{"id":503578,"date":"2026-01-09T11:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503578\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T11:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:08:10","slug":"democracy-challenged-who-governs-gaza-who-runs-venezuela-who-does-new-york-belong-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503578\/","title":{"rendered":"Democracy Challenged: Who Governs Gaza? Who Runs Venezuela? \u201cWho Does New York Belong To?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photograph Source: NYC Mayor\u2019s Office \u2013 CC BY 3.0<\/a><\/p>\n

2025 was an annus horribilis for democracy. Within the United States, Donald Trump, his administration, Congress, complicit state legislatures, and the Supreme Court systematically attacked civil liberties and weakened core democratic institutions. Internationally, there were at least two examples of undemocratic impositions. U.N. Security Council (SC) Resolution 2803 created a so-called \u201cBoard of Peace,\u201d chaired by Donald Trump, and a temporary International Stabilization Force to govern Gaza without the consent of the those who live there. Recently, Trump announced that Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would \u201crun\u201d Venezuela, an extraordinary assertion of external control over another state\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n

Did 2026 start better?<\/p>\n

Yes. Zohran Mamdani\u2019s taking office as Mayor of New York City offers several reasons for democratic optimism. As the first-ever mayor to be sworn in on a Quran, the 34 year-old surprise winner has shown a progressive, democratic sensitivity and agenda that offers promises for New York City and beyond. Mamdani\u2019s election could signal a revival of true democratic politics in the United States, and an eventual model for democratic governance elsewhere.<\/p>\n

At his January 1 inauguration, Mamdani gave a moving presentation of new possibilities for democracy after being sworn in as mayor by Bernie Sanders and following an opening speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cellphones propped against the dashboards of parked taxi cabs at LaGuardia, from hospitals in Mott Haven and libraries in El Barrio that have too long known only neglect. I stand alongside construction workers in steel-toed boots and halal cart vendors whose knees ache from working all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new mayor asked, \u201cWho does New York belong to?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor much of our history, the response from City Hall has been simple: It belongs only to the wealthy and well-connected,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n

He then offered a very different answer about whom New York could belong to: \u201cNew York could belong to more than just a privileged few. It could belong to those who operate our subways and rake our parks, those who feed us biryani and beef patties, picanha and pastrami on rye. And they knew that this belief could be made true if only government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[I]f only government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest,\u201d Mamdani declared at the very moment of Trump\u2019s new Gilded Age where the richest 1 percent of Americans own roughly 30% of national wealth and the top 10% control nearly two-thirds. The chief executive of JP Morgan Chase made $770 million in 2025. A recent economic study shows that in recent decades the Supreme Court has favored the rich.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s inaugural speech presented what many consider a radical position. President Trump has derided Mamdani as a \u201ccommunist fanatic.\u201d Yet when Trump met Mamdani in the Oval Office in November, the New York Times reported that \u201cthey were just two iconoclastic New Yorkers who were all smiles.\u201d \u201cThe better he does, the happier I am,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBecause he has a chance to really do something great for New York,\u201d the president added. \u201cIt was a great meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no question that Mamdani will face staunch opposition as mayor. Several very wealthy individuals have threatened to leave New York if he raises city income tax on million-dollar earners or increases corporate taxes. John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the grocery chain Gristedes, told the\u00a0Free Press<\/a>\u00a0in June he may \u201cconsider closing our supermarkets and selling the business\u201d in the event of a Mamdani victory.<\/p>\n

There were also obvious religious criticisms of the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor. \u201cOn his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn\u2019t leadership. It\u2019s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,\u201d the Israel Foreign Ministry wrote in a\u00a0post on the social platform X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the essential criticisms of Mamdani lie in the class position he has taken. Bill Reilly claimed in The Wrap that \u201cHe\u2019s a communist\u2026Seizing the means of production.\u201d Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis argued in The Times of India, that his ideas were \u201cstraight out of Karl Marx\u2019s Communist playbook,\u201d and Bishop Robert Barron, writing in the New York Post, cited Mamdani\u2019s embrace of \u201cthe warmth of collectivism,\u201d that collectivism has historically led to oppression.<\/p>\n

Is Mamdani merely a New York phenomenon? Will his victory and positions have influence outside the five boroughs? He seems not afraid to stand up for his beliefs beyond New York-specific issues. He challenged President Trump after the Venezuela strikes and kidnapping of Maduro. \u201cI called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act,\u201d he said. The New York Times reported on the call in which Mamdani recounted that \u201che told Mr. Trump that he was \u2018opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal and international law.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It is uncertain that Mamdani will succeed in implementing some of his ambitious policy proposals, such as free childcare, free bus service, and a rent freeze for those living in rent-stabilized apartments. Nevertheless, he declared, \u201cBeginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never we will be accused of lacking the courage to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

The essence of Mamdani\u2019s \u201ccourage to try\u201d is his commitment to re-establish democracy in New York City. His inaugural speech was a clarion call for the city to belong to all New Yorkers, regardless of wealth, class, or religion. Internationally, based on his call to the White House, the same principles apply; respecting international law as a just system should give equal rights to all peoples and states \u2013 the Preamble of the United Nations Charter does begin with \u201cWe the Peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the undemocratic Trump 2.0, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803 and the arrogant gunboat diplomacy of the so-called \u201cDonroe Doctrine,\u201d there is a potential shining light coming from New York City, at least based on Mamdani\u2019s inaugural speech. Given the current gloomy global situation, a little light is more than welcome as we begin the new year, still hoping, like Abraham Lincoln, that \u201cgovernment\u00a0of the people,\u00a0by the people, for the people,\u00a0shall not perish from the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photograph Source: NYC Mayor\u2019s Office \u2013 CC BY 3.0 2025 was an annus horribilis for democracy. Within the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-503578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115864830368847592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}