 |
| By The Free Press |
It’s Wednesday, July 2. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Jed Rubenfeld on whether the Supreme Court is doing its job; Tyler Cowen on how to vacation properly; Jay Solomon on the darkest hour for the Iranian opposition; Zohran Mamdani’s bad math; and much more.
But first: reasons to be cheerful.
Yesterday, Zohran Mamdani officially triumphed in the Democratic primary in New York City’s mayoral race. The self-described socialist won handily, with 56 percent of the vote in the third round of the ranked-choice vote. Mamdani is something extraordinary: a front-runner to be mayor of New York City who said four years ago his goal is “seizing the means of production” and who defends the slogan “globalize the intifada.”
Viewed from one angle, the rise of a politician with this kind of revolutionary intent is almost unprecedented. Viewed from another, it is a lot less surprising. We live in a populist era, and Mamdani is a left-wing populist who, just like right-wing populist Donald Trump, is thriving in that era.
Writing in The Free Press today, Michael Strain and Clifford Asness argue that left-wing and right-wing populists have a few things in common: They pit “the people” against “the elites”; their worldviews are built on imaginary grievances; and they want more government control of society and the economy. Underpinning all of this, they write, is a unifying idea: “That the average American has it terrible these days.”
That’s wrong, they argue. Cliff and Michael come armed with data to argue that things aren’t nearly as bad as either end of the political horseshoe, whether MAGA or Mamdani, would have you believe.
—Oliver Wiseman
 |
I’ve Visited 100 Countries. Here’s How to Vacation Right. | ||||||
 | ||||||
|
The Iranian Opposition Faces Its Darkest Hour | ||||||
 | ||||||
|
This Supreme Court Term Proves the System Still Works | ||||||
 | ||||||
|
 |
