The "defund the police" call is particulalry weird in the NY City region where crime rates were traditionally so high and only brought down by excellent police work. But as the calls for defunding the police, banning firearms, open borders etc tend to be championed by politicians who live in fortified mansions protected by armed guards nothing should surprise us.
Well said, and that irony is not lost on me either. It was like the BLM protest leaders in LA, in particular, calling for the end of the police but then returning to the fortified homes and private security you mentioned.
I've got three step kids there! It will be interesting to see how things develop. I'll be visiting NY in the coming months after Mamdani takes over, although I don't expect to see much change early on.
It's playing out in real time what "we" as helicopter parents have achieved in the raising of our children.
"You're so special", and "let me do this for you", and "yes of course you can have it"; combined with liberal western styled education has created a couple of generations who fail to learn the necessary lessons from the school of hard knocks.
Short attention spans crafted and honed by clickbait on social media where curated lives influence our young to demand it now; regardless of the shallowness of the demand for the "freedoms" they crave.
We are seeing the rise of Useful Idiot Syndrome - it's not only the free & faster buses in rent controlled New York - it's everywhere in western society where keyboard warriors strive to earn "likes" and approvals by dishing out claims of racism and death threats.
Politicians understand Useful Idiot Syndrome and craft policies to get elected, while polling outfits who have already profiled the owners of the numbers they have previously called are ever ready to provide the result their clients' request.
If you recognise the patterns I've outlined then you will also understand we have already seen the best of times. Enjoy every day!
I fear the same easy answers are stalking New Zealand politics. Greens and Maori Party and Labour are all about free stuff and policies that redistribute "wealth" to "worthy" people. Polls seem to approve.
The "defund the police" call is particulalry weird in the NY City region where crime rates were traditionally so high and only brought down by excellent police work. But as the calls for defunding the police, banning firearms, open borders etc tend to be championed by politicians who live in fortified mansions protected by armed guards nothing should surprise us.
Well said, and that irony is not lost on me either. It was like the BLM protest leaders in LA, in particular, calling for the end of the police but then returning to the fortified homes and private security you mentioned.
It’s all gone to custard! Thank you for the article….having a daughter living in NY it all seems pertinent!
I've got three step kids there! It will be interesting to see how things develop. I'll be visiting NY in the coming months after Mamdani takes over, although I don't expect to see much change early on.
Oh wow ok that would be amazing to go. I’ve never been yet..
It's playing out in real time what "we" as helicopter parents have achieved in the raising of our children.
"You're so special", and "let me do this for you", and "yes of course you can have it"; combined with liberal western styled education has created a couple of generations who fail to learn the necessary lessons from the school of hard knocks.
Short attention spans crafted and honed by clickbait on social media where curated lives influence our young to demand it now; regardless of the shallowness of the demand for the "freedoms" they crave.
We are seeing the rise of Useful Idiot Syndrome - it's not only the free & faster buses in rent controlled New York - it's everywhere in western society where keyboard warriors strive to earn "likes" and approvals by dishing out claims of racism and death threats.
Politicians understand Useful Idiot Syndrome and craft policies to get elected, while polling outfits who have already profiled the owners of the numbers they have previously called are ever ready to provide the result their clients' request.
If you recognise the patterns I've outlined then you will also understand we have already seen the best of times. Enjoy every day!
I fear the same easy answers are stalking New Zealand politics. Greens and Maori Party and Labour are all about free stuff and policies that redistribute "wealth" to "worthy" people. Polls seem to approve.
is part of the reason I wrote this Substack. While clearly about Mamdani and NY, it also has salient lessons for here in NZ
With the very thin veneer of an ideologue acting the part, what could possibly go wrong?!
Escaping NY city would be my No. 1 task...