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Posted on 11/05/2025 3:49:57 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
His election begins a new era in American politics where emotional resonance and symbolic defiance, not policy, dominate.
As Zohran Mamdani’s insurgent mayoral campaign in New York City came to a dramatic close, René Girard’s mimetic theory offers a revealing lens through which to interpret the emotional and symbolic forces that shaped voter behavior. What began as a fringe candidacy with barely 1 percent support rapidly evolved into a political phenomenon. Within weeks, Mamdani surged ahead of the field by double digits — his momentum driven not merely by policy proposals, but by a contagious sense of identity and aspiration.
Voters were not simply endorsing policies; they were invited to adopt a political identity that felt youthful, inclusive, and emotionally resonant.
While critics have pointed to a wave of campaign donations from questionable sources as the reason for the surge, Mamdani’s rise cannot be explained solely by his war chest or his progressive platform, which included wealth taxes, free public transit, universal daycare, rent freezes, and police defunding. His true political strength lay in his ability to generate mimetic desire. Voters were not simply endorsing policies; they were invited to adopt a political identity that felt youthful, inclusive, and emotionally resonant. (RELATED: Mamdani’s Smoke and Mirrors)
This is precisely what makes Mamdani’s success so unsettling for the future of American politics. Envy has long played a role in populist appeals, but Mamdani’s campaign marked a shift: envy was elevated into mimetic aspiration. Supporters weren’t just aligning with a candidate; they were emulating a persona, transforming political allegiance into identity imitation. (RELATED: Mamdani Markets Envy to Sell a Marxist Utopia)
Mamdani’s campaign turned mimetic desire into a political art form. By appealing to working-class and marginalized communities and shaming elite privilege, he targeted rivals such as former Governor...
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
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but also by his promise to give away free stuff.
I see quite a few articles from both left and right sources portraying this like antifa has been. It’s just and idea, a thought, not a real thing.
Seems like a really bad version of Hold My Beer.
She’s actually old enough to remember JFK, where this stuff started.
Those millions of illegals votes sure came in handy!...
Mamdani profited from his lies. Promising “free and fast”, but not recognizing the takings that it would require.
Taking from landlords, who already have to abide by draconian rules. Stealing from the middle class - because his utopian dreams cannot be sustained by even a 100% tax on the wealthiest, who remain mobile, despite his wildest dreams.
Making buses fast - by slowing every other class of vehicle. And they would be free because he is stealing the fare money to keep the line in motion from everyone who pays taxes in NYC.
Mamdani is a communist liar, who will blame the very people he wants to rob when his communist schemes do not work.
His voters? They are very, very stupid.
Mimetic
Mimesis:
the deliberate imitation of the behavior of one group of people
by another group as a factor in social change.
He wasn’t Cuomo ! Nobody wanted to let the corrupt Cuomo back into power.
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