maine, I was struck with how loving & articulate she communicated the life they shared. In her native language translated to English, she shared what her husband’s life meant to her and her 3 year old daughter. Being recent immigrants they had to live life on the economic edge. But she told of a family where her husband put her and her daughter in the center of his universe and that they lived rich full lives.
And why so msny undocumented take the risk to come here.
"Undocumented" is when you forget your driver's license at home. "Illegal" is when you do something forbidden by law.
I had a brilliant time with family and friends celebrating my two daughters’ birthday, born 6 years apart, one 50, the other 50+. We have things to be grateful for. 🎂🥂💐🌞
Sounds like a good decision and everyone should recharge every so often, Heather probably less often than most and no doubt more deserved. I’m clear out here in SoCal listening to crickets chirp as day is fading. The simplest pleasures in life can seem to best soothe the soul. Thank you Professor for contributing to our knowledge of who we are and the history of this Democracy we hold dear.