Mamdani Just Went After Starbucks — And Everything Exploded Into Chaos | Victor Davis Hanson
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THE THEATER OF POWER: When a New York Populist Met a Morning Coffee Habit and Reality Exploded
By Victor Davis Hanson (Commentary)
In the brutal theatre of modern politics, true power is often confused with viral noise. This week, New York’s incoming populist mayor, Zorom Mamdani, learned a brutal lesson in that distinction. His call for a complete, immediate boycott of Starbucks, issued with the full force of a politician who commanded over a million social media followers, wasn’t just ignored—it was answered with a resounding counter-statement: Starbucks recorded its highest sales day in company history.
This spectacular failure, a supposed masterclass in progressive influence turning into a masterclass in political impotence, is far more than a blip about caffeine consumption. It is a chilling preview of the deep chasm that exists between campaign promises and governing reality, a pattern that has repeated itself disastrously since the days of ancient Athens.
The Tyranny of Convenience vs. The Siren Song of Ideology
Mamdani’s action—a declarative call to action standing alongside striking workers—was the inaugural display of his political authority. He genuinely believed that his digital popularity translated into the ability to immediately redirect the ingrained, daily routines of millions of New Yorkers.
But power, as I have taught for five decades, is measured by compliance. If you ask people to change their established behaviour, and they ignore the request, you are running a theater company, not a political movement.
The boycott failed because it demanded a political calculation in the moment of highest individual need: the morning rush. The average New Yorker, rushing to work, battling exhaustion, faced a simple choice: change a three-year-old habit, skip the familiar line where the barista knows their order, and potentially arrive late to support a labour dispute they do not fully understand—or get their coffee.
Human psychology dictates the outcome. Changing daily routines requires mental energy most people do not have to spare. This is not selfishness; it is the basic mechanics of human operation. The failed boycott was a powerful reminder that basic human nature and the pursuit of convenience trumps ideological appeals, regardless of who controls City Hall.
The Echoes of Ancient Failure
What worries me most is not the failed boycott itself, but what it reveals about Mamdani’s understanding of causality—or lack thereof—as he prepares to implement fundamentally transformative policies across America’s largest city.
He has promised economic overhauls: rent freezes to magically make housing affordable, free public transportation to somehow improve service, and government-run grocery stores to compete with private retailers. These are promises of transformation. But if he cannot accurately predict or modify human behaviour over a $5 cup of coffee, how can he possibly redesign the economic system of a city of eight million?
The historical parallel is undeniable. I look back to ancient Athens during the Peloponnesian War, specifically the rise of populist demagogues like Cleon. Cleon, the leather merchant, promised citizens they could have it all: glory, prosperity, and dominance, all achieved through sheer will and righteous anger, without difficult trade-offs. The crowds roared.
When these populist leaders promise the impossible, and reality inevitably strikes back, they never admit the promises were unrealistic. Instead, they blame external forces: oligarchs, foreign conspiracies, corrupt officials. The most tragic example of this pattern was the Sicilian Expedition. Athenians, fuelled by emotional appeals and grandiose promises of easy victory and wealth, voted to invade Sicily. The expedition failed catastrophically, costing Athens its fleet, its best soldiers, and ultimately its empire.
The people who suffered were not the politicians making the grand promises. They were the ordinary citizens—the farmers whose land was ravaged, the merchants whose routes disappeared, the families whose sons never returned.
The Looming Price of Ideological Experiments
That exact pattern is poised to repeat in New York. Understanding the predictable outcome of the policies Mamdani champions is crucial for those trying to survive his ideological experiment:
Rent Control: When cities freeze rents, housing does not become more affordable long term. Property owners stop building new units because profit margins disappear. Existing buildings are not maintained because owners cannot raise rents to cover costs. Housing quality declines, availability shrinks, and finding any apartment becomes harder, trapping people in inadequate housing units.
Free Public Transportation: Eliminating revenue without securing sustainable funding means service deteriorates. Money must come from somewhere, leading to cut routes, reduced frequency, deferred maintenance, or higher taxes elsewhere. There is no economic mechanism for eliminating revenue while simultaneously enhancing quality.
Government-Run Retail: Government bodies are not structured for retail efficiency. They consistently lose money when competing with private enterprise because they lack the expertise, established supply chains, and operational flexibility developed through decades of market competition.
These are not political opinions; they are observable, repeatable patterns documented in dozens of cities globally. The man who couldn’t convince New Yorkers to inconvenience themselves for ten minutes is now tasked with redesigning these complex, multi-billion dollar systems.
His inaugural act demonstrated a deep misunderstanding of power, human behaviour, and economic mechanics. The boycott failed. Starbucks thrived. This single event is the most potent warning sign yet about what awaits New York. Smart people will pay attention, prepare accordingly, and focus on what they can control, because the next few years are going to teach some expensive lessons about the vast difference between the theater of campaign promises and the brutal reality of governance.
