Freedom Studies - Moscow on the Hudson
Jon Reisman
The increasingly likely prospect that the voters of New York City will select Zohran Mamdani as mayor has left me appalled but not really surprised. Nominating an openly antisemitic communist is at least an honest move by the Democratic Party, and perhaps it follows the sage advice of AOC (top House Democratic fundraiser) and “JC” (Jasmine Crockett) for “authenticity.”
Of course, it helps that Bowdoin commie Mamdani has drawn a fractured field of opponents, including a workplace sexual harasser (Cuomo), a corrupt incumbent ex- cop (Adams), and a lonely Republican (Sliwa).
Cuomo violated Democratic protocol by apparently being able to define what a woman is and recognizing innate biological differences between men and women. Adams violated Democrat protocol by being a cop/law enforcement officer and demonstrating some reluctance to implement maximum woke insanity. Sliwa is, of course, a heartless vigilante Republican; enough said.
The symbolic and economic disaster of ceding the world capital of capitalism and finance (the original New Amsterdam) to a Marxist true believer is bad enough. The cultural disaster of the second most Jewish city in the world (following Tel Aviv) electing a pogrom promoting (globalize the intifada) open antisemite is deeply disturbing. The only prominent Democrat with the cojones to condemn Mamdani is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. The best that New York Senator Chuck Schumer can do is withhold his endorsement, and that won’t be for long.
The whole sad saga led me to remember Moscow on the Hudson, a 1984 movie starring Robin Williams as Vladimir Ivanov, a circus musician who resists the KGB not-so-secret police and chooses freedom over the authoritarian, communist Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan had not yet told Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” (Note to rabid left-wing Trump haters: the 1984 Soviet Union is a real example of authoritarian fascism, not that you should let truth and accuracy ruin your fantasy/delusion.) Here’s the trailer: https://youtu.be/FMhEwdbhrYc
Vladimir is surrounded by immigrants in New York, including his Cuban lawyer, Italian girlfriend, and many others. He is stunned by the political and economic fruits (and costs) of freedom, especially in comparison to the dark poverty and repression he experienced in Moscow. Capitalism’s coffee cornucopia sends him into shock in this scene from a NYC grocery: https://youtu.be/VHIcmoY3_lE. The risks, costs, and benefits of freedom are balanced here:
Moscow on the Hudson was released more than 40 years ago. It was a cinematic love letter to (legal) immigration, freedom, New York City, and America. Given Mamdani the commie and the descent of New York into antisemitic, anti-capitalist progressive dogma, a new screening is sorely and surely needed, especially with the new “Superman” movie proclaiming and
exploiting Superman’s “immigrant” status. Freedom is more than “just another word for nothing left to lose,” and there’s plenty at stake in New Amsterdam. Janis Joplin’s rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” is my closer: https://youtu.be/5Cg-j0X09Ag.
Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Selectman and a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected].
