Wrote this up in more depth + a few questions to sit with: open.substack.com/pub/simonhoe...

4. Beyond Analysis
It’s hard to overestimate the psychological experience of self-efficacy the Mamdani’s campaign has had on people who had almost gotten used to hope- and helplessness.

As Mamdani put it: This democracy is yours, too.

3. Building without debt
Grand ideas only get diluted if on your way to power you build on alliances that bog you down. Build a movement that is coherent to begin with, and you have a much harder start but a much longer breath.

2. Back to Basics
The most powerful response to today’s hyper-news cycles was the calm return to everyday basics: public transport, rent, childcare. Turns out the most extreme thing you can do in 2025 is vote for free buses and lower rent.

It stabilises the cycle of trauma and enables it.

It removes friction to generate legitimacy from the very harm it facilitated.

No learning, never. 4/4

This continuity is preventing any collective learning that would require pause, reflection, and or accountability.

Instead we witness ubiquitous and shameless avoidance of any responsibility. 3/4

Shamelessness is central to how trauma politics functions:

There is no interim space for reflection or accountability here. The shift from complicity to concern happens without interruption. 2/4

Bonus: I added all the references to the many projects mentioned in my write up over here: simonhoeher.substack.com/p/governing-...