Some good news for a change

In an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world in which the far right is on the rise, and war and death stalk increasingly large parts of the globe, it’s nice to be able to report a hopeful development for a change. God knows we need it.

Democratic primaries in an American mayoral contest are not generally germane to Scottish politics or the Scottish independence campaign, and indeed neither of these was remotely a factor in this week’s Democratic primary for the New York mayoral election which is due to take place in November. Nevertheless, the democratic primary contest which took place in New York this week could hold important lessons both for next year’s Holyrood election and for future elections in the UK and elsewhere.

The young and relatively unknown Zohran Mamdani, a 33 year old Gujarati Muslim immigrant to the USA who was naturalised as an American citizen in 2018, has just won the Democratic primary in the New York mayoral election. Mamdani was up against the very deep pockets of the ‘centrist’ – that is, right winger posing as a social democrat, how very Starmeresque – Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo’s campaign was funded by corporate interests and he counted on endorsements from the likes of former president Bill Clinton. Cuomo, the former governor of New York state, a position from which he resigned following allegations of sexual harassment which he denies, and of undercounting the number of elderly New Yorkers who died in care-homes during the covid-19 pandemic, is very much part of the Democratic party establishment.

The ballot, unusually for American elections, was held according to a ranked preference system. The New York Times newspaper told New Yorkers in an editorial not to rank Mamdani at all, and instead endorsed the former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. Tilson ended up with a mere 0.8% of first preference votes, a sign of the extent to which trust in the corporate media has been destroyed. They killed themselves by failing to fulfill their promise of holding the powerful accountable. That’s something of which the media in Scotland is particularly guilty, the only power which the bulk of the Scottish media holds to account is the limited and constrained devolved power of the Scottish government. The Westminster Parliament and the network of shadowy think tanks and corporate donors which fuel the British parties from Labour and the Tories to Reform UK are given a relatively easy ride.

Despite the might of the Democrat establishment and their corporate donors throwing themselves behind Cuomo, who very much represented (big) business as usual for the Democrats, and who held a commanding lead in opinion polling in the weeks prior to the campaign, the grass roots small dollar campaign of Mamdani established a notable presence on TikTok, pitching a platform crafted to appeal to the younger voters who in America as in Scotland all too often don’t bother to turn out and vote. Confounding all expectations, Mamdani defeated Cuomo and goes on to become the official Democrat candidate in November’s mayoral contest.

Mamdani is being furiously denounced as a dangerous socialist by the American right wing media, and indeed even by sections of the supposedly liberal media. The “extreme socialist” policies which Mamdani espouses include criticising and calling out Israel for its genocidal assault on Gaza, support for rent controls, free bus travel, baby boxes, subsidised child care, and a living wage, which he proposes to pay for by raising taxes on the wealthy and on big businesses. All of these are well established ideas in Scottish politics but are refreshingly novel in American politics, which to an even greater extent than British politics is a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate interests and tech-bro and hedge fund oligarchs.

Mamdani’s win has triggered a colossal meltdown amongst the American right which is a joy to behold. Mamdani would never have been selected as a Labour candidate in the UK. This is a Labour party which has become dangerously authoritarian, banning direct action protest group Palestine Action for the “terrorist crime” of throwing red paint on an airplane while it continues to provide military support to an Israeli regime which is engaged in genocide and refuses to mention the G-word. Mamdani would have been thrown out of the Labour Party and denounced as antisemitic by the Morgan McSweeney fan club, and then replaced by a former private healthcare lobbyist who would go on to lose to a Reform candidate who was a convinced sex offender.

Mamdani is by no means assured of victory in the mayoral election in November. But for now, it’s not just that Mamdani beat Cuomo that is important, it’s that he and the voters beat an entire syndicate of rich and influential power brokers who have had a stranglehold on politics both in the US and in the UK for a very long time. They’ll be coming after him hard now and he’ll need a lot of support if he is to win in November.

But the lesson to be taken from New York is that a candidate who can inspire young and working class people with popular policies which can make a very real and immediate difference to their lives can confound the deep pockets of a media favoured business as usual candidate. The outcome in the NY Mayoral race race shows that people power can beat the political money machine despite being outspent and marginalised by the media. That should give all of us who believe in Scottish independence hope, and the motivation to work for the government we want.

We can do it with a politics of inclusion, a politics which speaks to the interests of the young and of working class communities which feel the political system is not working for them. We can do it by joining up the dots and demonstrating that Scottish independence can deliver a country in which Scotland’s vast natural resources are harnessed to benefit the people of Scotland. We can put an end to the scandal of the people of one of the most energy rich countries in Europe paying some of the highest electricity bills. We can tax the super-rich, ensure that we have a media which is genuinely representative of the breadth of opinion in this country, and put an end to the corruption of our politics by shadowy “think tanks” with opaque funding and politicians being bought by big business and the rich. We can rebuild public services and take utility and transport provision back into public hands.

We can pay for this by taxing the rich and by taking back control of Scotland’s natural wealth, which is rightfully owned by all the people of this country, not by the corporations who currently siphon off the profits from Scotland’s wealth in order to deposit it in off shore bank accounts in tax havens.

Moreover we could do all this without demonising and disparaging the marginalised and powerless minorities who are the favourite scapegoats of the far right. As an independent nation, Scotland could be on the side of the angels, adding its voice to those calling for meaningful change, for climate justice, for fairly taxing the parasitical super-rich and reining in the overweening power and influence of the likes of Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.

Mamdani’s victory tells us that when people feel hope, they are unstoppable. The independence movement must serve as that beacon of hope in Scotland. It must, and it can. Hope always wins out over apathy and despair.

My mum’s funeral has been organised for Tuesday 8 July. Naturally  I won’t be about around that date or the day before or after. Thank you very much to everyone who left messages of love and support on my previous post. My family read your messages and were very touched by them.

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