Reclaiming red.

This summer, the 4th of July passed as fast as fireworks.

A momentary celebration, but these days it's hard to even call it that.

It all felt different this year. Jokingly, we called it "The last summer". But as the days grew hotter, the joke stopped being funny. And started to become a warning.

With the rise of Americana aesthetics over the years, I've been pondering the implications of red.

Unlike blue and white, red and its vibrancy have been instilled in my head. A bold, brash, out-there color, one on stupid weaponized T-shirts, and one in our American flag.

Since Trump's attempt at aestheticizing his politics, his MAGA line has done immeasurable damage to the American psyche. So much so that anything red with little wording makes me do a double take. The struggle between fashion and politics has made me look at the way we dress differently.

Fashion matters; it tells a story just as much as it can control one. When we talk about the reworking of Americana aesthetics into today's trends and fashions, we can't skip over the American flag's importance in these images and what it aims to say. When Trump waves the flag, it lacks meaning; it feels flat and vain.

When I see the red he's spread across the country, I acknowledge that he's taken it's meaning. The thing I won't let him take: the American flag.

If you asked me six years ago what that flag meant to me, I wouldn't have had a good answer for you. But with time on our hands, and not on our side, something replaced my lack of response with anger, fear, and doubt.

Red represents power and sacrifice.

In Juneteenth tradition, the color red symbolizes the bloodshed and enduring resilience of the enslaved African Americans whose free labor built this country into prosperity. They bled and sacrificed for their promised freedom.

Trump might've conned his way to power, but the only thing he sacrifices for this country is its citizens.

We want so badly to not acknowledge it, but all that does is drive us into darkness.

When the enslaved got their freedom, when they survived and thrived and lived to build a future, that was the "greatness" of America. It was every union that fought for their safety and rights; it's in the educators and doctors advocating for Americans against corporations and government intrusion.

As I reframe what it means to me, I think of every battle fought to grant us the possibility of freedom, and every life lost, forgotten, and washed away in the mechanics of politics and history.

We can't let their efforts be for nothing, and so we must not give up on America just yet.

America isn't great because of its whiteness; it's great because despite the powers that be that may seem greater, the people, a melting pot of different cultures, religions, backgrounds, and histories, believe in the power they hold. The power to change what doesn't work, the power to change, to become better.

The world has gotten so dark lately; people are more prepared for its end than to dream up a new beginning.

The way we view the country has to change, so that when we pick the people who will lead it, it's not out of fear or complacency, but out of an honest attempt at a better future.

250 years in the grand scheme of humanity isn't that long. When we speak about innovation and empires, our generation is at a standstill.

How much can we do when there's already so much going into just trying to survive?

Rent, groceries, and healthcare are at an all-time high, and lord help you if you have student debt.

Maybe we find hope where they used to place anger. Where they don't want you to look: History.

The revolution made Americans. We saw something wrong and together made a plan to fix it.

During the American Revolution, Loyalists pledged obedience, while Patriots built the resistance against the outdated systems that had withheld them from true liberty.

After the Stamp Act and the Tea Act, the British suppressed the people's attempts at protest (The Intolerable Acts), and they rebelled. The crown may change, but the fight stays the same.

The "patriots" on the street are nothing like the real ones.

They are leftover relics from failed and dying ideologies that have lived on like cockroaches in the foundation of America. They are nationalist cowards, given a platform by just as cowardly men. They wave our flag and claim an "America first" position, and we just listen and let them, but they are liars. Our flag means more than that, and it means more than them.

Just because they fly it doesn't mean they own it.

When a leader in great power doesn't know how to lead, he becomes a liability.

Trump is America's liability. A sour reflection of our nation's separation over the past decade. A con man taking advantage of a crumbling system, he has stripped it for parts and sold it to the highest bidders. The American people have been sold out.

While we beg for change before it's too late, the rich begin investing in their next round of election manipulation. Billionaires have already poured more than $433 million into the 2026 midterms. Billionaire families, and anyone else willing to buy in, get a ticket to democracy.

If money “puts you in the room” of democracy, how free are we really? As data centers are being planned under our noses, AI-related super PACs spent more than $50 million on 2026 races, including a $27 million proxy war between Anthropic- and OpenAI-aligned groups. If politicians are willing to sell out our country in favor of a check, what do the rest of us do if we don't have millions to decide our fate?

As I lay awake, scrolling articles on the rise of "techno-feudalism", a new world made from the old one, this time where billionaires and tech giants control everything while we are rented out our own existence; warnings about tyranny on the rise as Trump comes off of his richest year yet as president, meanwhile 63% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck; Trying to erase the feeling that this could get worse. I replace it with: it gets worse before it gets better. Better has to come soon.

When we see the USA through the lens of nationalism, it becomes hard to be proud of something that isn't true.

An ordered society requires accountability, but "cancel culture" is a joke now, and those in power believe themselves above the people. How far will they go to test the limits of what that means, when no one will stop them?

New ways of leveraging our power emerge as we reject the finite ways of imagining reality.

who says you can't reshape the world? They do it every day.

After all, summer is a revolutionary time.

The calvary of the men and women who have given their lives in pursuit of democracy, from the summer of 1776, when the thirteen colonies declared independence while Britain set sail to crush the rising rebellion, to the summer of 1964, when across the nation hundreds of college students, activists, and community leaders mobilized to challenge voter suppression. They provided education and helped register black voters in Mississippi despite the major suppression from the government and violence that tried to stop them.

Before the war, while thoughts flurried in the air, dreams of a new world gained more weight in reality, and Founding Father John Adams wrote a dissertation on the canon and the feudal law in 1765.

In it he writes, "Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees. And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country." He wrote as a protest to the British Stamp Act, more followed, and public opinion began to turn.

We can’t re-write the past, there is only today and tomorrow, an imperfect vision of America, prime for new dreamers.

One day I want to show my children and grandchildren the beauty of this place I call home. I want to show them the vast richness of America's natural beauty, all my favorite cities and museums; I want to tell them our history, and I want to show them all the ways we failed, so they can see all the ways we won.

I want them to dream of their own futures without fear that there won’t be one.

I want them to know the only way you lose is if you stop trying, and that the world needs people who try.

We can't change it all in one summer or a generation, but we can be relentless in our pursuit. The moment we release the reins of our humanity to those who believe themselves powerful enough to take it, is when we lose.

Our flag is represented on picket lines, and rallies, and marches for freedom. It's the people on battlefields of wars they can't get out of, it's the essential workers that got us through the pandemic, it's the volunteers at the food bank down the street, it's the teachers that stick around; It's the neighbor you don't know, yet.

The fight is in how you vote and speak with neighbors, community leaders, etc.

It’s the money, time, and resources back into your community while we vote and fight out politicians harmful to the new American dream. Whatever that might be.

At our greatest, it is the brokenness and the resilience to keep going anyway.

I'm trying to love it again, in the true American way, as an act of resistance, and honoring the land of the free.

But, why AI?

Like most sane people, I have grown to hate AI the more it’s pushed into my face.

I’m not talking about all AI, like Siri, Alexa, or adaptive NPC’s in video games. I’m talking about Fruit Love Island, Suno, NanoBanana, and all the other harmful programs that serve to do nothing but distort reality.

Poisoning water with data centers, decreasing literacy rates and social ability, literally stealing the actual hard work of artists and scholars, and giving larger conglomerates and evil people plausible deniability.

But, why? If people are constantly saying ‘AI is bad,” then why is it still consistently being pushed and used?

The real answer is reality being so bleak for so many, and rich companies wanting to be even richer, shocker. But another reason could be the ways in which we talk about the cons.

A lot of people understand that AI in this unregulated amount is bad.

Maybe due to some innate human reaction to things pretending to be like us, or they conflate talking points to the point of becoming misinformation.

AI is being pushed not for the purpose of meaningful innovation, but for endless profit; the consequences of which we bear the cost of. We should not give in to the temptations of it, but that is easier said than done.

The reality is that AI has been around for a while.

Artificial Intelligence simply refers to any man-made program that can act free of the direct control of a user.

Big companies have been using predictive AI for things like risk management and market prediction. The ‘boom’ that we’ve been seeing in recent years is simply due to the fact that it has become accessible to everyday people, and the companies funding and creating it are richer than ever.

The biggest developers of AI are OpenAI, Palantir, Google, MidJourney, Microsoft, and IBM.

The only reason people have excessive access to AI isn’t because these companies care about making life any easier for us.

It has been, and will only ever be, so they can make more and more money. 

The main issue with the development of AI is the data centers.

The argument that anti-AI debaters like to use is the effects that these data centers have on the environment.

Some say the data centers use too much water, and they’re going to exhaust all of humanity’s water resources. Some say that they’re pumping noxious greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, driving us further and further over that point-of-no-return.

The reality is that all of that is true, mostly.

The issue lies in how the water is being used and where. According to the Florida Water & Pollution Control Operators Association (https://www.fwpcoa.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=859275&item_id=130961), roughly 75-90% of all these data centers use water as their main source of coolant.

The water is used to cool off these huge machines that contain troves of data and run these AI programs, which is then improperly filtered and sent back out into the area from which the water was taken.

Most of the areas where these data centers lie are areas with high water stress already.

Places like rural Arizona and Georgia are complaining about the lack of water pressure required to keep their states running through dust control and advanced city cooling technologies.

One Oregon town found that Google’s data centers used over 25% of the city’s water supply in 2021. Here's a clear paraphrased version with the same meaning: Data centers that rely on water-based cooling systems generate significant amounts of wastewater. This wastewater may contain chemical additives such as biocides and corrosion inhibitors, high concentrations of dissolved minerals from scaling, and heavy metals that accumulate within the cooling system.

If it is not properly treated before discharge, it can contaminate nearby rivers and streams or place excessive demands on municipal wastewater treatment facilities. In some communities, sudden increases in wastewater discharge from data centers have stretched the capacity of local treatment plants, raising concerns about downstream water quality.

As a result, some municipalities now require data centers to treat their wastewater on-site by installing dedicated treatment systems before releasing it. Continuous water quality monitoring is becoming increasingly important to detect contaminants or unusual changes in water parameters early.

Evaluating only the amount of water consumed overlooks a critical aspect of sustainability.

Ensuring that discharged water is properly treated and safely managed is equally, if not more, important for protecting local water resources and surrounding communities.

The widespread use of artificial intelligence has raised concerns about its potential impact on literacy and artistic development among younger generations. As AI-powered tools become increasingly capable of generating essays, stories, artwork, and even music, young people may become more reliant on these technologies rather than developing their own reading, writing, and creative skills.

Excessive dependence on AI for completing school assignments or producing creative work can reduce opportunities to practice critical thinking, vocabulary development, and original expression, all of which are essential for literacy. Similarly, when AI generates artwork or creative content with minimal human effort, young learners may spend less time experimenting, refining techniques, and cultivating their own artistic abilities.

While AI can serve as a valuable educational and creative aid when used responsibly, overreliance on it may hinder the development of the imagination, problem-solving skills, and creative confidence that are built through sustained practice and independent effort.

Furthermore, the rapid advancement of AI-generated content has also contributed to growing skepticism toward independent artists and musicians, particularly those who lack widespread recognition or established reputations.

As AI tools become capable of producing increasingly sophisticated music, visual art, and written works, audiences may become more inclined to question the authenticity of creative works produced by lesser-known creators.

Independent artists whose work demonstrates a high level of technical skill or polished production are sometimes accused of using AI without evidence, simply because their success appears unexpected or their style resembles AI-generated content.

These unfounded accusations can undermine an artist's credibility, damage their reputation, and diminish public appreciation for the time, effort, and originality invested in their work. In contrast, well-established creators with stronger public trust and professional credentials are often less likely to face the same level of scrutiny.

As a result, the rise of AI has created an environment in which independent creators may feel compelled to prove the authenticity of their work, adding an unnecessary burden to an already competitive creative landscape.

So the real question is, what now?

Clearly, these companies couldn’t care less about what the general public wants or needs, so how can we, as a society, move forward with this impending villain constantly creeping up on us?

The best strategy is to hold ourselves and those around us accountable.

The money is where it matters. No, you do not need to make an AI poster; the public would rather a stick figure drawing than the repetitive slop AI has a personal touch for. No, you do not need to turn your texts into a song; just sing them really badly like the rest of us. You don't need to spend money trying to get an AI to make something perfect or easy.

On top of this, make your voice heard. Do your own research about these data centers, and how close one is to being built near you.

Email your local legislators. Go to town hall meetings. Also, keep your family in the loop.

So many of our older population are falling prey to AI. It is up to us to guide them in the right direction, to let them know that, “No, Nanna, elephants cannot jump on trampolines.”

There are many ways that we can combat this and turn back towards humanity, but it truly is going to take all of us.

The Democrats of New York City: A Tale of Two Parties

Written By Kristi Yang and Madeline Reilly

Last summer, on Wednesday, June 25, as temperatures finally began to ease down from a dreaded 102 degrees, people dotted the warmly lit coworking lounge known as The Bench, holding chilled white wine and small novelty popcorn bags. Up an early-20th-century elevator on Elizabeth Street, guests settled into booths beneath a collage of campaign buttons — “Vote Carter and Mondale ’80” — Kennedy headshots and a Zabriskie Point poster, a film about university protesters clashing with the police.

This year’s Democratic primary had taken on unusual national weight. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s attempted political comeback collided with Zohran Mamdani’s insurgent campaign, which had mobilized young voters around housing, policing, and the fallout of the Israel–Gaza conflict. For many Democrats, the race served as a proxy battle over the future direction of the party — between an establishment figure and a rising democratic socialist.

At The Bench, the crowd had gathered for a watch party for New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, with the stream and live Q&A set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

The crowd was sweaty and dressed in suits, nine-to-five business casual, and Adidas Sambas. The room was a blend of generations and political views, with allegiances stretching from Cuomo to the then-mayor, Eric Adams.

The party was hosted by The Free Press, an independent news organization covering national politics. Maya Sulkin, FP’s Chief of Staff, and Rick Brooks, Free Press contributor and former standards editor at The Wall Street Journal, ran the Q&A. 

At 9 p.m., early voting results started rolling in, with Zohran Mamdani already starkly in the lead, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo polling behind by an average of 10 points.

However, the overarching tone of the room from the Q&A was grim.

Questions lamenting not only his policy but also the future of New York City’s increasingly polarized climate around the protests at Columbia University, growing antisemitism, and the realism of Mamdani's campaign promises.

The questions were anonymous, and submitting them was required for attendance. One asked, “Who is the abundance candidate?” There was a muted chuckle from the audience. 

This was a reference to Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s recent book Abundance. The book examines the bureaucracy surrounding public infrastructure and 21st-century housing policy and has been regarded as a blueprint for the Democratic Party’s agenda and its response to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which Republican lawmakers and politicians have unofficially adopted.  

The book and proposal discuss the need for public infrastructure to be funded by private and corporate groups to achieve a utopian vision of funding public infrastructure projects.  

Klein and Thompson explicitly state in their mission statement on their website: “For some, it [abundence] represents an internal debate within the left, challenging progressive governance models. Others within the Democratic Party view abundance as a strategic framework to counter conservative populism. Many on the right see abundance as a practical reality — reflected in longstanding commitments to housing, energy independence, and deregulation.”

Within this context, one of the proposals on the same ballot for Mayor would fast-track construction plans for affordable housing in New York City. Housing shortages had become the key issue for Democratic voters in 2025, with 88 percent calling for more affordable housing and making it a top priority for their next mayor, according to the Siena Research Institute.

At The Bench, the panel assumed Andrew Cuomo to be closest to an ‘abundance agenda,’ though he never embraced the label. As a candidate, Cuomo was favored by many Wall Street leaders. Mamdani’s supporters, by contrast, often criticized the framework as too deferential to private developers. Mamdani, who campaigned on affordability and public infrastructure, would rely on a 2 percent income tax surcharge on high-earning New York City residents and corporations making over $1 million annually.

Another submission read, “Is it time to migrate to Miami?” referring to Miami’s sizable Jewish population, the increase in pro-Palestinian protests in New York City, and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani's personal activism for Palestinians and criticism of the Israeli government’s actions on the Gaza Strip. Mamdani’s comments have led some, including his opponents, to accuse him of antisemitism.

The question reflected a broader anxiety among Jewish Americans. In an American Jewish Committee report released in February, for the first time, the majority of American Jews are changing their behavior due to fear of antisemitism, even as all major candidates publicly condemned antisemitism.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, reports of antisemitic attacks, both criminal and noncriminal, have skyrocketed across the United States since October 7th, 2023. In 2024, the ADL reported 976 antisemitic incidents in New York City.

“Jews feel it will be, to quote from someone today, ‘open season,’” Sulkin told the room.

“You know, we've had a very pro-Israel mayor who has taken antisemitism really seriously. And even still, New York feels, I think, pretty by and large, unsafe for Jews,” she continued. “So I think everyone should buy your apartment in South Beach.”

Part of the Democratic Party's divide has been over its stance on the Israel-Gaza War. The domestic response to the U.S. involvement has sparked protests on college campuses across the country, most notably at Columbia University. The student unrest at Columbia had become a flashpoint in local politics, shaping debates over policing, campus autonomy and the city’s response to rising antisemitic incidents.

“I feel like it’s an unusual time,” said Dave Lacy, an attendee of the event. 

“I haven’t lived here very long, but I get the sense that it’s not just another election. And people are worried… some people are extremely excited and some people are extremely worried,” he continued. Lacy, who works in tech, recently moved from San Francisco to New York City. 

The Q&A session ended at 9:30 p.m. By that time, it was clear that Mamdani would be the victor over Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York State. Mamdani had secured the democratic nomination. However, Cuomo later announced he would continue his candidacy in the primary as an independent.

Across the bridge in Brooklyn, the night had only just begun.

The Montrose Avenue L train station is in East Williamsburg’s industrial zone. At half past ten, the streets were illuminated by brightly lit bodegas, and pulsating electronic beep boops leaked from abandoned warehouses.

News of Andrew Cuomo’s concession had been announced, and the New York City Democratic Socialists of America were holding a large election night event at 9 Bob Note, the sister venue to popular queer club 3 Dollar Bill. Outside the red brick building, huddles of Mamdani supporters lingered, laughing and savoring their win.

While the Free Press event space was colored in shades of beige and brown, the DSA event was purple. The interior was bathed in indigo light, and a booming bass reverberated throughout the space. 

Behind the DJ booth, orchestrating the beats were Kenneth Takanami and Lucas Grant. The month prior, the two musicians had organized the Governor’s Fall Rave, an event supporting DREAM for NYC, a Working Families Party-supported political action committee that told voters: “Don’t Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor.” From the “Zohrave,” they raised over $1,000 for DREAM and registered over 10 people for DSA.

“Me and those folks def wanna do more organizing of shows together,” Takanami said in early June, mentioning he’s “gotten to know that team well,” through canvassing with them.”

So when the opportunity came to DJ the flagship DSA primary night party, Takanami took it.

While half of the attendees were bouncing and bobbing to beats under the disco ball, the other half were through the double doors, across the rainbow-lit veranda, and outside, on the graffiti-covered patio.

Outside, the heat hung heavy over the crowd. Even on the hottest day of the year, the space outside remained packed as music spilled from the building and voices fought to be heard. Sweat glistened on faces in the moonlight, beer slicked the pavement, and fallen “I Voted!” stickers clung to shoes. Attendees were wearing Zohran pins and Bernie t-shirts, accessorized with cans of PBR and cyan American Spirits.

“There's like an electricity to it that is hard to describe to somebody who hasn't been a participant in a large group effort and really given their blood, sweat, and tears to something over months with many, many other people,” says Tim Covell, a Mamdani canvasser who has been a canvasser since 2018.

The night marked not only the Democratic primaries but also a celebration of the canvassers’ hard work.

“To be able to share that victory with those people is just absolutely amazing,” Covell concluded.

Achieving this victory in the current political moment is notable, too.

New York City native Alberto Maristany criticized the Democratic Party, saying it “built the middle class in America and the United States, and now it's a little bit soulless.”

This sense of disillusionment has grown as Democratic-led cities grapple with crises—highlighted by the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago and Los Angeles earlier this year and intensified scrutiny from the president. Against this backdrop, Zohran Mamdani’s election in New York stands out. To many New Yorkers, Mamdani represents an alternative to the established Democratic leadership and a sign of renewed political possibility.

Maristany points to Mamdani’s rise as evidence of voters’ dissatisfaction with traditional Democratic figures, such as Andrew Cuomo, and their search for leaders who feel more aligned with the needs and frustrations of their communities.

“A lot of older Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo, Bill Clinton — they've lied to us so much that, at this point in time, we're just over it,” Maristany said, declaring, “We're done, we're done, we're done.”

It was a sentiment echoed throughout the DSA event. Several attendees noted that Mamdani’s appeal stemmed from a sense that long-standing Democratic figures had grown detached from the economic and political anxieties of younger voters.

Maristany believes the youth's strong turnout in elections is due to frustration with the current political system and a desire for fresh leadership.

“No one wants to accept this political system that we see through now,” he said, “You can't gaslight us anymore. You can't lie to us anymore.”

He argues that Mamdani's clean record and tangible policies have garnered significant support, despite some criticism labeling his supporters as brainwashed.

“There's a natural, unfortunate response to policies that are meant to lift working-class people. There's this propaganda spin where people try to say that it's unrealistic. And I'm just so tired of that,” Maristany said.

“Government used to be this mechanism in which amazing things happen, going back to the New Deal and FDR basically saving this country from the Great Depression in World War II, and the American government had its hands on every aspect of society in those years, and that's when they launched a middle class,” Maristany says, “I think that right now in 2025, our imagination has been killed.”

Early voting began on October 25. On that same night, back at the Bench, the Young Democrats of New York had their inaugural Blue Party. There, canvassers and party reps from all five boroughs gathered, dressed head to toe in blue, smelling like soap and sipping Modelos.

“I'm very excited that we are going to see Zohran Mamdani become the next mayor. This is what the Democratic Party needs, because this responds to what the Democratic base wants and what young people want,” said Carlos Calzadilla-Palacio, president of the Young Democrats chapter in Brooklyn. 

Calzadilla-Palacio walked through the crowd to the quieter end of the lounge, exchanging hugs and fist bumps with his fellow Young Dems.

“We want a politics of bold ideas. We want a politics that actually inspires people to get involved. We cannot have the same tired leadership that is out of touch, really with the needs of the working class of the American people,” continued Calzadilla-Palacio.

As the evening wore down after a drag performance, attendees circled the dance floor. Wrappers of blue Takis, Chips Ahoy!, and Oreos were left scattered on the tables, and dollar bills littered the floor. The loud thumping music persisted.

The 2025 New York City mayoral election took place while Democrats are still grappling with the outcome of the 2024 presidential election and with falling approval ratings among voters. Democrats currently hold an approval rating of about 33.6 percent, according to RealClearPolling. 

“If you look at the approval ratings of the party right now, they're so low. So we're seeing that it's in New York with the Zohran election and the excitement around it, but also to implement that agenda,” said Calzadilla-Palacio 

Some polls attribute Democrats' sweeping victory in November to a shift in the party’s campaign focus toward affordability. Meanwhile, others cite the government shutdown, sparked by increased healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, as a significant factor.

However, the shutdown ended a week after the election results, with several prominent Democrats conceding over SNAP benefits funding in early November. Since then, their approval rating has remained stagnantly low. 

“We need new leadership, and we need younger people, younger ideas, and bold ideas, to take on the fundamental problems in this society,” declared Calzadilla-Palacio. ---

Fast forward to this summer, during the June 2026 Democratic congressional primaries, all three candidates endorsed by Democratic Socialist and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their races. And according to CNBC's All-America Economic Survey, more voters would be more likely to support a democratic socialist candidate than a Make America Great Again supporter or a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump.

As the November midterm elections loom closer, and more and more people separate from the mainstream establishment democrats, the words of past summers ring with possibility.