You really don’t understand US politics if you’re seriously concerned about the big socialist boogie man. The oligarchical US system is designed to ensure the owners of the country get to run it and none of them are socialists. The system is working as it was designed to so don’t worry. The right will continue to maintain control, even if they identify as a member of the Democratic Party.
We are partially Socialist now. Public garbage pick up, roads, public schools, etc.... Socialists like Bernie Sanders vote for their system requirements. But Communists with government control of the people, like what Fascism of Trump, or what Russia has, is not anything I want to subscribe to. And even though the center or majority of Americans is ignoramus, I think a democratic system would be the most fair.
You managed to balance the reality of an oligarch in full command of all branches of the US government with the specter of some dude in New York? Scary stuff!
For centuries, until very recently, the United States was characterized by social unity. There were no class conflicts or collective hatreds; being part of a social or racial class did not morally define anyone. Social resentment was not a significant force. All Americans were simply Americans, and they took pride in that.
It has only been in recent years that politics shifted toward blaming entire social identities or classes as the root of all problems—similar to what has happened in communist and Nazi fascist countries. The politics of hatred began with social identities and has caused troubling divisions across the country, weakening social cohesion. This division has split the nation. Hatred has been exploited by both the Left and the Right, with the former using 'deletions' and the latter employing other tactics. Recently, MAGA and Trump have taken the lead, using this hatred to push their authoritarian agenda. It’s easy for them because, as everyone knows, to dominate a society you only need to divide and conquer.
It is time to realize that the true enemy is divisionism. This is the force that must be defeated. However, the Democratic Socialists of America, instead of calming the waters of division, are fueling the fire by adding economic and social class to race and origin as additional sources of division.
As one of the characters in the article states, “I suspect they are much more radical than they appear. For starters, they are appealing to a mix of racial and social resentments.” The fact that singling out groups of people as targets of injected hatred is not viewed as extremist is a symptom of the true problem leading to a tyranny: the disintegration of society. ti
The solution is complicated and hard. People have lost the skill of debating and begin by insulting and mocking one another right away. This will not solve the world's problems. On the contrary, it will accelerate chaos, and with it, tyranny.
I deeply appreciate all the comments I have received on this piece. They are all excellent and point toward the solution to the United States and the world’s problems. I believe we all agree with my main point, as long as it is understood within the conclusions I reached in the last two paragraphs of the article, which address the question of what center is not holding.
In this respect, I wrote the following:,
“What is needed is not a center that is equally distant on the left and right, but one defined by protecting people's freedom to be either left or right and helping them find policies that serve as a peaceful compromise between these positions. The center should not dictate what the end goal of society must be but should uphold that the ends do not justify the means and that we should treat others as we want to be treated by them. What we need are people on both the left and the right who believe these fundamental principles of liberal democracy must be respected.
“The problem is that people only care about the end in terms of left and right, and don’t care about the means used to impose the one they prefer,” said Laurie, caressing her cat. “The center must be defined in terms of another axis, not that of ideological leanings but that of liberal democratic principles. We must relearn to respect each other.”
I believe the world is at a crossroads and must make a fundamental decision, just as the Founding Fathers of the United States did in 1776. That decision isn't about going left or right but about doing whatever they want in an environment of freedom, individual rights, and social cohesion—values that can only be achieved through the golden rule: treat others as you want to be treated by them.
Regarding the fact that Nordic countries are not communist, I completely agree. In my three books on the subject, especially in In Defense of Liberal Democracy, I argue that one of the strengths of liberal democracy is its broad range—from conservatives to social democrats—providing a foundation of basic civilization that isn't tied to being right-wing or left-wing. In the case of the United States, I believe that liberal democracy must be revived by a civic movement involving both Democrats and Republicans, either formally or informally, acting in the spirit demonstrated by Adam Kinzinger in the last presidential elections.
We ain’t going Socialist…. No way. He won because his main opponent was the former Governor who had scandal after scandal…. All this did was pretty much guarantee a Republican mayor in NYC
But the author’s point still holds. When you have one extreme (MAGA and the Trump cult), it signals extremists on the other side to rise. This pulls supporters from the center, and being centrist (in a global sense) in political terms and valuing compromise and policies that are not winner take all, but that everyone can live with, is exactly what kept the U.S. stable and prospering for so long. As the center is sucked into the far right and now far left, then we end up with the death struggle for complete control. This is how all politics work. We’ve just never seen it here because we avoided losing our love of remaining in the center. In other countries, prior to the last 10 years, they laughed when you’d use the terms far right or far left about the U.S. political landscape. Because really, our extremes were still very much in the center. But now with the extreme policies and actions of this administration, which just run roughshod over all Constitutional authorities and norms, with the administration continuing to conduct deportations and funding freezes/cuts well after the courts have ordered them to stop, extremist all around are that this is now an effective way to grab power and apply it. And so, this is how the center breaks.
If you look at global examples, and throughout history, once that center starts to be vacuumed out towards one side or another, respect for the actually INSTITUTIONS and norms that keep a democracy going just evaporate. And that is when only chaos and violence can determine who the owners of all power are.
It’s not extremism. It’s a screaming warning that if we do not turn the ship now, right its course, this is exactly where it will eventually end up.
Remember the Titanic? Those who fought against shorting the ship of its required number of life boats were told they were wasteful extremists; the ship was built to be unsinkable and almost everyone believed this. It was a huge cost savings to reduce the lifeboats.
Those who warned the captain to choose another course, as very dangerous, hard to see icebergs were known in those parts. He poo poo-ed this as well, because it was already April. And the voyage would be longer, which would not be appreciated by the company.
And yet, in April, the unsinkable ship hit a massive iceberg. The lifeboats were actually needed to save lives, and there weren’t enough. And the unsinkable ship sank rapidly.
Calling a loud call for caution, panic, is historically a very bad idea.
And your last statement makes the point perfectly: this guarantees a Republican major in NYC. One extreme rising then fuels the other extreme to rise. And where does it end? That is the problem.
It ends in two extremes, now both fueled, fighting it out for power. Not by democratic means, respected voting norms. Because the center has disappeared. Voters are forced to choose between two extremes. On one hand a socialist with ideas of nationalizing energy production. On the other, a Republican who cannot govern unless they kiss the ring of the self-appointed kind in DC, who has now grabbed control of the party apparatus, the leadership bows down to him, and funders, the big guns, throw their money behind him or whomever he endorses, because there’s an open quid pro quo they won’t miss out on.
And that is where we are. That’s not panic.
I abhor either extreme and see the vile, anti-American, perilous future with either at the helm. But this is a well-known cycle in political history. We just always thought we were immune. So did Russians. So did Germans. So did many other countries. We are not.
Or is there a center and the pols aren't holding it? And have persuasive pitchmen since Newt et al moved the center so far visibly to the right that the center looks cockeyed and crazy left? If DT and team point to Hungary and Turkey as valid examples (though failed or failing states of little bulk) why can't the center point to successful socialist liberal democracies of greater bulk as examples to be emulated and not demonized? The center will hold if the mf pols who thrive on the edges will allow it to be. Which perhaps returns to your point, huh?
Yes I read your reasoned opinion as reactionary hysteria. All the historical evidence recites past moments but the context is way off both temporarily, and culturally. The USA is not 1930’s Germany or early 20th century Russia.
You may be right about a republican winning especially if the pundits class backed by corporate sponsors continues to engage in inaccurate hysteria.
Mamdani’s proposals to address working class issues in NYC have to go through the city council! So he may get some of what he wants. It’s highly unlikely he will get it all! Kinda like the way it always is! The Hysteria should be saved for the Trump administration and its biggest enabler the Supreme Court? Which is political policy without legislative oversight!!
As a European - and, more specifically a native Londoner - I simply don’t understand why Zohran Mamdani is meant to be so terrifying; he’d be considered a mainstream centre-left politician on our side of the Atlantic. And London has had a very similar mayor (including his being Muslim) since 2016 - and he was re-elected twice by huge margins.
We have had 50 years of Republicans working to undermine democracy without much push back. One DSA guy wins a primary and everyone on the right has their hair on 🔥 fire. Mandami will follow the laws and court rulings which most Republicans are unwilling to do. They should work on reestablishing a center right sane party that follows the rule of law instead of freaking out about a socialist winning a municipal primary.
I completely agree with Chris Guelich. There is a city council. They will weigh heavily in on what the mayor can do. The hysteria of this “center cannot hold” piece doesn’t take Portland OR into account. They run busses ( uncertain routes) free of charge! Yes there are many Nordic countries that are socialist democracies. And wouldn’t you know, they routinely have a higher standard of living and fall higher on the “ happiness” surveys than the US. My concern is the independent run of Eric Adams and possibly Andrew Cuomo will split the ticket so that the Republican candidate wins. Assuming that person is a Trump supporter that would be a bad thing indeed for NYC.
The part of the post-primary analysis that doesn't get enough attention is "he defeated Andrew Cuomo." It's hard for me to imagine most women in New York voting for Cuomo. Perhaps not coincidentally, most of the commentary I've read has been written by men.
You really don’t understand US politics if you’re seriously concerned about the big socialist boogie man. The oligarchical US system is designed to ensure the owners of the country get to run it and none of them are socialists. The system is working as it was designed to so don’t worry. The right will continue to maintain control, even if they identify as a member of the Democratic Party.
We are partially Socialist now. Public garbage pick up, roads, public schools, etc.... Socialists like Bernie Sanders vote for their system requirements. But Communists with government control of the people, like what Fascism of Trump, or what Russia has, is not anything I want to subscribe to. And even though the center or majority of Americans is ignoramus, I think a democratic system would be the most fair.
Speaking for myself, I'm not too worried about the Mayor of New York nationalizing our country's energy infrastructure.
You managed to balance the reality of an oligarch in full command of all branches of the US government with the specter of some dude in New York? Scary stuff!
I would consider it versus this outright fascist nazi garbage
MORE COMMENTS ON “THE CENTER IS NOT HOLDING”
What is radical in the United States?
For centuries, until very recently, the United States was characterized by social unity. There were no class conflicts or collective hatreds; being part of a social or racial class did not morally define anyone. Social resentment was not a significant force. All Americans were simply Americans, and they took pride in that.
It has only been in recent years that politics shifted toward blaming entire social identities or classes as the root of all problems—similar to what has happened in communist and Nazi fascist countries. The politics of hatred began with social identities and has caused troubling divisions across the country, weakening social cohesion. This division has split the nation. Hatred has been exploited by both the Left and the Right, with the former using 'deletions' and the latter employing other tactics. Recently, MAGA and Trump have taken the lead, using this hatred to push their authoritarian agenda. It’s easy for them because, as everyone knows, to dominate a society you only need to divide and conquer.
It is time to realize that the true enemy is divisionism. This is the force that must be defeated. However, the Democratic Socialists of America, instead of calming the waters of division, are fueling the fire by adding economic and social class to race and origin as additional sources of division.
As one of the characters in the article states, “I suspect they are much more radical than they appear. For starters, they are appealing to a mix of racial and social resentments.” The fact that singling out groups of people as targets of injected hatred is not viewed as extremist is a symptom of the true problem leading to a tyranny: the disintegration of society. ti
The solution is complicated and hard. People have lost the skill of debating and begin by insulting and mocking one another right away. This will not solve the world's problems. On the contrary, it will accelerate chaos, and with it, tyranny.
I deeply appreciate all the comments I have received on this piece. They are all excellent and point toward the solution to the United States and the world’s problems. I believe we all agree with my main point, as long as it is understood within the conclusions I reached in the last two paragraphs of the article, which address the question of what center is not holding.
In this respect, I wrote the following:,
“What is needed is not a center that is equally distant on the left and right, but one defined by protecting people's freedom to be either left or right and helping them find policies that serve as a peaceful compromise between these positions. The center should not dictate what the end goal of society must be but should uphold that the ends do not justify the means and that we should treat others as we want to be treated by them. What we need are people on both the left and the right who believe these fundamental principles of liberal democracy must be respected.
“The problem is that people only care about the end in terms of left and right, and don’t care about the means used to impose the one they prefer,” said Laurie, caressing her cat. “The center must be defined in terms of another axis, not that of ideological leanings but that of liberal democratic principles. We must relearn to respect each other.”
I believe the world is at a crossroads and must make a fundamental decision, just as the Founding Fathers of the United States did in 1776. That decision isn't about going left or right but about doing whatever they want in an environment of freedom, individual rights, and social cohesion—values that can only be achieved through the golden rule: treat others as you want to be treated by them.
Regarding the fact that Nordic countries are not communist, I completely agree. In my three books on the subject, especially in In Defense of Liberal Democracy, I argue that one of the strengths of liberal democracy is its broad range—from conservatives to social democrats—providing a foundation of basic civilization that isn't tied to being right-wing or left-wing. In the case of the United States, I believe that liberal democracy must be revived by a civic movement involving both Democrats and Republicans, either formally or informally, acting in the spirit demonstrated by Adam Kinzinger in the last presidential elections.
I will write the next article on this topic.
We ain’t going Socialist…. No way. He won because his main opponent was the former Governor who had scandal after scandal…. All this did was pretty much guarantee a Republican mayor in NYC
But the author’s point still holds. When you have one extreme (MAGA and the Trump cult), it signals extremists on the other side to rise. This pulls supporters from the center, and being centrist (in a global sense) in political terms and valuing compromise and policies that are not winner take all, but that everyone can live with, is exactly what kept the U.S. stable and prospering for so long. As the center is sucked into the far right and now far left, then we end up with the death struggle for complete control. This is how all politics work. We’ve just never seen it here because we avoided losing our love of remaining in the center. In other countries, prior to the last 10 years, they laughed when you’d use the terms far right or far left about the U.S. political landscape. Because really, our extremes were still very much in the center. But now with the extreme policies and actions of this administration, which just run roughshod over all Constitutional authorities and norms, with the administration continuing to conduct deportations and funding freezes/cuts well after the courts have ordered them to stop, extremist all around are that this is now an effective way to grab power and apply it. And so, this is how the center breaks.
If you look at global examples, and throughout history, once that center starts to be vacuumed out towards one side or another, respect for the actually INSTITUTIONS and norms that keep a democracy going just evaporate. And that is when only chaos and violence can determine who the owners of all power are.
It’s not extremism. It’s a screaming warning that if we do not turn the ship now, right its course, this is exactly where it will eventually end up.
Remember the Titanic? Those who fought against shorting the ship of its required number of life boats were told they were wasteful extremists; the ship was built to be unsinkable and almost everyone believed this. It was a huge cost savings to reduce the lifeboats.
Those who warned the captain to choose another course, as very dangerous, hard to see icebergs were known in those parts. He poo poo-ed this as well, because it was already April. And the voyage would be longer, which would not be appreciated by the company.
And yet, in April, the unsinkable ship hit a massive iceberg. The lifeboats were actually needed to save lives, and there weren’t enough. And the unsinkable ship sank rapidly.
Calling a loud call for caution, panic, is historically a very bad idea.
And your last statement makes the point perfectly: this guarantees a Republican major in NYC. One extreme rising then fuels the other extreme to rise. And where does it end? That is the problem.
It ends in two extremes, now both fueled, fighting it out for power. Not by democratic means, respected voting norms. Because the center has disappeared. Voters are forced to choose between two extremes. On one hand a socialist with ideas of nationalizing energy production. On the other, a Republican who cannot govern unless they kiss the ring of the self-appointed kind in DC, who has now grabbed control of the party apparatus, the leadership bows down to him, and funders, the big guns, throw their money behind him or whomever he endorses, because there’s an open quid pro quo they won’t miss out on.
And that is where we are. That’s not panic.
I abhor either extreme and see the vile, anti-American, perilous future with either at the helm. But this is a well-known cycle in political history. We just always thought we were immune. So did Russians. So did Germans. So did many other countries. We are not.
True. You have to goto the extremes when 1 side does so. It’s equilibrium.
Manual Hinds won the 2010 Manhattan Institute’s Hayak prize. Not exactly a vote of confidence for me.
Or is there a center and the pols aren't holding it? And have persuasive pitchmen since Newt et al moved the center so far visibly to the right that the center looks cockeyed and crazy left? If DT and team point to Hungary and Turkey as valid examples (though failed or failing states of little bulk) why can't the center point to successful socialist liberal democracies of greater bulk as examples to be emulated and not demonized? The center will hold if the mf pols who thrive on the edges will allow it to be. Which perhaps returns to your point, huh?
Yes I read your reasoned opinion as reactionary hysteria. All the historical evidence recites past moments but the context is way off both temporarily, and culturally. The USA is not 1930’s Germany or early 20th century Russia.
You may be right about a republican winning especially if the pundits class backed by corporate sponsors continues to engage in inaccurate hysteria.
Mamdani’s proposals to address working class issues in NYC have to go through the city council! So he may get some of what he wants. It’s highly unlikely he will get it all! Kinda like the way it always is! The Hysteria should be saved for the Trump administration and its biggest enabler the Supreme Court? Which is political policy without legislative oversight!!
As a European - and, more specifically a native Londoner - I simply don’t understand why Zohran Mamdani is meant to be so terrifying; he’d be considered a mainstream centre-left politician on our side of the Atlantic. And London has had a very similar mayor (including his being Muslim) since 2016 - and he was re-elected twice by huge margins.
I've just had my daily bowl of government-rationed gruel for lunch.
Dry and ashen, but I'm used to it. I have to be, because what hope do I have of clambering out of this hellhole?
We have had 50 years of Republicans working to undermine democracy without much push back. One DSA guy wins a primary and everyone on the right has their hair on 🔥 fire. Mandami will follow the laws and court rulings which most Republicans are unwilling to do. They should work on reestablishing a center right sane party that follows the rule of law instead of freaking out about a socialist winning a municipal primary.
I completely agree with Chris Guelich. There is a city council. They will weigh heavily in on what the mayor can do. The hysteria of this “center cannot hold” piece doesn’t take Portland OR into account. They run busses ( uncertain routes) free of charge! Yes there are many Nordic countries that are socialist democracies. And wouldn’t you know, they routinely have a higher standard of living and fall higher on the “ happiness” surveys than the US. My concern is the independent run of Eric Adams and possibly Andrew Cuomo will split the ticket so that the Republican candidate wins. Assuming that person is a Trump supporter that would be a bad thing indeed for NYC.
He will get into office and have to balance a budget. Most of his ideas are pie in the sky. Your panic is silly.
They’re not all silly ideas.
Hilarious. I have some land to sell you.
The part of the post-primary analysis that doesn't get enough attention is "he defeated Andrew Cuomo." It's hard for me to imagine most women in New York voting for Cuomo. Perhaps not coincidentally, most of the commentary I've read has been written by men.