This is a short piece. I thought it was interesting in that it divides American history into repeating periods. It's upbeat, but doesn't offer any actual advice for actions. I wish it said more about Mamdani.
--Kim
Hilton Obenzinger is with Malcolm Margolin and 5 others.
The Great Regression and the Mamdani Moment
Hilton Obenzinger
Copyright 2025
We have entered the era of the Great Regression. After the Civil War there was Reconstruction, which was betrayed and abandoned and replaced with Jim Crow.
From the Sixties on there was a great Second Reconstruction, a rebuilding of the nation along lines that are more fair, along the lines of democratic rights for everyone, Black people, women, and so many others. It was incomplete and hitting resistance, particularly with the first Trump regime.
Then the George Floyd Great Racial Reckoning took place, another outburst of people yearning to breath free.
Now we have met with the Great Regression. Maga is trying to undo the Thirteenth Amendment. How much more regressive can you get? Plenty, apparently.
Since the Civil War, those who seek to expand the scope and constituency of equal rights have drawn upon the Constitution as a flawed but valuable vehicle – with amendments to end slavery and women's suffrage, and Supreme Court Justices that could swing from Plessy v. Ferguson to Brown v. Board of Education.
But now, during this Great Regression, we are entering a Post-Constitutional period, one in which the basic thrust of the Constitution is undermined by all the branches of government, including the Supreme Court, and those fighting for democracy may need to look beyond the Constitution.
Now that we're in this new period, I hope there are those who are thinking creatively and fearlessly about tactics and long-range strategy. In that regard, we are also entering the Mamdani moment, when a supporter of universal rights, including for the Palestinians and claiming to be a democratic socialist, can galvanize the most working-class great city in the country.
Yes, we're in for dark days of American-style fascism – but we're also seeing great bursts of creative non-violent resistance and resilience, and a spirit of fairness and fight against government by and for gangsters. "This machine kills fascists," Woody Guthrie wrote on his guitar during the Second World War, and I'm proud that so many of us are still singing his song. Happy July 4th.
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