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The Print
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
New York, New Comrade. Mayor Mamdani and his India-style socialism
Mamdani's support for Gaza, strong anti-Trumpism (in the US President's own borough) and endorsement by the Democratic Left make him a personality important enough for Donald Trump to write a long post on. There's enormous oomph to a 33-year-old, super stylish and articulate Muslim of Indian origin who is now a front runner to govern the most powerful, rich, Jewish, and cosmopolitan city in the world. In India, it has played into the Hindu-Muslim binary. In the minds of the Hindu Right, it is the conquest of another great global city by a Muslim from the Subcontinent. Sadiq Khan of London being the other. Zohran Mamdani is going to be in the 'talk' not just in New York City or American politics, but also in India. Or, rather than saying that he will be in the headlines, we can use language more apt for the digital era and his demographic: he's going to be a most searched name for some time. He's paid him 'compliments' like 'a 100 percent Communist lunatic', one who 'looks terrible, his voice is grating' and so on. Of course, Trump also links his rise to his pet hate, the quartet of women politicians on the Democratic Left who he calls 'the Squad', led by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or AOC. The President's choice of words is, of course, Trumpian. In the Trump world, Communist or lunatic might be a common enough description for anybody he dislikes, used as casually as old Captain Haddock of Tintin comics dismissing somebody as a pestilential pachyderm or, simply, a vegetarian. To be abused by President Trump isn't a liability in New York. Also Read: Trump has brought the N-word back in fashion Do I have a problem, or even an opinion on Mamdani's rise? The answers are: problem, no; and opinion, it's great to see Indians rise in western democracies. We took pride in Rishi Sunak, on the Indian Right Kash Patel, Jay Bhattacharya and even Hindu American Tulsi Gabbard are celebrated as is the star cast of 'Indian' CEOs. Mamdani will be a stellar addition. I know what I am saying is triggering a lot of our readers. I am triggered too, but not for the reasons as some of you might be. His faith, his views, support for Gaza, dislike of Narendra Modi or Benjamin Netanyahu are the reasons many in India are unwilling to celebrate it as another 'Indian' conquest. For them, it is a conquest by the wrong guy (read the wrong faith). This polarisation has played out among the diaspora in New York as well. I am not so affected by this. If anything, I might have the boasting rights that the new mayor of the world's greatest city (if he wins) is someone who's mom I hosted twice on Walk The Talk, a story about which I will tell you in the postscript. So, what am I triggered by then? To understand this, let me take you through some highlights of his election promises. He will eliminate fares on buses (hello Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana and then keep adding) freeze the rent on two million already subsidised housing units (remember your Rent Control Act?) and to build more than two lakh homes over three years through Social Housing Development Agency (every Indian city has some such, DDA, MHADA, BDA, no?), provide universal child care for kids from six weeks to five years (anganwadis?) and, hold your breath, sarkari grocery stores with low prices. Remember our 'fair price shops', kendriya bhandars and cooperative supermarkets? All of these ideas are so familiar to two generations of Indians as the great failures of the socialist state. If you were also parked in the ration shop line by your mom as I was when just 10, to hold her spot until she finished cooking lunch and came to buy almost anything we needed, you will know what I mean. From sugar (200 grams per head per week in 1967) to wheat and even cloth by the metre. Everything for the working classes was to be found at state-run shops. Even if you did not have an experience like this, you've seen the state-built concrete working-class housing in our cities which are concrete slum clusters by another name. In New Delhi, I call them slums built by the Delhi Destruction (oops, Development) Authority and every city has has its own version. Our free bus services are now collapsing along with the state government finances. All of the ideas that failed so spectacularly in the country of his origin, Mamdani is now promising to replicate in a city millions of Indians have made their new home, mostly as economic refugees. Mamdani is too young to have picked these ideas from India and unlikely his parents experienced too much of this. However, this love of socialism in a country that gave the modern world its capitalist dream and in the city that represents that breathless success is an interesting point. What's even more interesting is the appeal this finds among New York's young. This is especially so in the big cities, nearly all run by Democrats. And Mamdani, if anything, stands way to the Left of 'the Squad'. Socialism, ironically, oozes significant sex appeal in a city that should be the brand ambassador of capitalist success. Also Read: One person's Deep State is another's Non-State actor. And Shallow State is where the real power lies Or is it the case that such success ultimately breeds socialism? That you've become so rich you can afford socialism? Europe swerved hard Left after the riches piled up, and has been course-correcting lately. Because socialism in rich societies also brings in immigration, racial and religious diversity and, truth be told, tribal internal conflicts from distant lands. Inevitably, it draws a reaction, and the Right returns. Even in Scandinavia, the home of the best socialism. India's problem is, the bad ideas never left us. Only good people, the best minds left. Millions of our brightest, most ambitious, entrepreneurial made America their home. What were they fleeing if not our fake socialism? Every Indian who risks their lives on a 'dunki' today is fleeing socialism which survives in the Modi era. Check out how much Modi government spends on distributive welfare and how BJP, supposedly a Right-wing party, has embraced the freebie culture of Indian socialists. In January 1990, while covering the unravelling of the Soviet Bloc I learnt some taxi driver's wisdom in Prague. Except that this taxi driver had a master's in engineering and was waiting for Václav Havel to fully liberate the economy. You Indians fought back for your political freedoms in the Emergency, he said, but how come you never fought for your economic freedoms? He had the answer: because you had never experienced economic freedom. You didn't even know what you were denied. This was a conversation at Prague's Wenceslas Square where a sparkling streamer hung from a building saying 'welcome back home Mr Bata'. He was driven out by Communism, the driver said, built a fortune in Canada, and now all you Indians wear his shoes. PostScript: Mira Nair and I set up our first WalkTheTalk interview one chilly January morning in 2005 in Delhi's Jama Masjid. We had just about started when the Shahi Imam arrived, furious. 'Ek dum rukiye aap' (stop at once), he said. He recognised me and softened. 'Aap ke liye izzat hai, aap jab marzi record keejiye. Inke liye nahin' (We respect you. You can record whenever you like. But not her). Why, I asked and explained to him what a brilliant and globally respected woman she was. He wasn't impressed and used adjectives that I'd rather not repeat. I wouldn't even commit the sin of imagining if maulana sahib had seen Nair's Kama Sutra or heard of it. But we retreated, recorded in the street outside and concluded the conversation over a breakfast of naan and nihari. Also Read: In defence of Murthy & Subrahmanyan: Success isn't 9-to-5, and no one's forcing you to work longer
New York Post
8 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Stefanik fires back at ‘worst governor in America' after Hochul jabs on Medicaid cuts
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a key Trump ally who is rumored to be planning a gubernatorial run in 2026, hit back hard against New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, calling her the 'worst governor in America' after the Democrat dinged her over Medicaid cuts. In a Friday post on social media, Hochul accused Stefanik of voting 'to put five hospitals in her district on the chopping block, endangering her own constituents' lives, health, and jobs—all to serve Donald Trump.' 'I won't stand for it. I'm fighting like hell to save New Yorkers' health care,' said Hochul. In response, Stefanik posted on X, 'Hi @KathyHochul! Welcome to the fight.' 'You didn't get exposed enough during our last round when you testified and were totally exposed for your dangerous and failed sanctuary state policies ?? Let's do Medicaid now,' she wrote. Stefanik slammed Hochul for giving Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants, 'putting New Yorkers most vulnerable LAST.' 3 Rep. Elise Stefanik is rumored to be planning a gubernatorial run in 2026 and called out Gov. Kathy Hochul as the 'worst governor in America.' FOX News 'NY's Medicaid program is rampant with tens of billions of waste, fraud, and abuse under Kathy's watch,' she wrote. 'Kathy Hochul, the Worst Governor in America oversees the worst run Medicaid program in the country harming NYers. Medicaid is an incredibly important program that I have worked to strengthen for New Yorkers.' 3 On X, Stefanik said, 'Hi @KathyHochul! Welcome to the fight.' FOX News The New York congresswoman then added, 'Oh and Kathy, your numbers in rural NY are plummeting' and 'I have been nationally recognized as the TOP advocate to deliver results for rural hospitals due to my work for hospitals in my district.' In another post, Stefanik said, 'Oh Kathy. I'm glad I set your schedule these days – from setting your Tweet schedule by forcing you to tweet on the Communist Mayor who just won in your Democrat Party in NYC. To you now scrambling to go to Saranac Lake because of news articles. When I have an announcement to make, believe me you'll know.' This comes after Stefanik pressured Hochul to say whether she supported the new Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made controversial statements criticizing Israel and promoting Palestine and who identifies as a Democratic Socialist. 3 Stefanik called out Hochul on social media for closing hospitals in her district, while she also criticized her policy of giving illegal immigrants Medicaid benefits. Christopher Sadowski Hochul has since said she plans to meet with Mamdani to discuss his ideas for the city but has not yet issued a full endorsement. Stefanik has said that as the leader of the New York Democratic Party, Hochul 'fully embraced the antisemitic, Communist nominee,' adding, 'she owns this catastrophe.' Earlier this month, Stefanik told a Republican crowd in Staten Island she was 'strongly considering' entering the race for governor. She unveiled a new state political action committee, Save New York, which appears aimed at further cementing her status as a heavyweight in Empire State GOP politics. Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Wall Street Journal
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘The Party's Interests Comes First' Review: First-Generation Revolutionary
Joseph Torigian, a young scholar of both Communist Chinese and Soviet politics, has written a masterly biography of Xi Zhongxun, the father of China's present-day president, Xi Jinping. 'The Party's Interests Come First' is a scrupulously researched and keenly perceptive account of an important but, in the West, little-known historical figure. Mr. Torigian's first book, 'Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion' (2022), revealed the pathological court politics that prevailed after the deaths of Joseph Stalin in the U.S.S.R. and Mao Zedong in China. The successions of power that followed in these Leninist regimes weren't the result of policy differences, bargains to gain support and maneuvers within party rules, as is often assumed. Instead, Mr. Torigian shows, they were the outcomes of intrigue, battles over ideology, historical animosities and violence. The biography of Xi Zhongxun (1913-2002) expands on that theme. Xi was a revolutionary and, after the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, held several high-ranking party offices from the 1950s to the early 1990s. He was never the country's ruler, as his son has become, but Mr. Torigian's examination of the elder Xi's life affords important insights into China's opaque and mysterious Communist regime of the 21st century. Mr. Torigian, an associate professor at American University's School of International Service, traces Xi's career as it developed from the first phase of the Chinese Civil War, through World War II and the triumph of Mao and the Communists, to the post-Mao reforms and the tragedy of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
New York Post
21 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Trump aims for trade deals with key partners in Asia in coming weeks: sources
Remember those simpler times when markets were focused on tariffs instead of war? Well, with the markets starting to look past the 12-day flareup between Israel and Iran, and our involvement in (hopefully) decapitating Tehran's nuclear efforts, tariffs might soon be back on the table for another round of market-induced ruction, On The Money has learned. Team Trump says it's close to announcing a handful of trade deals, my Wall Street sources with contacts in the White House tell me. 4 The White House says they're making headway on trade deals with Japan, as well as South Korea and Vietnam. Jack Forbes/NY Post Design I know we've heard this before without much real progress, but the big ones that the White House says they're making headway on involve Japan, as well as South Korea and Vietnam, these people say. India was thought to be a done deal, but its armed conflict, however brief, with Pakistan threw off the talks with US trade negotiators. That deal could re-emerge but it's not on the list of those that are pending, the sources say. 'They're supposed to be coming up in the next few weeks,' is how one of my Wall Street sources described the current situation. 'India seems to be moving a bit slower. But deals are supposedly coming.' July 9 is a key date. It's when Trump's tariff pause against most trading partners ends. China's tariff pause ends Aug. 12. In the meantime, we could get some more extensions or rushed frameworks, my Wall Street sources suggest. The Japan deal appears most promising since the Trump administration just approved the takeover of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, with the proviso that the White House hold what's known as a 'golden share,' a special category of stock in the new company that gives the US some authority over decision-making. Yes, a little bit of socialism from the alleged free market types in the White House, but it's suggesting a broader trade deal with the Japanese is in the works, my sources say. 4 July 9 is a key date. It's when Trump's tariff pause against most trading partners ends. China's tariff pause ends Aug. 12. In the meantime, we could get some more extensions or rushed frameworks, sources say. Getty Images The impetus behind a deal with Vietnam is that it could be a place where US businesses set up if they leave China, one of our major trade adversaries. Plus, the Trump Organization has looked at investment in the Communist country. The Vietnam War is a distant memory as Hanoi continues integrating capitalism into its economy and seeking closer ties with the US. South Korea, meanwhile, is a long-time ally and the trade talks with the country have been progressing, sources said. Remember, if and when all of the above happens, these won't be official deals, but frameworks much like the one crafted with the UK that sets conditions before various regulatory reviews take place and deals are, as they say, sealed. But they could be a market positive because they should produce levies that are lower than what Trump originally demanded in his 'Liberation Day' tariffs attack against the world on April 2. 4 Trump announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs on April 2. REUTERS They should also provide US businesses with some clarity on the cost of importing goods from major trading partners. That said, making tariffs the focus could have some negative market consequences since investors have been focused on a possible peace dividend from a defanged Iran. The potentially inflation-inducing costs on many goods consumed by average Americans from tariffs could once again weigh heavily on the economy. Recall how stocks and bonds tanked over fears of inflation and a possible economic slowdown from a tariff-induced price shock. Trump has since paused his tariff regime until deals could be worked out, but the zig-zagging nature of the talks are starting to weigh on business and consumers. 4 Stocks and bonds tanked over fears of inflation and a possible economic slowdown from a tariff-induced price shock. REUTERS Retailers like Walmart, who rely on cheap goods imported from China, have raised prices even as intense trade negotiations between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Beijing continue. The latest consumer confidence numbers sank a bit, another likely indication that costs are being passed on. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has ruled out cutting interest rates until he sees if the tariffs will induce inflation, and presumably on what deals Team Trump is cutting. And it's unclear if those talks are proceeding favorably with what might be the country's most important trade partner given its large consumer base and ability to manufacture stuff that is too costly to build here. That would be China. Even though we are economic and maybe military adversaries, we need each other, and China President Xi Jinping is a tough negotiator. A deal with the European Union, another major trading partner, is also slow going. Seems like for better or worse, trade will be back moving markets.
Nikkei Asia
a day ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Vietnam tycoon, facing death sentence, offers deal for $26bn fraud
Crime Communist country moves to reduce penalties for financial crimes if compensation paid Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan, who faces the death penalty for embezzlement, may win a reprieve. She is seen here at a trial in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2024. © AP YUJI NITTA and MAI NGUYEN HANOI -- Disgraced Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan has proposed a restructuring plan for her troubled bank, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), aiming to pay back some of the more than 700 trillion dong ($26.8 billion) that she was convicted of stealing from clients. Lan was sentenced to death and 30 years' imprisonment in two separate trials for a series of financial crimes. Her case is Vietnam's biggest-ever fraud and highlights the country's crackdown on corruption.
