call me a socialist, but i think it would be good if the government participated in some markets as the base option for goods/services. the horrors of having things like a us postal service as the base provider for mail. oh wait.
11 Likes
yea sure. first itâs one âpublicly ownedâ grocery store. next, weâll be giving away healthcare and housing. slippery slopes
7 Likes
shrug
Itâs entirely possible that a state-owned grocery store just isnât going to work, but the eDems arenât doing themselves any favors by engaging in wild hyperbolic rhetoric about communism or nationalizing grocery stores.
1 Like
Did you read the article?
Itâs primarily about providing groceries in underserved low income areas. The idea is that this is a pilot to test vs subsidies for private supermarkets to operate in those areas. He thinks it could be cheaper and more effective than the subsidy
1 Like
Sure, but grocery stores in nyc is not something thats needed. Now, if that was Detroit in the 90s/00s (literally no grocery stores), then sure. However, what youâre doing here is trying to replicate something the market does extremely well. Margins on grocery stores are notoriously small, competition is fierce and keeps prices low enough that a city run shop wouldnât be much better even if perfectly run.
Did you read the article?
Apparently there are many areas that are underserved where NYC subsidises private supermarkets.
Itâs a big place right?
What makes me laugh is actually these communist extremists that we keep hearing about are actually total policy nerds
They come up with these policies that are deeply researched and informed and then both republicans and edems dismiss it without even reading the policy.
Like maybe this is a dumb idea. But letâs all at least get informed first
Iâm struggling with how this relates to anything Iâve said.
From the article.
Mamdani is suggesting the market, even with subsidies, is not working well.
Whether heâs right or not is of course the debate.
Did you read the article? There was a lot of other really good context and background.
2 Likes
The thought process of a knucklehead who knows nothing about economics:
I donât think full-on socialism has worked very well in the places itâs been tried on a large scale.
The road toward unbridled capitalism doesnât seem to be going great either.
It seems that strongly regulated capitalism with a strong social safety net is the best blend of the two.
Successful capitalists reject all regulations and just want to pillage and plunder.
Our system makes it pretty easy for these capitalists to gain control of the government to eliminate regulation and starve the safety net.
4 Likes
The response to Mamdaniâs win by thhe centrist/Edem stooge wing of the party really lays bare how much hatred they have for anyone left of them. Itâs sad but it really highlights the fact that all these excuses about left leaning positions or politics being unpopular or unelectable wasnât really the problem they had with Bernie or AOC or Mamdani or whoever the leftist boogeyman of the day is on CNN.
4 Likes
I also think we donât need to really try and reinvent the wheel. There are places that have remained a democracy and blended capitalism and socialism pretty well. Just copy those countries.
Youâll be shocked to hear this, but I think mamdani is wrong!
Wrong on their being underserved areas in NYC, or wrong in state owned supermarkets being the answer?
I think this is pretty much nonsense. Like for one thing he is not really running on ânationalizing grocery storesâ and what youâre referring to is a tiny part of his program that probably wonât happen. But more broadly, I think itâs impossible for Mamdani to be a disaster for the party because NYC mayor is a terrible launching pad for a political career in any case. Mamdani can crash and burn and it wonât matter at all. You think heâs going to be a worse basket case than Eric Adams?
1 Like
Totally agree. How did/do those countries keep the billionaires from capturing total control of the government? I suspect itâs a combination of stronger campaign finance / election controls and a more-educated / engaged electorate. I donât know how we get there from here.
Unions
Are all countries with two-party systems FUBAR?
Also. Side note
I realised that if anyone was going to survive the zombie apocalypse
- organised
- pro social and cooperative
- access to tools and equipment
- locally organisedâŚ
When it all kicks off. Head to your closest union shop
1 Like
unfortunately the answer is probably violence or an economic catastrophe that makes the depression look like childâs play