Left Enlightenment, anyone?

I am putting my faith in Z. 

I shall not be popular among my radical friends if I say that Z seems to be the Thatcher of the Left! He is full of conviction in a sea of opportunists and can build a broad coalition. Mrs T brought small traders and middle-classmen to the party of the landlords; Z is bringing the small traders and gig workers to the party of the intellectual snobs (see this profile here). The self-declared democratic socialist is cutting through the cynicism of his party colleagues - just as Mrs T did once - and making democracy meaningful again. This is why the grumpy right-wingers, Republicans as well as Democrats, are so angry.

I don't want to take the Thatcher comparison too far, but one I can't avoid: Thatcher was serious and admonishing, appropriate for her stiff-upper-lip party; Z is sunny and smiles all the time, just as the constituency he represents, those on minimum wage who must keep hope, does. The Clinton-Blair left imagined Thatcher's policies won elections, not her courage or character: Now Z may teach them what winning really looks like. 

The Left didn't win and that gave the Left-wing politicians character. One did not do Left politics to win office. They did so because they couldn't do anything else. The men on the Left would rather live in obscurity or go to jail (when they are not being tortured or killed) rather than selling their soul. Therefore, character and courage were never the problems encountered on the left of the political spectrum; policies that could keep the ever-powerful bond traders in check were.

This changed with Clinton-Blair counter-revolution, when winning became all important and policy wonks got the upper-hand. Character and conviction were counted out; instead, a cynicism, how to make a populace vote against their own interests became the game. The uncomfortable discussions about class were shelved, and the solidarity of working people was fragmented into the shards of a million psycho-sexual identities. [Z is doing brilliantly in bringing together all those different groups together on the affordability issue]

I am fully aware that Mamdani is a local politician in a city I don't live in, but his win is consequential. I am hoping that this would give the left a better template that the British Labour party. The left doesn't always have to wait for right-wing disasters to be exposed to win elections, and instead would start winning them on their own merit. The bond traders are super powerful and policies are important; but they are playing with money, which is essentially collective trust of the people. Once we see that, we would know that democracy can be more powerful than the bond market, but that could only happen when democratically elected leaders stop surrendering and start using the mandate they have been given. The left needs to wake up and smell the coffee, and I am hoping Mamdani's win may help start the process.