The Mamdani Victory: A Stubborn Optimist’s Hypothesis

By Yakov Nayerman

SAN DIEGO — People call me a hopeless optimist — and, alas, not without reason. Every time I open a bottle of one of our favorite wines, Pessimist, and read the words on its label, “A pessimist is never disappointed,” I can’t help thinking that I’ve chosen the wrong outlook on life.
But at 73, it’s too late to change.

So when Zohran Mamdani — a demagogue, antisemite, pro-Hamas agitator, and militant social democrat — won by a wide margin in New York, everyone immediately turned to me:

“Well? What do you say now? Even such a stubborn optimist as you can’t possibly find a bright side this time! Because there isn’t one!”

But I’m a persistent Ph.D., so let me try to form a hypothesis with a positive outcome.

I listened carefully to Mamdani’s victory speech. From the shouting, the howls, and the roaring crowd, it sounded eerily like a recording of a certain raving Führer. Then Mamdani launched into promises of free public transportation, free daycare, and city-controlled housing prices. He also vowed to cap food prices — and I immediately recalled the long lines in Soviet vegetable stores, where piles of rotten potatoes sold for ten kopeks a kilo. (I did, after all, spend the first half of my life in the USSR.)

The money for all these socialist blessings, he plans to raise through extra taxes on those who can actually afford to pay them. We’ve seen this before — more than once! Not just in the USSR, but also in China, Cuba, and Venezuela. The result will be that people start “voting with their feet.” Not everyone, of course — but professionals, business owners, and investors. Does that remind you of anything? It does me: the exodus from East Germany in the 1950s. To stop that outflow, Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall. I visited East Berlin in 1982 and photographed it from that side.

But you can’t build a wall around New York. Before long, the largest city in the country could start sliding rapidly downhill. Tax revenues will keep shrinking — you can’t collect much from those who can’t afford to pay for the bus. That, in turn, will only speed up the decline and poverty.

So what’s positive about all this, you ask?

Well, there’s a well-known and time-tested strategy in nature: “Let’s see what happens to the first one.” A few “pioneers” in fish schools explore new areas first. The others read subtle cues from their movement and either follow or retreat, depending on what happens to the pioneers. Flocking birds such as pigeons or starlings rely on a few bold individuals to take off or land in uncertain places. The rest of the flock watches for signs of danger before joining in.

My hypothesis assumes that humans have at least some intelligence, too. And that, by watching New York’s example, some of the brainwashed young Americans may finally realize that we study history in school for more than just passing exams. In future elections, some of them might start using not only the muscles that move their vocal cords and hands for shouting and waving banners, but also the small ones located between the ears.

As a result, perhaps some will start voting for what has brought this country centuries of success and progress: democracy and capitalism. And maybe, while they’re at it, they’ll even rethink the role of Jews in these two pillars of civilization and even take another look at the map of the Middle East — and at their slogans, “from the river to the sea.”

You may say it’s a utopia. Yes, my optimistic hypothesis has a low probability — but not zero. Which, in mathematical terms, means Q.E.D. — or simply, “Proved.”

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Yakov Nayerman is a freelance writer based in San Diego.