Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary isn’t just a local upset. It’s a warning. He’s not winning despite reckless ideas; he’s winning because of them. His platform blends utopian slogans with policies that crumble under scrutiny. Many voters, especially younger progressives, prefer ideological theater to real results. Emotional appeal has replaced intellectual rigor, and that’s a dangerous shift.
I see this shift daily in my Manhattan psychotherapy practice. After witnessing a disturbing sidewalk incident, one patient said, “This is why we need Mamdani. He’ll send social workers, not police.”
Their response wasn’t about safety or improvement. It was a rejection of law enforcement and establishment, not reform.
Politics isn’t therapy. Feelings don’t fix subways, reduce crime or build housing. When emotional posturing replaces real solutions, the most vulnerable pay the price.
Mamdani’s platform isn’t bold — it’s reckless. His policies sound like slogans, with little serious thought behind how they’d work in most cases. “Defund the police” might resonate with some progressives online, but in a city where people fear riding the subway or walking outside at night, it is out of touch and dangerous.
Freezing rents and hiking taxes on the wealthy may seem fair, but these moves would choke housing supply, drive out investment and make the city less affordable. These aren’t visionary ideas; they are shortcuts that ignore basic economics.
Many of Mamdani’s most ardent supporters are young, college-educated and living comfortably in Brooklyn’s progressive neighborhoods. Some are trust-fund kids or recent beneficiaries of student loan forgiveness. They live well but call for radical upheaval, sipping $7 lattes while demanding rent freezes and police abolition.
What stands out isn’t just the rhetoric, it’s the resentment toward ambition and success. Mamdani’s declaration, “I don’t think we should have billionaires,” resonates in progressive circles but reveals a deeper unease with upward mobility. While these rallying cries might offer emotional satisfaction or a sense of justice, they’re often rooted in jealousy of others’ achievements. In therapy, I’ve seen unchecked envy breed stagnation and even anger at a personal level.
New York’s housing crisis is undeniable. Nearly 60 percent of renters spend more than a third of their income on rent. But targeting landlords and developers won’t fix the problem. It will make it worse. When investment dries up and construction halts, supply shrinks and rents skyrocket. Basic laws of supply and demand don’t vanish because a policy sounds compassionate.
Taxing the rich may feel like justice, but there is a tipping point. Push too far, and jobs, investment, and tax revenue leave with them. You don’t fix inequality by driving out opportunity.
Mamdani’s rise is fueled by real frustration. Many young voters feel squeezed out of homeownership, burdened by debt, and desperate for bold change. But too often, that frustration slips into entitlement. A spring 2025 Harvard Youth Poll found that young Americans overwhelmingly prioritize housing, health care and inflation. But few offer clear answers on how to fund the expansive government role they envision.
This gap between demand and reality fuels grievance politics across the spectrum, left and right. But in a one-party city like New York, it’s radical progressives who hold the loudest megaphone, often amplified by a mental health culture that’s lost its way.
Much of today’s therapy-speak validates grievance instead of promoting growth. We pathologize disagreement, encourage cutting off family over politics, and mistake victimhood for virtue. But real healing doesn’t come from blame, it comes from building resilience, agency and responsibility.
The same applies in politics. Leaders who reward grievance and promise sweeping change without delivering solutions don’t empower people, they pacify them. The angrier you seem, the more credibility you gain, even if you offer no answers. Slogans aren’t strategies. Resentment isn’t leadership.
Consider “defund the police.” With crime rising in recent years, calling for fewer officers isn’t just tone-deaf — it’s reckless. New York doesn’t need fewer cops. It needs better-trained, better-funded and more accountable officers who build trust while keeping communities safe.
Housing suffers the same shortsightedness. Blaming developers is a distraction that stifles supply. Instead, we should streamline approvals, offer tax credits for affordable units and partner with the private sector. Increasing supply, not scapegoating, is the only real solution.
Mental health deserves more than symbolism. If Mamdani cares, he should back proven community models and crisis response teams. Even so, social workers can’t replace police in every case, and pretending so puts everyone at risk.
Mamdani’s victory isn’t just about where voters want to go. It also reflects deep desperation. If that desperation is met only with emotional politics and empty promises, we will keep electing leaders who stir feelings but deliver little.
New York is a test case for the country. It shows what happens when political culture prioritizes grievance over growth and symbolism over strategy. If we want safer, fairer, more livable cities, we need leaders who focus on results, not rhetoric.
If we keep choosing emotional comfort over competence, we will keep getting slogans instead of solutions — and the people who need real help will keep being let down. It is time to elect leaders grounded not in grievance, but in results.
Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist and author of the upcoming book, “Therapy Nation.”
