Buddhists believe that pain and suffering arise from Earthly desires. The key, they say, is moderation: “Be always moderate, never indulge in excess,” preached the Buddha.
Buddhists call it the “Middle Way.”
Which, interestingly enough, makes them extremists about moderation.
(Extreme moderation always struck me as kinda contradictory. Y’know what I mean? Extreme moderation must be one helluva mental Mobius strip.)
It also probably explains why Buddhism never really caught on as a mainstream global religion. In fact, over the last decade, Buddhism has dramatically nosedived in popularity, dropping from 5% of the world’s population in 2010 to just 4.1% today.
Between 2010 and 2020, Buddhism was the only major religion to shrink in absolute numbers, losing about 20 million followers. All other major religions — including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism — grew larger.
Just as a marketing message, “Let’s fight for moderation!” is a difficult sales pitch, because it’s so contrary to human nature. It doesn’t turn heads or command our imagination.
Instead, we’re excited by extremes: extreme beauty, extreme danger, extreme ideas. The more extreme, the better!
Moderation feels wishy-washy, weak, and noncommittal.
And that’s why the extremists have already won the secret war raging within the Democratic Party. It didn’t receive much media attention, but after more moderate Democrats won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey — while a left-of-Bernie-Sanders socialist won the mayor’s race in New York City — two warring sides were battling over the post-election narrative.
It was the moderates versus the extremists. Which model should the Democrats follow on a national level?
Had the Democratic candidate stumbled in any of the gubernatorial races, the picture would be less murky. But sometimes, you can be a victim of your own success.
Yesterday afternoon, Politico described the Dems' dilemma thusly:
But the across-the board wins [in 2025] paper over an ideological divide that’s brewing in the party: Will young men be won back by moderation, or by Mamdani?
Moderation or Mamdani? You kiddin’ me?!
It’s a Tyson/McNeeley-sized mismatch: Moderation will lose in a landslide!
College kids aren’t gonna get up early and march for moderation. It’s a poor call-to-action. Left-wing activists instinctively crave something more inspiring — more incendiary — and far more revolutionary.
Which is why the future of the Democratic Party belongs to the extremists.
Actually, the future is now. The two top Democratic Socialists in New York City, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, just declined to press their advantage against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — but they're running the table everywhere else.
Your challenge, dear reader, is to “reverse engineer” AOC and Mamdani’s tactics.
From yesterday’s Washington Times: “More incumbent House Democrats hit with primary challenges from younger socialist candidates:”
At least nine prominent Democratic House incumbents are facing primary challenges in the midterms from opponents on their left flank who, in some cases, are much younger.
Democratic Socialists have the wind at their backs following the elections earlier this month of New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson, and prominent House Democrats now find themselves the next target of these political upstarts.
A handful of the Democrats being primaried are New York lawmakers, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Dan Goldman, Grace Meng and Ritchie Torres.
Rep. Jeffries serves in New York City — right in the heart of the AOC/Mamdani socialist powerbase. If the Democratic Socialists REALLY wanted to prove their point, he’d probably be the most high-profile scalp they could realistically claim. With the Democratic Party mired in historically low approval ratings, an institutional, “corporate” Democrat like Jeffries would be especially vulnerable to a young, charismatic upstart.
All it would take is for AOC and Mamdani to throw their weight behind a Democratic Socialist challenger!
But they didn’t. And instead, they cut their own revolution off at the knees:
Mr. Jeffries received good news over the weekend when Mr. Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the most well-known democratic socialists in New York, ran interference for Mr. Jeffries, the House minority leader, to help his re-election.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez recently told reporters she did not think it was a “good idea” for New York City Councilman Chi Ossé, a democratic socialist, to challenge Mr. Jeffries for the House seat in Brooklyn.
Mr. Mamdani went as far as to urge his fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America allies not to endorse Mr. Ossé over Mr. Jeffries last weekend, and Mr. Ossé ultimately did not receive the endorsement of the organization’s New York City chapter.
Other New York Democratic incumbents have yet to receive the same high-profile support on the far left as Mr. Jeffries, who many believe is the likely choice to become speaker if the Democrats recapture the House.
Very odd. Why do you suppose AOC and Mamdani pulled back? It was a race the Dem Socialists ABSOLUTELY could’ve won!
The most likely answer is, in closed-door discussions, Rep. Jeffries has already bent his knee and agreed to back the Democratic Socialists’ agenda if/when he becomes Speaker of the House.
There’s no point, after all, wasting resources over territory you already control.
Otherwise, you’d expect a socialist revolutionary to support the socialist revolution. When AOC and Mamdani suddenly side in solidarity with the bourgeoisie, something is amiss… unless, of course, there’s more to the story.
Recommended: Your Gobble-Gobble of the Day: Dem Senator Laments How ‘Dem Women Look Like Dem Men’
Politico thinks the Democratic Party is still debating which direction to go: Moderation or Mamdani?
They don’t realize the debate is over — and Mamdani’s side has already won.
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