Zohran Mamdani won the recent Democratic primary in New York City's mayoral race, handily defeating Andrew Cuomo, the epitome of the Democratic Establishment. Many commentators were surprised by the types of voters who supported Momdani--Jews, for example, and the wealthy elites in Manhattan. After all, Zohran is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and has referred to some Israeli military actions as genocide. He has called for higher taxes on the rich, especially the ones living in "whiter neighborhoods."
Reihan Salam, writing for the Wall Street Journal, theorized why one particular segment of New Yorkers voted for Mamdani: downwardly mobile millennials. Salam defined downwardly mobile millennials as individuals born between 1981 and 1996 who are less well off than their parents or who perceive themselves as less well off.
Roughly 40 percent of millennials, according to research Salam cited, live in "high-cost, hyper-competitive metropolitan areas," where owning a home and paying off student loans can be "distant dreams."
Millennials in NYC and other Democratic strongholds often have college degrees and graduate credentials from prestigious universities, where they were groomed to believe they were preparing for high-paying jobs in glamorous industries and to take their rightful place among the urban elite.
Things haven't worked out so well for urban millennials. Housing costs are astronomical in NYC and other progressive Democratic strongholds. The job market for upscale jobs is fierce, and many millennials can't find jobs that allow them to pay off their student loans and still buy a home.
Moreover, the crime rates are high in the blue cities, and the renter class bears the brunt.
No wonder so many urban millennials have turned to leftist politicians who promise to soak the rich. I say go for it!
However, Momdani supporters who are angry at the rich should reserve some of their rancor for the elite universities that charge outrageously high tuition for worthless diplomas, especially degrees in liberal arts, humanities, and the social sciences.
A few people who take out loans to get a degree from Swarthmore, Vasser, Columbia, Harvard, etc., can go to the Big Apple or other progressive cities and scramble to the top. Michelle Obama, for example, got her sociology and African American Studies degree from Princeton and is doing just fine.
However, many people who try to make the big time by taking out student loans to get a prestigious degree and going to New York, Chicago, or other expensive, crime-ridden cities, aren't doing as well. And it is these people who are voting for Zohran Mamdani and other leftist wingnuts.
If I were a millennial living in Manhattan on a salary of $90,000 a year, paying $4,000 a month in rent and $1,000 a month on my student loans, who would I vote for to be New York's next mayor?
I'd vote for Zohran Mamdani.
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Image credit Jonah Rosenberg/New York Times |