Radicalism Rebranded: Is New York City’s ‘Mamdani Moment’ America’s Problem?

Many Americans are asking how we reached a point where lawlessness, anti-Americanism, and open sympathy for terrorists are not only tolerated but celebrated—and where mayoral candidates who would once have been considered “fringe” can win primaries in major cities. The answer? Since the 1960s, the United States has undergone one of the most dramatic political rebrandings in modern history, particularly on the Left. The sixties radicals never disappeared. Their ideas, once considered extreme, have not only resurfaced, they’ve been rebranded.  Today, extremism is marketed to new generations as compassionate, inclusive, and enlightened, marching under the “progressive” banner and embraced by a growing bloc of post-9/11, college-educated voters.

However, while the rhetoric has softened, the underlying ideology and its mission remain unchanged.  Indeed, the label “Progressive” is itself a branding triumph.  It wraps radical demands in the soft language of European-style social democracy.  But the resemblance is misleading.  Unlike Europe’s Social Democratic parties, which operate comfortably within free market economies and reject Marxist class conflict, the American progressive left is anti- capitalist and embraces identity-based Marxism, recasting social conflict in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender.  Today, that rebranding is no longer confined to universities or activist circles—it is shaping electoral outcomes.  The rise is not an aberration, but the culmination of a movement decades in the making.

The Radical Roots

In the 1960s, radical groups like Students for a Democratic Society, the Weather Underground, and the Black Panthers openly called for dismantling America’s political and cultural framework.  Their rhetoric—violent, confrontational, and contemptuous of American identity—alienated the public.  The Left learned a crucial lesson: they could not win by storming the gates.  To succeed, they would need to exchange the vocabulary of revolution for the language of compassion, justice, and human rights.