ComradeKayAdams

How is this still a question?? Formal charges of genocide were submitted to the International Court of Justice THREE MONTHS after 10/7/23, way before Israel’s ongoing starvation blockade on Gaza. These types of charges are not put together capriciously! The evidence of genocide, under the formal United Nations definition of the term, was overwhelming at that time and is even more so now. No one presently among the International Association of Genocide Scholars disagrees with the formal assertion. The ICC has arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and Yoav Gollant because of the IDF’s heinous war crimes. The issue of motivation needs to be scrutinized when dealing with accusations of genocide. Claims of self-defense are a bit specious when Likud government leaders openly declare their Greater Israel objectives! Actions speak louder than words, of course, and Israel’s continued encroachments into the West Bank, southwest Syria, and southern Lebanon are effective bullhorns. Ethnic cleansing is Israel’s obvious motivation for genocide. They want more Arab land and natural resources, as has been the case officially since 1948 (and unofficially since the late nineteenth century). Less Gazans alive and worsening living conditions in Gaza facilitates the eventual mass deportation of remaining Gazan refugees into nearby Arab countries. At this point, the only American demographic still defending Israel are Christian MAGA Boomers. My guess is that ~95% of TBD PPP is comprised of this demographic. So my honest questions to you guys: 1. How are genocide, ethnic cleansing, settler colonialism, collective punishment, and apartheid aligned with Christian precepts? What is the contemporary ethical justification for Zionism? 2. If what Israel is doing is on the level, why are nearly all journalists banned in Gaza? Why have more journalists died in this conflict than in any other one since the beginning of the twentieth century? 3. Where is your line in the sand for the systematic destruction of homes, buildings, hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, cemeteries, and cultural heritage sites? Is there a particular number or percentage of destruction at which the “but Hamas!” and “but anti-Semitism!” get-out-of-jail-free cards expire for you? 4. Has Israel been negotiating in good faith with Hamas and with Palestinians, currently and historically? Or have they been guilty of various “poison pill” tactics, even dating back to the pre-Second Intifada era (Oslo Accords, etc.)? 5. How is defending Israel an “America first” policy? How are we benefiting from this relationship, in terms of economics and international diplomacy?

It’s not that I normally have much free time; with coffee as my “upper” of choice, I’m quite capable of producing rapid-fire novellas! Since Bills training camp begins this week and since I don’t think anyone’s political views are changing, I suppose we should strive to wrap up this conversation? I’ll summarize my final thoughts and then you can choose a final rebuttal, if you’d like. Your commentary on the law of unintended economic consequences is duly noted. The American political milieu needs to demand greater quality control over legislation, and that certainly doesn’t exclude progressive legislation. We don’t need to analyze here the details of meaningful policies, but I would like to quickly revisit my 9-factor outline of the urban cost of living. The core message of the Mamdani campaign is mitigating urban unaffordability via downward redistribution of stolen wealth. To that effect, here are some of the main progressive policies I’d personally like to see implemented: 1. Wages: laws and regulations favoring unions, protectionism, and pretty much anything that helps reverse the deindustrialization and financialization of our national economy. 2. Health care: socialized healthcare (including eye, dental, maybe also pharmaceutical, maybe also biomed devices), systematic dismantlement of private health insurance companies, and full erasure of all personal/family medical debt. 3. Education: affordable childcare/pre-primary school programs, government stipend programs for colleges/trade schools, and laws limiting administrative expenses in public universities. Anything that could restrain the colossal market failure of spiraling college tuition costs (which is sort of a pseudo-Veblen/pseudo-Giffen good) should be on the table. 4. Housing: more public housing options, laws curtailing corporate housing ownership, targeted/conditional rent control policies, and just a general awareness of how other countries (example: Finland) address homelessness and housing anxiety. 5-7. Food, Transportation, and Utilities: civil infrastructure upgrades should be the primary focus. Since energy-related supply shocks can drive much of the pricing with these three cost-of-living factors, progressives might nitpick over various energy taxes and subsidies. Health and environmental regulations raise costs (in the short term), but they are necessary far more often than not. 8. Taxes: I’d focus less on corporate taxes, property taxes, and the various types of sales taxes. The main focus should be income taxes and Wall Street speculation taxes. I’d make the income tax structure a lot more progressive, with more brackets and a marginal tax rate of at least 50% on the highest bracket. At the exclusively federal level, I’d chop off ~33% of the bloated military budget and most of Trump’s ICE budget to help fund my progressive goodies! 9. Inflation: Standard worker-friendly progressive boilerplate here...an anti-austerity fiscal policy based on Keynesian stimulus spending to promote the growth of good jobs, but within reason so to control demand-pull inflationary effects. An emphasis on combating price gouging, busting trusts, and employing limited price controls during extreme circumstances. No draconian monetary policy measures (namely interest rate hikes). COMMIE KAY’S CONCLUSION: Neoliberal policies since the 1980’s have made cities unaffordable, not progressive policies. It’s practically canonical at this point to those who follow economics research literature instead of Fox News propaganda. Zohran’s policy platform is reasonable Euro-style social democracy with a 5-store flare of grocery socialism. Either accept our affable Muslim politicians, America, or deal with our HAWT Italian “activists” (note: obvious reference to Luigi Mangione)!!

LOL, oh I wish I could come visit San Diego (for my first time ever)!! I’m stuck in NYC for the rest of the summer. So you prefer the pool to the beach, eh? Either is better than PPP, no doubt. I fully respect your chosen neutrality on the contentious Leh-nerd situation. However, he just told me that he views my “entire portfolio of commentary as a giant red herring!!” As if… << haughty Kay Adams hair flip >> What this now means is that Leh-nerd and I can’t simultaneously attend a future pool party a La Casa Muppetta. If we do, I am liable to go “Aaron Kromer beach chair mode” on ol’ Leh-ny. Or pop his arm floaties in the deep end. Or covertly replace his sunscreen bottle with that of a much lower SPF level. You get the gist… Oh, and look! Leh-nerd has yet another post for us to read! Can’t wait to read all the super profound MAGA thoughts emanating from such a prolific PPP luminary…<< condescending Kay Adams eyeroll >> OH MY GOD. Right, because wearing skimpy bikinis and tackling issues like climate change and socioeconomic decay is an either/or proposition…another profoundly ponderous ponderance from Kay’s preferred PPP pinata… BTW, his name is “Zohran” Mamdani. Not “Zoloft.” I saw what you did there… Very cute, dude. Your irreverence is adorable. Aphmau should make a limited edition MeeMeow cat plushie in your image. To clarify, Zohran is the name of a gifted politician who speaks for the everyday issues of the people. Zoloft is what I should be taking to wade through the posts of a specific Politics, Polls, and Pundits cellar dweller whose puke green avatar letter represents the scored outcome of every single political debate of his with Kay… Let’s cut to the chase, Leh-nerd. Let’s broach the elephant in the room. And no, that wasn’t an allusion to your 24.8 BMI. We can’t just drape an XXL “Dad Bods for Cuomo” t-shirt over this particular point of contention. Your red herring portfolio remark was tremendously hurtful, given all the effort I have put into my posts for you during these past 5 years. It was absurd, moreover, given your leh-gendary obstinance in not seeing obvious political fact from fiction. Methinks Mr. MAGA-oo hasn’t a clue… Leh-nerd, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a Bills Mafia associate, you’re not a political comrade. I don’t want to know you or what you post. I don’t want to see you on the main Bills forum, I don’t want you near my PPP threads. When you visit Muppy at her HAWT summer pool parties, I want to know a day in advance so that I won’t be there. You understand? << poignant Nino Rota musical outro >>

I’m sorry to hear about your terrible experience with your doctor. Such is the nature of America’s private health care system. Under Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All Act of 2023 (H.R. 3421), all BMI’s would be calculated sans shoes and clothes. Now before I begin grading your quiz, let’s briefly address your subpar posting record in this thread. We’re talking about justice for sexual abuse victims, Leh-nerd, and the prevention of any additional abuse from wealthy and powerful pedophiles. The Epstein files transcend politics. You need to be challenging your creepy MAGA forum friends with greater moral conviction. PPP is not supposed to stand for “Pedophiles, Perverts, and Porn addicts.” If anything, it should be “Posh Pulchritude for Progressives!” And on that note, let’s get to grading your math quiz concerning my bloody Zohran shirts… << pulls out menacing red pen >> << adjusts reading glasses >> << sets default facial expression to one of expected disappointment >> Hmmm…these are actually good responses, Leh-nerd!! You are 100% correct to figure that I’d be perturbed with any foreign labor exploitation that went into the t-shirt production. You truly understand the “Tao of Kay,” so may our friendship live on for at least another day! Hmmm…your answers are actually better than mine because yours don’t make me come across as so shallow... KAY’S OFFICIAL ANSWER KEY FOR LEH-NERD’S FRIENDSHIP QUIZ #2: Step 1: Note that Stokes’s Theorem has no relevance to combinatorial math questions. Another mathematical red herring proffered by Kay? More mathematical mischief afoot?? Yes, indeedy…but do note that this particular version of the theorem technically gives the answer away!!! Step 2: Note that Kay would NEVER wear a t-shirt or crop top out in public if she ballooned to a Leh-nerd-like BMI of 24.8. Knowing Kay (which is the whole point of the quiz), she probably wouldn’t be caught out in public at all looking so supersized. MAYBE wearing an oversized coat and baggy jeans in an emergency outing…? Anyway, the answer to Q1 is “ZERO combinations.” Step 3: Same reasoning as above for Q2… “ZERO combinations.” Alternate Step 2: If you want to practice your combinatorial math, Leh-nerd, Q1 is a basic “choose 5 from 10” problem where the order is not important: 10! / (5!5!) = (10*9*8*7*6*5!) / (5*4*3*2*5!) = 30240 / 120 = 252 shirt style combinations. Alternate Step 3: Note that blood and bleach would ruin the yellow, blue, and grey crop tops. You could still use the red and white ones judiciously, however. So Q2 becomes a “choose 5 from 7” problem: 7! / (2!5!) = (7*6*5!) / (2*5!) = 42 / 2 = 21 shirt style combinations. Congrats, dude! You passed! << punches Leh-nerd anyway for trying to show up Kay with nobler quiz answers >>

You cheeky son of a b!tch… Big boy Leh-nerd presumes to have big boy political thoughts for Commie Kay. How adorable. Almost makes me want to pinch those cheeks. Or rather, PUNCH IN those cheeks… YET ANOTHER EMERGENCY MATH POP QUIZ FOR LEH-NERD SKIN-ERD (because the forum friendship between Kay and Leh-nerd is once again in peril): Q1. Kay orders 10 “Hot Girls for Zohran” t-shirts online: 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 blue, 2 grey, and 2 white. Kay makes this purchase with Leh-nerd’s credit card that she stole from his wallet following a violent altercation. Upon delivery, Kay modifies one shirt of each color into a cute crop top style. Because of the aforementioned violent altercation in the state of New York, Kay decides to pack her sh!t up ASAP and lie low in sunny San Diego with Muppy for 5 days. Kay also immediately adopts Leh-nerd’s unethical omnivore diet so that she can go “incognito mode” and quickly raise her svelte 19.3 BMI to Leh-nerd’s sloppy 24.8. If Kay wants to wear a unique “Hot Girls for Zohran” shirt style for each day of her 5-day fugitive excursion, how many different combinations of t-shirts can she pack? Note: you may or may not need to recall Stokes’s Theorem for conservative vector fields: the line integral of the vector field around any closed curve is ZERO. Q2. Kay calls a criminal audible and now intends to clean up the scene of the aforementioned bloody altercation before fleeing the state. She uses bleach plus all 5 crop tops as wash rags in some manner. How many different combinations of t-shirts will Kay now be able to pack? Please take my quiz seriously this time, Leh-nerd. Our forum friendship hangs in the very balance…

But isn’t the victimhood narrative at the core of every political philosophy, even if the specter of oppression is simply one’s political opponent? My issue with your post is threefold: 1. Workers are most definitely the victims of wealth theft in the modern American economy. This should be so bleeping self-evident that I need not write a ten-paragraph treatise here on the twenty-first century revision of the classical economic Labor Theory of Value…though I will if you guys ask nicely… 2. MAGA is a cult-like establishment movement masquerading as a populist one because its acolytes can’t articulately identify their oppressors. 3. The actual far left (Bernie, AOC, etc.) hasn’t had any meaningful power in American national politics since the days of FDR. Getting back on topic…I like to fashion myself as an uber-rational politico who looks disdainfully down on any manner of conspiracy theory devoid of conclusive evidence. Two delightfully wicked exceptions: 1. The CIA killed JFK. 2. Mossad controlled Epstein, and they had dirt on members of both parties, politicians and megadonors, including Trump and Bill Clinton.

The flood alarm systems were state legislative proposals that the Texas GOP repeatedly turned down, dating back to 2017. The weather balloon equipment is federal government property of the NOAA and NWS, with the DOGE cuts this year hampering their efficacy. “Hindsight is always 20/20,” you say. “Science is foresight,” says Kay. Criticize me for politicizing a natural disaster, if you’d like, but I think it’s disgraceful how reactionaries are shirking responsibility for their failed policies. Whatever. Let’s see if the fossil fuel-obsessed citizens of Texas can at least learn lessons from these floods. Maybe consider taking climate change seriously? Maybe have an actual state income tax to fund disaster relief and prevention measures? I’d rather not hijack this thread by spending too much time on the Gaza topic. A few notes: 1. You meant to say “Hamas,” not “Hezbollah.” Hamas is in Gaza, while Hezbollah is north in Lebanon. 2. Ethnic cleansing is defined as “the forced and systematic removal of an ethnic group in a particular area, for the purpose of making that area ethnically homogeneous.” This is EXACTLY what Israel is doing in Gaza. The northern portion has already been ethnically cleansed. Likud party leaders and Trump have already publicly declared their intentions of a full ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Israel’s food and aid blockade, destruction of hospitals and schools, full city razing, and well-documented war crimes on civilians and journalists is fulfilling their ultimate objective: make life there so intolerable that nearby Arab nations will be pressured to accept Gazan refugees en masse. The West Bank is next, by the way, according to Likud party leaders. Apartheid isn’t enough for these sociopathic degenerates. 3. The conflict didn’t begin with Hamas on 10/7/23. This has been a turbulent back-and-forth between Israel and Hamas since the Second Intifada. Neither side has a clear conscience. Since Gazans are the descendants of ethnically cleansed Palestinians in 1948, I’d actually set the genesis of conflict to the very conception of Zionism. And since Zionism is an illegitimate political and philosophical and religious movement entwined with ethnic cleansing, then yeah…I’m blaming Israel for starting it all. Don’t steal people’s land and expect them to not fight back.

OH MY GOD. Your post length…we are the Spider-Man meme, except my Spider-Man is wearing a blue “Hot Girls for Zohran” t-shirt! I’ll try to address as much as I can: 1. Real world examples: You need to specify the progressive legislation if you want to assign blame. Whenever you vaguely point to the failings of dark blue cities, you’re actually attributing a lot of problems to a lot of different factors and politicians that have little to do with progressivism. Also, keep in mind that cost of living data is meaningless without the associated wage data for that geographic area. I’m definitely not arguing that progressive policies always turn out to be good, but most are worthwhile attempts to address blatant market failures like oligopolies (example: corporate housing ownership) and negative externalities (example: environmental pollution). 2. Bodega viability: It’s perfectly reasonable to be concerned that public grocery stores would economically endanger bodegas. I’ll remind everyone, though, that “food deserts” are a thing because many types of food products are otherwise simply unavailable to the consumers and, therefore, are not even in competition with what the bodega businesses are offering. Furthermore, Zohran is well aware of the bodega food products that would be in direct competition with the public grocery stores. This is a big reason why he's proposing to trim many of the city’s red tape regulations that hinder small businesses like bodegas, which already operate at super-slim profit margins. Finally, I want to remind everyone that nutritious and affordable food is a human right. The primary objective of capitalism should be to serve society and not capitalists. 3. COVID response: To clarify, actual progressives were unanimous in their condemnation of the stimulus packages that heavily favored large corporations and that led to further upward transfers of wealth. I think most progressives favored the lockdown policies of Western and Northern Europe. In all honesty, I’m completely fatigued with pandemic politics. Lockdowns too late? Too long? Stimulus checks too much? Too little? Whatever. Mistakes were made, and I still don’t see why progressives are to be uniquely blamed for policies that liberals and centrists also supported. The right-wing arguments are mostly incoherent and amount to little more than whining that we had a pandemic and had to do things that weren’t fun. 4. Illegal immigration: This turns out to be a highly nuanced topic and one that I don’t think any American political faction handles well. On the economic perspective, there is a balance between the demand-side boost to economic growth versus the societal drain on health, education, and transportation services. Illegal immigrants fulfill valuable roles in some occupations (example: agriculture industry) and suppress domestic labor force wages in others (example: construction). The human rights perspective of the debate is more cut and dried to a progressive. Undocumented workers are committing civil offenses, not criminal ones. Paths to citizenship should be made easier, while deportation procedures should be carried out humanely and with many of our Constitutionally protected rights considered universal (free speech, due process, no cruel/unusual punishment, etc.). Obtainment of documented worker visas should be encouraged simply because it helps prevent labor exploitation, and all forms of labor exploitation (domestic or international) are unethical. 5. Paid family and medical leave: The bottom line is that capitalists need to respect the regulations society has collectively deemed necessary for protecting human rights. If capitalists feel certain laws are unreasonable and overly punitive to business operations, then they need to present their cases to the public and change policy by way of our system of democracy. As always, I recommend comparing and contrasting international policies when formulating opinions. 6. Ambitious far-left ideas: The main reason why I’m to the political right of my market socialist comrades is because I generally don’t think bottom-up organizational structures can operate quite as optimally as top-down private ones currently do. For the time being, I’m fine with implementing progressive taxation policies (as supported by data-driven macroeconomics) to restore the stolen wealth from workers that socialism claims to obviate. For the time being, you may be surprised to know that Zohran’s rather anodyne platform is already considered mainstream and centrist at the national level (latest source: 6/26-6/30 Yahoo/YouGov survey of 1,597 American adults). The “socialism” label still scares people, but individual social democratic policies no longer do. This is the argument I believe Zohran will ultimately use to persuade Hochul and the neoliberals in Albany. << spills coffee, collapses to the floor from typing >>

Yes, actually, to an extent. I’ve never been a fan of Newsom the politician. Most of my ire surrounding the politics of California fires, however, tends to get directed at urban and suburban sprawl. Some geographical locations are simply too dangerous for houses. And since I’m a hardcore environmentalist, I’m mainly concerned with ecosystem degradation. There’s also the climate change component to the politics, of course, on which you probably know where I vociferously stand. I can just as easily throw the question back to you guys: are you all as outraged with the disaster response from Governor “Hot Wheels” and his Texas GOP cohort as you’ve been with that of Governor Newsom and the Cali leftists?? Why or why not? Dude…the meteorologists and geologists who are considered experts on Texas floods are telling us that the ~$1 million flood alarm systems would have saved many lives!! People who work at NOAA and NWS are telling us that the DOGE cuts are already compromising their ability to forecast weather. With critical functions now understaffed, the drastic reduction in weather balloon launches further hinders their ability to predict large rainfall events with accuracy and timeliness. MAGA types deeply distrust earth scientists, but the anthropogenic climate change “debate” shows that this skepticism is not healthy because it is not based on any scientific literacy or high-level reasoning skills. I really like the “America first” energy in your post, but you kinda ruin it with your bizarre JCPOA attack. Is “pallets of money” a reference to Iran’s frozen international assets that were returned to them after the lifting of the economic sanctions? Why not instead mention our country’s $1+ trillion annual budget for defense spending?? Or the $20+ billion that has been sent to Israel since 10/7/23 to fund their genocide and ethnic cleansing project in Gaza??

Great post! I especially like your analogy linking flood disaster policy with gun control policy. MAGA’s indignation with Adam Zygus has been, dare I say, “cartoonish.” Rational people should be far more angry with public policy failures enabling these disasters than with political cartoons whose entire purpose, essentially, is to expose said policy failures in a provocative (and sometimes insensitive) manner. As you implied, the cartoonish indignation serves as a political strategy to run out the clock on a contentious issue until some other news headline captures the public’s attention. The lachrymose “too soon, but thoughts and prayers in the meantime” crowd needs to be reminded that expeditiously identifying and addressing causes of disasters saves lives from impending new disasters. Let’s summarize these policy failures. MAGA wants to point out that we can’t make a direct connection between the central Texas floods and anthropogenic climate change. They also want to argue that recent DOGE cuts to personnel and equipment for NWS and NOAA have no direct connection with the poor flood preparedness (in Texas but also elsewhere in the country). I can agree with MAGA here on pedantic technical grounds, but the smoking gun for me is the state GOP’s repeated denials of flood alert systems for that particular flood plain region of Texas. Scientists had long been insisting upon the implementation of these comparatively inexpensive systems, but Texas GOP politicians rejected them because of foolish austerity measures plus associations with “liberal climate change ideology.” FEMA’s embarrassingly sluggish response hasn’t helped the situation, either. It comes down to this: right-wingers believe government is inherently incompetent and inefficient. Then when they get elected, they do everything to undermine government and reinforce said philosophy. Rinse and repeat. They want to return FEMA duties to the states, but states rarely have the budget to handle major environmental catastrophes (and obviously can’t print their own money and run large deficits). To no one’s surprise, many of these same troglodytes believe chemtrails caused these floods… At some point, the top 51% of the IQ pool needs to reclaim democracy from the bottom 49% of it. If you’re far too stupid for science and rational thought, at least respect the people who aren’t.

As a campaign volunteer for Zohran (a “Ma’am-dani,” if you will…hurray for early-morning neologism!!), I can say with 100% certainty that he’s not intending to seize the means of production from private NYC businesses. Adding one public grocery store in each borough doesn’t qualify as “seizing the means of production” LOL… One of his main campaign policies, in fact, is to trim excessive regulations and red tape that prevent small businesses from competing with large ones. This is a policy I’d think right-wing populists could support?? Even if Zohran were to perform a complete post-campaign heel turn, he’d still have to contend with the entirety of the state’s Democratic Party establishment that is deeply committed to neoliberalism. One of Zohran’s biggest expected challenges will be getting Hochul and her crony capitalist acolytes in Albany to agree to Zohran’s absurdly modest tax hikes on the NYC rich. Consider this post a “FWIW” rebuttal, BTW. TBH, I couldn’t care less what you guys think about Zohran’s campaign. I’m confident we’re going to hit the majority vote threshold in November, regardless of y’all’s online Boomerish histrionics. You brought up Venezuela, which is in no way an indictment of democratic socialism. The issues that have plagued their government since 1998 are not characteristic of any particular economic system: a macroeconomy insanely dependent on one commodity (oil), deeply entrenched corruption, a reckless monetary policy, reckless fiscal policies, and sustained Western imperialist sanctions. The Chavez/Maduro price control measures have more to do with dirigisme and stupidity than anything market socialists or economically literate DSA members would ever support. You also brought up Trump’s tariffs. Yes, I generally do support targeted tariffs meant to boost domestic manufacturing. No, I don’t support the particular tariff mess that this populist charlatan is implementing. Where are the accompanying collective bargaining laws or Keynesian stimulus packages to help make the return of good-paying manufacturing jobs a timely reality?? Spoiler alert: these jobs aren’t coming back under Trump. His tariff wars have been a giant buy-low, sell-high scheme for his corporate cronies. I blame neoliberalism because decades of macroeconomics research papers point to neoliberalism as the culprit for urban unaffordability. It has absolutely nothing to do with my perceived political tribalism. The economics research literature has been unambiguous in its revelation that we have been mired on the left side of Laffer’s curve all this time. How deep into the academic weeds are you willing to go on a pro football message board?? Look again at the nine cost-of-living factors I brought up in my previous post. By far the most consequential factor is wage growth, as a function of inflation and worker productivity. The next biggest factor has got to be health care costs, the leading cause of family bankruptcy in America. In what ways have progressive policies negatively impacted these two factors?! The issues of urban affordability and food deserts, here in NYC and elsewhere in America, predate and extend well beyond the era of COVID lockdowns and BLM riots. Once again, I’ll just reiterate here that I formulate economic opinions from economic data and not from political axioms. Also, I take umbrage with the notion that “free money” and “closing down businesses” were distinctly progressive policies at that time. It was conventional economic wisdom to provide financial stimulus so to prevent a far more dangerous DEFLATIONARY cycle, as a result of the collapse in consumer demand. It was conventional epidemiological wisdom to shut down NYC, in the face of an emergent pandemic, because NYC is a major transmission nexus and one of the most densely populated places in the world. You’re asking me to consider the employer side of the employer-employee relationship. I do, on occasion, when the situation warrants it. Those situations in this era of neoliberalism, however, are few and far between. I can’t help but laugh at the capitalists whining about their own incompetence navigating paid family/medical leaves in the year 2025… Your last paragraph is interesting to me because I actually find the strength of Zohran’s platform to be proposing simple things that have been done before, elsewhere across the world, with proven levels of success. But if novel and ambitious ideas are what you seek from the far left, contact your local DSA and tell them to advocate for market socialism: have some goods and services nationalized and government-run, but have most others commodified by worker cooperatives. We can start small and expand with time. Extant private businesses, in their traditional form, can be grandfathered into the new economy so that no “seizure” of the means of production is necessary! Yay!

They are “modest” policies in the sense that they are well-supported in the international macroeconomics research literature. The public grocery stores idea is Zohran’s only one that would be classified in Europe as an example of socialism. If you are so perturbed by the thought of government owning the means of production for 5 NYC grocery stores, then consider redirecting your ire towards your precious free markets that created the urban food desert conditions in the first place. “Laissez-faire” was a hyperbolic remark meant to characterize this post-1970’s era of neoliberalism. It would be perfectly reasonable to characterize the historical American economy as laissez-faire all the way up through the Gilded Age. Neoliberalism, for the record, is economically sub-optimal and leads to middle class degradation, working class immiseration, and massive political instability. Laissez-faire economics, for the record, is even worse and includes all the above plus outrageous human rights violations, widespread ecosystem destruction, and intolerably deep and lengthy busts in the natural boom-bust cycles. You’re not averse to hyperbole yourself, as evidenced by your Venezuela remark. Do you have even the slightest clue as to how authoritarian socialism in Venezuela came about, or why socialism specifically failed in that country?? How about a step-by-step outline of the political process in which a city mayor can go from 5 public grocery stores to the complete seizure of the means of production for every bodega (and every private business, in general) in every borough?? Your attacks are all over the place. First, clarify the problem. We are discussing urban affordability for lower and middle classes, which comes down to a discussion of wages versus cost of living (food, housing, transportation, utilities, education, health care) and other economic subtractions (various forms of taxation, inflationary effects). Next, figure out the approximate allocation of responsibility and blame. Surely you understand how local politicians are limited in the extent that they can affect the aforementioned economic factors, compared to state and national politicians? Do you also understand how little political power the actual far left has and has historically had, relative to the establishment left and to right-wingers? Recall one of the most basic definitions of the far left: no acceptance of corporate/big-money campaign donations. NYC hasn’t had a far-left mayor in the ideological vicinity of Zohran since La Guardia (though de Blasio admittedly did a few good things that were progressive). Okay, so NOW you can begin to fairly assess the culpability of local far-left politicians with regard to the aforementioned economic factors. I’m a reasonable person and could concede frivolous far-left regulations and wasteful far-left spending here and there, but it would be absolutely LAUGHABLE to blame the big-ticket items (especially wage growth and health care expenditures) on far-left politicians and not neoliberal ones! It’s genuinely shocking to see the lengths you PPP’ers go to defend corporate oligarchical empowerment. You’re okay with your tax dollars going to low-wage workers when they have to subsist on food stamps, yet you scream “Communism!” at the thought of raising taxes proportionately on the billionaires who won’t pay these low-wage workers higher wages…

Reagan conservatism is not yet dead, unfortunately. It merely metamorphosized and MAGA metastasized to other American demographics. I do believe, however, that the meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is a harbinger of Reaganism’s ultimate fate: an expiration date inextricably linked with the physical health of the Boomery MAGA crowd obstinately peddling it. The essence of Zohran’s campaign is convincing NYC’s working class that almost half a century of policies promoting upward wealth redistribution is not in their own best interests. A longstanding economic climate of trickle-down economics, dangerous deregulatory practices, anti-union laws, dismantlement of the social safety net, and the like has created the miasma of urban unaffordability. A democratic socialist would (rightly) call this “wealth theft.” Zohran’s plans to help reverse that redistributive trend (fare-free city buses, 5 government-run grocery stores, $30 by ’30 minimum wage increases, public assistance for childcare, circumstantial rent freezes and public housing options, etc.) are incredibly mild and not remotely commensurate with the national outrage. Not even 11 full days following the decisive primary victory, the collective oppositional response to Zohran’s very modest intrusions into laissez-faire economics has been both pathetic and predictable. Oh, let’s review the myriad ways in which this flustered cohort of right-wingers and establishments lefties are flailing… 1. 1950’s McCarthyism redux: Raising the marginal tax rate a couple percentage points for the highest income bracket, apparently, is some sort of clarion call to the resurrected corpses of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. 2. 2000’s Islamophobia redux: Jihad! Intifada! Scary Arabic words are scary and Arabic! 3. Anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism conflations: The desperation of discourse has so degraded to the point that Zionists are now using “anti-colonialists” as a slur LOL… 4. Anti-immigrant rhetoric: This is where the white MAGA nationalists really expose themselves. The bulk of Zohran’s support is actually coming from white people, and the “dangerously high” percentage of foreign-born NYC’ers isn’t any different than it was a century ago when immigrants were predominantly European (~35-40%). 5. Freeloader accusations: Voters in support of Zohran are mostly found among the higher economic brackets, minus the sociopathic corporate CEO’s and the downtown Gordon Gekko degenerates. Nevertheless, market-based counters to all the “whining” about costs of living and stagnant socioeconomic mobility have so far come in the form of recommendations to stop being so lazy and instead add on night shifts at Walmart and what not…because nothing screams “effective campaigning” quite like trivializing the concerns of the voters… 6. Reverse ageism: The relative youth of Zohran’s voters is being held against his campaign. This means nothing to me, personally, because I value wisdom and not necessarily age. In fact, I have seen little evidence supporting the adage that wisdom accompanies age. See: middle-aged and Boomery MAGA denizens of this forum. 7. Character assassination: Any attempts at questioning Zohran’s integrity are laughable, really, when you juxtapose his with that of his opponent, Eric Adams. 8. Economic illiteracy accusations: Whatever. I scoff at right-wingers and neoliberal dullards who slavishly follow axiomatic economics to the exclusion of data-driven economics. Kay Adams Fun Fact: understanding the practical importance of saving and investing in life has ZERO relevance to understanding the academic field of macroeconomics. 9. Random misogyny: Oh noes!! The childless yuppy cat lady Zohrandinistas are destroying the city and the country! Eeek!!! El. Oh. El. Not. A. F*ck. We. Have. To. Give. In the spirit of EmRata, I shall order my “Hot Girls for Zohran” t-shirt, wear it in the form of a crop top to show off my flat summer tummy, and post it on Instagram so that all the Strong Island finance bros can respond and cry about the downfall of Western civilization.

Eric Adams is probably the best option of the three, but I don’t think he can beat Zohran with Cuomo and Sliwa still in the race. He’ll also need to build up a semi-competitive ground game. You can’t just scream “Socialist! Jihadist! Communist! Anti-Semite!” from afar and expect anyone outside the PPP MAGA nursing home demographic to take you seriously. My guess is that the race will come down to the working-class minority neighborhoods, and so I really like Team Zohran’s odds. He’s refined the AOC 2018 playbook that enabled her to take down Joe Crowley. Oh, and I’m now hearing rumors of corporate donors pressuring Cuomo to stay out of the general election. So the establishment Dem fear is both palpable and justified, in both NYC and throughout the rest of the country. Trumpian and Israeli politics are absolutely factoring into these political dynamics, but demographic breakdowns in the NYC mayoral race polling data suggest more fundamental economic fissures in play…fissures that were equally emergent in the polling data during the 2016 and 2020 Bernie primaries.

Believe it or not, he’s not stridently political like I am and doesn’t normally discuss politics with me over the phone. We talk a lot more about the respective states of the Bills (yay!) and Sabres (ugh!). Having said that, I can tell you that my dad remains a long-time two-state solution guy and only very recently began to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza (sometime around April of this year). He was especially close to his Jewish maternal grandfather, which I personally believe has compromised his ability to rationally assess the present situation. I’ve been a one-stater (a.k.a. an advocate for the peaceful dissolution of a Jewish supremacist ethnostate) for the past two years, as you know, and have called out the genocide and the far-right Greater Israel project since they bombed the first Gazan hospital (November 2023?). Now…let’s get to your pop quiz… << pulls out red pen >> << shakes head disapprovingly >> For starters, Leh-nerd, it is not a good strategy to question the writing “efficiency” of your quiz grader. What could be more “efficient” than a simple one-question math quiz to assess the health of a multi-year forum friendship?? Looking over your answer, you clearly did not take the quiz very seriously… Ugh, let’s just get to the answer key… KAY’S OFFICIAL POP QUIZ ANSWER KEY: STEP 1: Note the Cauchy red herring! Your clue that mathematical mischief is afoot! Why the heck would you need to integrate over the complex number plane, Leh-nerd?? This is a first-grade math problem, dude. STEP 2: Note the extraneous sartorial information provided. I would NEVER be caught in public wearing a frumpy Hillary Clinton warmonger pantsuit. A mathematical possibility of precisely 0%. You’re supposed to know that about me, Leh-nerd…the quiz raison d’etre… STEP 3: 2 * 4.5 = 2 * (9/2) = 9 blazer dresses. Put away your Boomery slide rule/abacus/sundial, Leh-nerd, and focus. STEP 4: 9 / 1.8 = 9 / (9/5) = 5 skirt suits. OH MY GOD, Leh-nerd. I’m not asking you to solve a Millennium Prize Problem, bruh. Stop whining… STEP 5: 9 + 5 + 2 = 16 distinct formal business outfits. 16 > 10. Take off your socks, Leh-nerd, if you need help counting higher than 10. STEP 6: 16 / 5 = 3.2 weeks (also acceptable answer: a truncation to 3 weeks). QED,L. Quod. Effin.’ Demonstrandum. Leh-nerd. Hmmm…but your remark about my complexion was surprisingly on point! How astute! Very light colors DO work well with the grossly pale white hue that I maintain for almost the entire year. Also acceptable color alternative: anything red to match the natural facial blush from the summer heat. Wow! You passed, Leh-nerd! Who knew that a lifetime of totally fu*king around in math class chasing floozies would somehow pay off for you in the biggest test of your life?? Our forum friendship is saved! Yay! << steps forward to hug Leh-nerd >> << trips over discarded pile of 4 frumpy Hillary Clinton warmonger pantsuits >> << extended arms create a punching motion that strikes Leh-nerd in the face >> << Leh-nerd too unconscious to consciously note the situational irony >> EDIT: Spelling mistake: “assess,” not “access.”

Cuomo may run as an independent in the general election, however, which would divide the anti-Zohran vote between him and Eric Adams (independent) and Curtis Sliwa (Republican). This reminds me of the 2021 Buffalo mayoral race in which Byron Brown defeated India Walton in the general election as a write-in candidate. I’m also reminded of the 2020 Democratic primaries in which all the centrists consolidated under Biden after Bernie won in Nevada. Note the strategic lesson here… Nevertheless, I’m pleasantly surprised with last night’s results (shout-out to Staten Island…WTF LOL) and now feel that Zohran’s campaign has potential to grow to an indomitable electoral majority by November 4. Having recently canvassed for Zohran in Manhattan and Brooklyn and The Bronx, I can say that we have plenty of room for growth with working-class minority communities. Lots of people have still never heard of Zohran, but they do recognize the Cuomo name. Zohran has 4 full months now to work his Obama-like charisma and keep championing his economic message with implacable focus. The weather here is hot, my friends, and so is Zohran. The thirst for water is high, my comrades, and so is the demand for pragmatic solutions to economic market failures under late-stage neoliberalism.

The spirit of the Constitution is such that the legislative branch limits the unilateral power of the executive branch to start wars. It is emphasized in the War Powers Clause and later reinforced in the 1973 War Powers Resolution. BOTH political sides repeatedly ignoring this Constitutional intention since WW2 has dangerously emboldened American imperialism. The hyperbolic Canada remark was an obvious reductio ad absurdum meant to point out MAGA hypocrisy. Perhaps it would have been more persuasive for me to just substitute Canada with Iran. If senile Joe Biden had suddenly bombed Iran in the same manner as Trump, we all know exactly how MAGA would have responded. No one in my family would follow me to Scandinavia, bruh... I’m going to stay in the United States, I’m going to vote for Zohran today, and I’m going to vote for AOC as President in 2028. Deal with it. According to Papa Adamski: 2 to 3 years with a concerted effort. His assessment is based on the public IAEA reports after JCPOA but before Israel and the U.S. started bombing Iran. According to him, the above-ground activity needed for properly building nuclear weapons would have been far too conspicuous to evade the IAEA to the level that Bibi and Trump claim happened. He emphasized the plutonium processing much more so than the uranium enrichment and the missile deployment technology. Any additional sci/tech questions for Papa Adamski? I’d be happy to ask him! Regarding pantsuits: oh you dare lots, indeed! POP QUIZ TIME FOR LEH-NERD SKIN-ERD: The ratio of Kay’s blazer dresses to chic pantsuits is known to be 4.5, and the ratio of Kay’s blazer dresses to skirt suits is 1.8. Kay owns 2 chic pantsuits. If Kay is suddenly gifted 4 frumpy Hillary Clinton-esque pantsuits, how many weeks can Kay now go wearing a unique formal business outfit? You may or may not need to recall Cauchy’s Integral Theorem for this: the line integral over a closed contour C for w(z)*dz = 0. If you get this question correct, I will press a gold star sticker onto your forehead. If not, you will see gold star stickers circling above your forehead (i.e., I shall punch you in the face, bruh). High-stakes pressure elevates cognitive performance, Leh-nerd…

Whose opinions I would trust, you ask? Select IAEA representatives plus Congressional members of national security and intelligence committees (of all political stripes: left and right, populist and establishment). We should be following Constitution-esque protocols when dealing with imminent nuclear threats. Would you have been comfortable with a senile Joe Biden whimsically and unilaterally bombing, say, Canada over unsubstantiated rumors of imminent nuclear annihilation? Why am I still living here in the United States, you ask?? LOL…um, family and friends, career and culture, the melting pot ethos, a lifetime of cherished memories, the vast natural geographic beauty, representative democracy, the Bill of Rights, the Constitutional separation of powers, etc… What’s wrong with me using the political process to change public policy? Didn’t you try to do the same last November? You are perfectly free to consider yourself an arbiter of what’s “American” and what’s not. Go ahead and declare imperialism and trickle-down economics “American,” while declaring universal health care and nationalized land/natural resources “un-American.” Just remember that at previous points in American history, ideas like slavery and Jim Crow and miscegenation and Gilded Age capitalism and legalized misogyny and the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans were considered sclerotic American values. Yes, your post is a bit opaque to me, but I THINK I’m following: you’re telling me that there are clear standards for defining “imminent” nuclear emergencies like this one, and that you personally know of evidence existing that shows Iran crossed this “imminence” threshold? I’m honestly in no position to tell you that you are incorrect. I’m a civilian biomed device engineer who took one college elective course in intro nuclear science/engineering (random shout-out to the Lamarsh textbook…I still have it in my bookshelf!). All I can tell you, anecdotally, is that my Dad is a solid-state materials physicist and a mild-mannered political centrist. His technical nuclear background is a lot better than mine, and he has DARPA funding under his belt. We talked about this exact topic for a few minutes last night, and he seems to think that the technological likelihood of Iran being able to strike Israel (let alone the U.S.) with nuclear weapons this calendar year is absurd. I feel like we’re going around in tautological circles at this point? Absent new nuclear intelligence information that is made publicly available, let’s agree to disagree. I envisage scenarios in which we’re aligned with what the proper course of action should have been. P.S. My formal business wardrobe ratio of blazer dresses to CHIC pantsuits is officially 4.5. FOUR POINT FIVE. The implication that I might ever wear a frumpy Hillary Clinton warmonger pantsuit was completely out of line. You’re out of your element, Leh-ny, and how dare you.

Agreed! And let’s also reiterate the TRUE origins of this Iran-Israel-U.S. conflict, lest the PPP warmongers try to obfuscate otherwise: the 1953 coup in Iran and the 1948 Nakba. I’m anti-American Empire, not pro-Iran. I am in favor of national sovereignty and human rights while against unnecessary wars and collective punishment. My first instinct of distrusting government claims of WMD’s is a consequence of growing up in the post-9/11 era. What you deem to be a sign of mental illness is what I consider to be a sign of basic intelligence. No, I don’t believe we will see the evidence in under 10 years or ever. As a concerned American citizen, it’s not that I need the specific intelligence made public to me. I just need various trusted third parties to see the evidence in private and then to publicly confirm that the claims are legitimate. I’m a girl, actually, but thank you for your kind words! You’re a good poster, too. This forum could use more people like yourself who can sustain political discussions and debate. Also: I’m a social democrat and not a communist or even a socialist, but don’t expect BillsFanNC to ever understand the distinction. The “comrade” in my name is a tongue-in-cheek thing. P.S. A friend of Muppy is a friend of Commie Kay! I hear ya, but I’m just super pessimistic that the current Iranian regime can be ousted without American boots on the ground. Moreover, I’m far from confident that a replacement regime would be any better for the world or for Iranians. Love ya, Mups! << hugs Muppy >> << punches Leh-nerd because…reasons >> “Imminent” = on the order of days or weeks or months, not a year or longer. There has been ZERO evidence suggesting the danger was imminent. Trump and Netanyahu opted out of diplomacy way too soon for, I believe, reasons that I’ve already articulated. You’re presenting a fork-in-the-road situation as if both choices are of approximately equal caliber in rationale. What happened to the Leh-nerd who is uber-skeptical of government power, the establishment, the deep state, and what not?? You seem to be suspending a lot of your innate distrust when it comes to this particular dilemma.

Brilliant retort! Super profound! Much logic! Many insight! Yes, a guess from a random online MAGA Carolina bumpkin carries the same approximate weight as an estimate from a peer-reviewed publication in the world’s most prestigious medical journal. And yes, Trump certainly did a lot to help dispel that mean-spirited TACO label. Proving people wrong who say mean things about you is the most important component of foreign policy. Careful, measured analyses of the long-term consequences of one’s actions is for soy boys, women, and the LGBTQ+. MANLY MEN bomb sh!t and scream, “America! F*ck yeah!” in any nearby faces of brown-skinned people with funny-sounding names. I am STILL WAITING, by the way, for any evidence that Iran’s nuclear program posed an IMMINENT threat to Israel and the United States. Perhaps one of you warmongering PPP’ers, replete with MIC stocks but totally devoid of the physical fitness to serve in battle, will step up to the plate in this regard??

Fine, I’ll engage you in your obvious deflective pedantry. There is no objective ranking of human rights crises, but why I think calling the Gaza genocide the worst “since the Holocaust” is not hyperbolic: 1. 50-60k deaths is a horrific undercount. The Gaza Health Ministry lost the ability to officially count its dead long ago. The Lancet estimated almost 200k last summer, when you include people still buried under the rubble plus all the indirect deaths. 2. It is ongoing and only getting worse with the impacts of malnutrition on starving children. 3. It is being carried out by a First World country and funded by another one. 4. It is occurring in the age of the internet and digital mass media. 5. From a historical perspective, it probably marks the beginning of the end of Zionism. 6. From a historical perspective, it probably marks the end of the American Empire as a respected moral figure on the international stage.

Your first paragraph: Sure, but Iran was reasonable to not be compliant after being compliant. That’s what tends to happen when one side suddenly reneges on a deal! The IAEA works for the countries of the United Nations, so it is incumbent on those countries to make sure a more stringent JCPOA v2.0 is composed. Your second paragraph: Correct, I was not arguing in favor of any covert CIA government nonsense! Fully open channels of communication, like what we have with other countries of the West, must be part of any potential treaty with Iran. The Iranian theocrats are just going to have to deal with my ridiculously chic outfits in my Instagram photos. Your third paragraph: Oh boy…you are on thin ice with me, Leh-nerd. Thin. Ice. And believe me, your 24.8 BMI is the least of our problems on this frozen metaphorical pond. “Dismantlement of the genocidal Zionist project” is a peaceful proposal that simply means bestowing upon Palestinians the exact same citizen rights that Jewish Israelis enjoy, while at the same time prosecuting all war criminals within both the Israeli government and Hamas. I should also clarify that I’ve been using a colloquial definition of “non-interventionism,” when I probably should be saying “anti-imperialism.” As a self-described “ardent non-interventionist,” I still want to “intervene” multilaterally to stop blatant acts of aggression if it makes sense to do so. The MOTIVES behind military and economic pressure are paramount to me. I keep repeating myself about Israel and Gaza because you guys keep framing the Iran-Israel conflict so ignorantly! On one side, Iran’s government is a socially regressive theocracy guilty of making irresponsible verbal threats to Israel and funding terrorists/resistance fighters. On the other side, Israel is an apartheid state guilty of genocide and illegal occupation of land. Neither are good, but only one side here is initiating acts of aggression against its neighbors. Only one side here has fully functioning nuclear weapons not monitored by the IAEA. Only one side here agreed to become a member of the NPT. Which side, exactly, is the greater threat to nuclear escalation at the moment?? But fine, I’ll stop bringing up the worst human rights crisis since the Holocaust because doing so challenges your infantile black vs. white worldview. Paradigm-shifting thoughts affect poor wittle Weh-nerd in the feel-feels, and awww…Weh-nerd’s feel-feels are what weally matter!! << haughty eyeroll >> << tosses baby formula bottle at Leh-nerd’s face >> << uploads latest cut-out maxi pic to Instagram page >> << sends Instagram page link to Ali Khamenei >>

International economic sanctions would serve as the carrot and the stick. A “kinetic” approach shouldn’t be necessary because the IAEA found Iran fully compliant during the JCPOA v1.0. Iran’s era of non-compliance began after Trump suddenly reneged on the deal. “Intervening via low-key revolution and king-making” is still letting the Iranians decide for themselves how they want to be governed. ~80% of Iranians are already dissatisfied with a theocracy. Basically, Iranian women can come visit me in NYC and watch my TikTok videos on how to wear bell-sleeved floral-patterned skater dresses while haughtily flipping one’s hair out in public, on the way to one’s appointment to abort one’s rapist’s baby. Iranians will want to live like Kay because who wouldn’t?? This is the extent of the revolution fomentation: simply opening up channels of communication (internet, travel, etc.) that promote the awesomeness of secular humanism and the American Bill of Rights. Iran’s government would theoretically agree to this because it would be part of the prospective international peace deal. And while I’m proposing theoretical solutions, allow me to expound on an additional carrot we are morally obligated to dangle in front of Iran: the full dismantlement of the genocidal Zionist project…a new one-state solution, under equally full IAEA surveillance as Iran, and with all Israeli government war criminals sent to The Hague. This would make the Houthis and Hezbollah happy, too, to go along with their Abraham Accords brethren and the rest of the Middle East (if they’re all being honest with their feelings about the psychopathic country that is Israel).

What I think SHOULD happen? As an ardent non-interventionist, I would have Iran agree to a JCPOA v2.0 crafted by the IAEA. In return, the international community would lift all economic sanctions on Iran, agree to a permanent ceasefire, and impose a worldwide BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction) policy against Israel if Israel does not oblige. I would also open up all channels of cultural communication with Iran as part of the deal, which would essentially be a “Trojan horse” strategy to foment internal dissent and revolution via secular humanist principles. Consider these additional questions as you assess this topic: 1. Who do you trust the most among Trump, Netanyahu, Khamenei, and the IAEA? My answer: easily the IAEA. Not even close. 2. Is Iran a rational actor or an irrational one? My answer: a rational one, believe it or not. Their observed behavior has remained consistent with a country fully aware of and completely invested in its self-preservation. A “rational actor,” as defined in this instance, understands that the single use of a nuclear weapon against Israel would equate to its own instant annihilation. Modern world history has taught us that possession of nuclear weapons equate to protection from American imperialism. Become Russia or North Korea and not Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, etc… 3. What is motivating the United States government in this conflict? My answer: the MIC, AIPAC, powerful individual oligarchs like Miriam Adelson, and (sadly) many Christian fundamentalists. 4. What is motivating Israel in this conflict? My answer: a quest for regional hegemony so that a Greater Israel (including Gaza, the West Bank, all of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, southwest Syria, and southern Lebanon) can be constructed with minimal resistance. 5. Why did Israel attack Iran just days before the latest scheduled peace talks in Oman? My answer: to sabotage the peace talks. 6. Why was Trump insistent that Iran not have a nuclear energy program for civilian purposes? My answer: typical “Art of the Deal” stupidity. 7. What are the prospects for de-escalation? My answer: Frighteningly poor. The world leaders involved all appear to be sociopaths, in the clinical DSM-5 sense of the word. Tribalism is deeply entrenched and the dehumanization process is highly advanced. Iran just struck an Israeli hospital, for bleep’s sake, which I interpreted as an “oopsie!” response to all 36 of the hospitals Israel has targeted in Gaza since 10/7/23.

LOL…I knew it! I can spot an Abundance stan from a mile away! Sorry, but I’m just not a fan. The only meaningful message I could glean from the book is that Democrats need to deliver on their promises to improve people’s daily lives. That’s about it. You know my politics, Tibsy, so you know that I think progressives are far better positioned than establishment liberals to solve these problems. If you want to talk about homelessness, increasing the housing supply is only one component of a multi-faceted issue. Sure, there are definitely silly regulations that hinder housing construction progress. But what about oligopoly effects from corporate landlords? Sluggish wage growth relative to rising prices throughout the economy? Bankruptcies due to health care debt? Mental health crises? Drug addictions? Deficiencies in our veterans affairs program? Then there’s the grave matter of ecosystem collapse due to suburban sprawl. You praised Houston for its lax building regulations, but us New Yorkers are not like Texans! We actually care about things up here like the environment, efficient transportation, and global warming. I can be aligned with you on issues like public housing and anti-NIMBY politics, but a lot of that available land needs to be reserved for natural carbon sequestration (i.e. planting trees) in the form of (preferably unfragmented) woodland/wetland ecosystems. Ugh…I hijacked the Iran thread…so I suppose I’ll ask, again, the collective PPP warmongers salivating at regime change: where is the evidence that Iran’s nuclear program posed an imminent threat to Israel and the United States? Note how “imminent” doesn’t mean “eventual.” This question should be the CENTRAL FOCUS of this thread. Also, for the people who think Iranian regime change is a simple matter of bombing the right places and that it won’t escalate to American boots on the ground: what about the potential for a refugee crisis a la Syria 2015, when Iran is FOUR TIMES the population size of Syria?? The law of unintended consequences…ugh…