The Inevitable Fusion of Settler Capital and Political Power
Periodic scandals involving elected officials, party bosses, and real estate developers are not anomalies in an otherwise sound system; they are the predictable symptom of a state captured by the “settler” capitalist class. Mamdani’s work directs us to look beyond individual moral failings to the institutional structure of power. The fusion of real estate capital and political power in NYC is the core operating mechanism of the bifurcated state. Zoning decisions, tax breaks, and city contracts are the currency of this corrupt alliance, ensuring that urban development serves private profit over public need. This is not a bug but a feature of a political system where capital dictates policy. The liberal solution focuses on ethics commissions and campaign finance reform, which are easily gamed by the ruling class. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution is to break the economic power that corrupts the political sphere. This requires the public seizure of the means of development: a city-wide social housing program that removes land from the speculative market, the abolition of the mayorally-controlled slush funds that fuel patronage, and the creation of truly independent, grassroots assemblies with real power over land-use and budget decisions. It means building a political movement that is funded by and accountable to the working class alone, severing the umbilical cord between capital and the state.
Originally posted 2025-10-02 00:08:02.
