This Is Why Voters Are Looking For Something New

 So well said, wise, and true. — Molly

I have no idea how this will land with readers. But after a day of watching and listening to stunned people on both sides of the aisle here in the South, I feel compelled to reason it out - as I do - in writing.

People love to act shocked when someone like Zohran Mamdani wins. They scream socialism as if that word alone explains everything. They never bother to look at the country they are defending.

Start with the basics. Minimum wage stuck at $7.25 while the price of eggs plays powerball. Rent takes half a paycheck and the landlord still treats you like a squatter. Groceries cost more every month. You get charged for bags, carts, and the privilege of staying alive.

Health care? Miss one shift and you owe a hospital more than a luxury car. We die in debt. We are born in debt. We live in debt. The economy runs on a hamster wheel of panic.

The average home buyer is now pushing forty. Most young people have never seen a starter home. They get starter roommates. Starter basements. Starter despair. Meanwhile, the wealth gap is a canyon with billionaires launching rockets across it for fun.

Child care costs more than college. Elder care drains the last dollars a family has left. Then dying costs thousands too. They bill you long after your pulse quits.

People are lectured to work harder by politicians who have never worked a day. The same politicians who call it radical to want a doctor, a house, and a chance. They yell about freedom while millions choose between medicine and rent.

This is why voters are looking for something new. They are tired of pretending the current system works. They are tired of being told survival is a luxury. They do not want a revolution. They just want a life.

So when Mamdani wins, maybe the bigger question is not why New York elected him. Maybe the question is why the rest of the country keeps voting for the pain.

— Kevin Bart