The Gulf of America

City of Yes, And... #11

I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving week! Today’s City of Yes, And… is my monthly bonus essay for paid subscribers. I’ll share a free piece later this week, but if you’d like to read this one, I’m offering 20% off the usual subscription rate. Thank you so much for reading, and happy holidays!

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When Zohran Mamdani went to Washington the week before last, many Americans were bemused if not befuddled by the spectacle of the avowed socialist mugging for the cameras with a president he continues to consider a fascist. It was the kind of performance that makes some people cynical about politics—as if all the political world’s a stage, and all the politicians merely players. A more optimistic take is that they finally turned to New York’s real problems—especially housing—and signaled a willingness to work together on them. Whether they were playacting remains to be seen, but surely this is the posture rational people should want and expect from their politicians: a commitment to solving problems, not fabricating culture-war content.

Americans are tired of the Gulf of America.