In an earlier article, I used the term “radical chic” to refer to the style that Mamdami has cultivated throughout his political rise. His own brand of radical chic is quite unique. In his trademark J. Crew suit and tie with his well-trimmed beard and affable smile, he parrots what Bernie Sanders might say. However, unlike Bernie, he does not come off sounding like some old blowhard. He comes off as edgy, yet non-menacing. It is quite a parlor trick that this ambitious young man has pulled off.

Advertisement

Socialism is a boutique fetish of the upper class, so I am not surprised as to why Mamdami embraces it. He has also managed with ease to drag into the mix two other upper-class fetishes, third world and gay liberation doctrine. Bringing these two ideological bedfellows together is quite a challenge. Mamdami has navigated it well, and managed to charm young hipsters from Brooklyn to Seattle.

The success of Mamdami has boosted the fortunes of other DSA candidates in the “Commie corridor,” a swathe of neighborhoods in New York City where they have recently won primaries. The “Commie corridor” is not something that grew up overnight. It is a multi-decadal project that has displaced minority residents in Queens and Brooklyn with the young, white, and college educated. It started out along the East River in Williamsburg, but has pushed deep into neighborhoods like Kensington, Bushwick, Ridgewood, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Bedford–Stuyvesant, and South Slope. The movement, in a real sense, has “colonized” those boroughs, or would it be more fitting to say it “recolonized” them.

Advertisement

Another thing to understand about this demographic is that they are predominately renters and childless. They think of themselves as artists or activists practicing a bohemian lifestyle. I don’t think it should surprise anyone that they would flock to someone like Mamdami. He is one of them. In a sense, his constituents are a politicized version of the characters in “Friends,” living an extended adolescence with romantic images of themselves as climate or social justice warriors.

This group differentiates itself from earlier ethnic groups occupying neighborhoods in New York by not reproducing. It sustains its numbers by attracting individuals coming out of college who want to prolong that period of young adulthood forever. In some respects, who could blame them? It was nice hanging out at Soledad gyms and bars, not caring about what the future may bring.

Advertisement

So, the question that everyone wants answered in the aftermath of DSA primary victories is: “Where is this communist renaissance going?” My answer is not far.

Advertisement

Image generated by ChatGPT.