Unlearning, Unchanged
Political commentator Frank Rich recently wrote a lengthy essay for New York Magazine on the mayoral candidacy of Zohran Mamdani. The headline, "The Power Breaker," is surely a play on the title of Robert Caro's biography of Robert Moses, the man who infamously used his power and influence -- power and influence as an unelected government official -- to radically reshape New York City. Let the subtitle of Rich's piece serve as a summary for my purposes in invoking it here: "Why the Democratic Party, the New York Times, and the donor class got Zohran Mamdani so wrong."
Mamdani has become a real beacon of hope for me personally, as for many New Yorkers – a hope for a better city, a better world, a better politics, one that is radically transformed to make space for everyone rather than surrendering to this miserable status quo: that only those who can afford to adjust to the squeeze, to the crush, to the demands of the elite are welcome tolerated here.
The Democratic Party, the New York Times, the donor class, as Rich argues, simply cannot fathom Mamdani's appeal. They splutter and cough and repeat tired (and racist) talking points. They balk when regular people see through their propaganda. They scoff when regular people push back at politicians and policies, those who are quite obviously committed to preserving injustices and inequalities. They offer Andrew Cuomo – Andrew friggin Cuomo – as an alternative. (What world is this where Curtis Silwa is more appealing than the mainstream Democratic candidate?!)
Maybe it's a stretch – I do that, I realize. But it sure strikes me as an awful lot like this whole "AI" charade we're suffering through: the Democratic Party, the New York Times, the donor class all chiming in with enthusiastic support for a technology that is quite clearly being designed and deployed to make working people's lives harder. And then these folks are shocked when we see through the charade. They wonder why no one with any sense of justice or dignity feels particularly excited about the future they're hustling; and worse, why right-wing passion and conspiracy-theory laden zealotry have more zing, more allure.
It's been over 7 years since I last attended any sort of ed-tech industry event -- the annual ASU-GSV conference way back in 2018, to be precise, an absolute horror show I wrote about for The Baffler.
But on Monday, I ventured up to Columbia University, where this year's Ed-Tech Week was held (which really probably says it all right there: Columbia University. Ed-Tech Week).
