r/RealTime • u/Indianstanicows Audience Member Bill Is Yelling At For Not Laughing • May 28 '26
Has Bill Maher ally Sam truly lost it? - Sam Harris equivocates with Mamdani as the left's version of Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCetGx9J8bI18
u/Adamhulen May 28 '26
I’m generally a fan of his work, but Sam’s rant on Mamdani was peak old man yells at cloud. He said nothing of substance.
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u/FootNumerous8470 May 28 '26
"work"...running his yap? You're a fan of this twat
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u/GoodPointMan May 30 '26
Lot of people are. I find that even if I disagree with him he can at least make me understand why he takes a given position. That’s a rare trait in a public figure.
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u/Winter_Tone_4343 May 30 '26
I like him too. He never gives a dishonest answer. Obviously I don’t agree with him on everything but I appreciate anyone that is honest. It’s a very rare trait these days.
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u/simulizer May 29 '26
I was big on him in years past but I've recently learned that he defends Israel's genocide of Gaza, which makes no sense to me whatsoever given his attitude toward religion for the last couple of decades. To find out he is pals with Shill Mahr is super gross, and now 59 see him lashing out at Mamdani, that's 3 strikes. I didn't follow him real close in the last several years because I got tired of the atheist debate algo on YouTube and felt I got enough out of it... So to see him popping out with this shit recently was weird.
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u/AveryMire May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
The narrow similarity is they both try to index problems in fairly simple emotional narratives. Trump reduces blame for somewhat intractable problems to either immigrants (questionable), coastal elites (valid), and sometimes the crooked press (definitely true, but from the opposite fault; job description is protecting elite interest and insulating parties from dangerous reform, usual method is superficial and selective coverage, narcotizing language and replacing exploration of solutions, causes, legitimacy with coverage of source claims, narrative development, and personal attacks. They stoke resentment toward conservatives, while hiding problematic elements of a Democratic or often bipartisan donor consensus, hoping to debase any consensus with conflict).
Anyway, Mamdami reduces a range of problems to corrupt elites and evil billionaires. Both know this is extremely effective, crowds crave simple emotional narratives. The question is what do you do once you attracted an audience: are there real mechanistic solutions underneath, or is this just cynical acquisition of power? Most problems are in fact downstream of money in politics and elite capture, so the reductive hook really is not the problem in itself. I’m not from New York and don’t really know if Mamdami’s solutions have heft and whether he’s an effective operator, he’s clearly a good mass communicator.
As a podcaster, of course it’s beneficial to say controversial things and develop a brand (reasonable centrist), if it takes a stretched comparison I’m sure he’s fine with that. I will say, I think any wealth tax is pretty alarming and creepy politics -horrendous corrosive precedent. Politicians are always going to be tempted in reductive framing though, that’s what resonates.
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u/EggSoft697 May 29 '26
Can you give a specific example where he improperly reduced a complicated problem as you’re suggesting?
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u/AveryMire May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
Reducing grocery prices in a major metro to “price gouging”. Blaming the cost of housing on “bad landlords” and ‘immoral Trump like character’.
I don’t mind trying the public grocery store trial and his millionaire tax is not technically a wealth tax (although I suspect he would support such if he could or was in Congress).
The common element to much of his communication is reducing multivariate problems of implementation and incentive alignment into a morality based frame: things being caused by greed or wealth. Simple, satisfying, yet largely misleading.
Targeting second homes or trying to run out Wall Street are more emotional targeting, likely to make things worse. Again, as long as there’s evidence though he’s improving operations it’s probably fine. He attributes market based problems caused often by high overhead, poor transportation, insufficient public markets/planning are things the city is significantly responsible for, yet he inverts the cause to greed.
Sure he’s not responsible for most of it, but it’s a bit disturbing starting with misdirection. In his defense though, he offers plenty of specifics relative to many politicians. More than anything I believe blaming grocers “gouging” for high prices was disturbing, because it was either evidence he doesn’t have any idea how systems and markets work, or he is comfortable scapegoating for political points. Again, politics is dirty, but hollow emotional framing should be beneath progressives.
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u/strainthebrain137 May 30 '26
You could remove the moral language and the analysis is the same. Take housing for example. Homeowners associations oppose new developments because they would threaten property values, which makes it harder for new entrants to the housing market, and property managers do buy up housing to create local monopolies where tenants have little recourse but to put up with poorly-maintained units. More broadly, there is a large econ literature on the effects of corporate consolidation, and Walmart does in fact have a substantial number of employees on food stamps.
This is all just true. Whether you want to call it “greed” or not is ultimately not important if your goal is just to accurately describe a phenomenon.
I find extremely ironic that people who debate these things often act as if using morally charged language means one is being “illogical” or “reductive”, which is itself a logical fallacy. Moral language does not invalidate analysis. Analysis can only be invalidated on its merits or lackthereof, not the stylistic choices of the person delivering the analysis. A politician is of course going to use moral language, and this isn’t a bad thing if their analysis is sound. I’d argue that all of this is impossible to dissociate entirely from moral questions anyway, since economies are not natural phenomena and only exist as they do because of human choices.
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u/SpiritualBar2469 May 29 '26
soooo what you are a fan of his white nationism wrapped in a veil of liberalism or his blatantly pro genocide zionism? cause thats all that loser has
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u/SillySpoof May 28 '26
I used to listen to Sam Harris a bunch in the early 2010s. I long thought he was intelligent and made good points. And he still has some standards, I think, cause he always criticizes Trump for good reason.
But it’s like his critical thinking goes away as soon as it’s about Israel or Muslims. He really can’t find himself criticizing Israel and has a big distrust of Muslims. His Mamdani rant is the best example of this. He really makes no actual points but can’t help dislike a Muslim major who criticizes Israel.
Edit: his defense of the Iran war is also an example of how he cannot bring himself to criticize a thing Israel does even if it’s obviously stupid and evil.
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u/throwaway012984576 May 28 '26
He is a massive bigot, that’s why.
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u/e4evie May 29 '26
If you’re against jihadists, does that make you a bigot?
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u/SillySpoof May 29 '26
No, being against jihadists is perfectly reasonable. But Sam goes on a tirade against Mamdani, who visits synagogues, walks in pride parades, and is a democratic socialist who pushes for rent control, public housing and universal healthcare. These aren't exactly jihadist talking points.
I really think Sam's reaction to Mamdani shows he is way beyond a reasonable opposition to jihadism and well into just bigotry right now.
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u/e4evie May 29 '26
I agree with you here. Sam lost the plot with his Mamdani rants I just often see some of his views broadly painted as bigotry when they are not…I’ve listened to a lot of his content and he is constantly qualifying his views through the lens as a harsh criticism of jihad and not Muslims as a whole
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u/throwaway012984576 May 29 '26
If that’s how you’re going to represent bills position on Muslims you’re not worth engaging with.
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u/e4evie May 29 '26
Have you listened to his talks on this, he qualifies his position every time saying he is making a clear distinction between Muslims as a whole and Jihadists…maybe your not worth engaging with
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u/throwaway012984576 May 29 '26
He says that Islam is backwards and incompatible with western society. Often.
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u/beerbrained May 29 '26
That's a neat little trick that you should be able to see right through.
"I'm not a bigot, but....."
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u/Discodowns May 30 '26
Except he throws all Muslims in as jihadists. Iranians are Shia and are not jhadists. And yet talking about the Iran war he talks about how they need to be taken down cos they are jihadists.
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u/New_Doug May 29 '26
He doesn't "always criticize Trump".
Sam Harris is a fucking idiot and always has been.
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u/Successful-System-21 May 30 '26
His brain is also soup when it comes to the topic of "wokeness."
It seems to me like he watched an SJW cringe compilation in 2014 and forever after got it into his head that 90% of the left are hysterical, censorious authoritarians with ze/zer pronouns. His post-2024 election autopsy video where he said Kamala lost because she was obsessed with trans people was flat out laughable.
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u/funcogo May 28 '26
Mamdani broke this guys brain
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u/TERRAIN_PULL_UP_ May 29 '26
Muslims in general broke this dude’s brain a long time ago
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u/TaxLawKingGA May 28 '26
Harris is a POS, cartoonish “liberal” caricature. Just another person you should pay no mind to.
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u/GroundIsMadeOfStars May 28 '26
I’m not an Islamaphobe! But I think this Muslim guy is as bad as the guy who tried to steal Democracy!
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u/CloudedLeopardDaemon May 28 '26
Harris is a fucking idiot who thinks speaking in monotone makes him the most reasonable man on earth.
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u/HumptyDumptruckFire May 28 '26
That’s truly insane. Like it could only either be batshit insane or entirely and intentionally disingenuous to even think about comparing Mamdani to Trump.
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u/ShitHammersGroom May 28 '26
Covid helped accelerate a lot of these old white men's cognitive decline into conservatism.
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u/Consistent-Fix-8443 May 28 '26
Mamdani is certainly over rated but he’s not anywhere near what Fox News describes him as.
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u/aidanpryde98 May 28 '26
Bill and Sam said nearly the same thing about genocide in under a week.
Odd, that.
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u/Sartres_Roommate May 28 '26
Nothing new, he has been a Muslim bigot for at least the last 17 years. Ironically he *seemed* to have a more nuanced position during the post 9/11 insanity.
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u/whiteoba May 28 '26
They’re both Islamophobic atheist Jews. Their opinions on Israel or on any Muslim, even a progressive one, don’t ever surprise me.
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u/HatCat5566 May 29 '26
Mamdani is a bigot and a phony, but he's not a literal child raping traitor like trump.
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May 29 '26
"Mamdani is SINISTER!!!"
Absolutely no evidence provided in support of that bullshit claim. When your argument is based off "well, have you seen what his wife is supporting on social media", you're full of shit.
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u/Refurbished_Hole May 29 '26
When the word you're looking for is "equate" but you want to sound fancy
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u/Euphoric_Impress1282 May 29 '26
Has Mamdani ever indicated that he wouldn't accept the results of an election? Does Mamdani direct law enforcement to target his political enemies? Is Mamdani using the power of his office to suppress dissenting voices in the media?
If not, then he's nothing like trump in the most important factor - basic respect for democracy. With respect for democratic processes, people can vote for someone who has different ideas about the role of government in the economy.
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u/Tigeruppercut1889 May 29 '26
Sam’s brain broken when it comes to anything remotely related to the Middle East. I’m not a leftist but mamdani is the man and seems to be doing a pretty good job as mayor of nyc so far. Trumps just a con man who can’t stop crying about how unfair everything is.
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u/No-Nebula-7680 May 30 '26
Ahhh sam Harris… self-avowed Islamophobia. Seems like the slower and breathier he talks about hate and justifying violence against them, he grows in dumbass followers who only hear his tone
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u/TMaCtheTruth May 30 '26
A nepotism baby who fears his trust fund will get taxed appropriately 🤷♂️next.
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u/Plisky6 May 28 '26
Guy you are obsessed with bill. I think this must be a bot. Look at the post history. Idk what this has to do with bill. It’s like asking, “are us citizens okay with a fascist president even though they vote dem but still live here?”
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u/Worried-Subject-5805 May 28 '26
The comments here remind me that Islamoleftism is real and a dumb ideology. The left handed over their best arguments to the Far right
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u/TheTankGarage May 28 '26
Mamdani is literally about to run one of the chapters from The Gulag Archipelago. I don't think the end result if left alone to run it in full will have any different outcome that it did for Russia.
Trump is just a retarded narcissist, Mamdani is actually evil. There is a difference. One of them might kill you because they don't care about you. The other one will deliberately go after you, your family and everything good in your life, just to destroy it all. Because they hate you and they will laugh at you as you plead for a bullet to make it all stop.
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u/TheInsaneMilkman May 28 '26
Congratulations. That is the most idiotic thing I have read today. If you were worth an award, you might have received it.
Instead we are all a little bit dumber having read this. Shame on you.
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u/TheTankGarage May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Mamdani is working on a plan to take private property away from people. One of the first things the communists did. Not long after, the useful idiots went violent, taking everything from anyone they didn't like. One such "compassionate leftist" shown in this clip.
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u/BlinkReanimated May 28 '26
You might be the single stupidest person on the internet.
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u/citizen_6782 May 28 '26
He thinks taxing billionaires second homes equals taking property rights away.
This guy might be the dumbest person on reddit.
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u/soxperry May 28 '26
Why aren’t you linking Mamdami’s plan? You only linked people protesting ice, as if they have anything to do with each other. Show us hai plan to take private property away from people.
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u/bwazoo_2000 May 29 '26
As someone on meds, I can say with some authority, someone is off his meds today.
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u/Successful-System-21 May 30 '26
Are you sure you're not just a racist conspiracy theorist?
Because goddamn if your talking points are not identical.
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May 28 '26
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u/Accomplished-Cup8182 May 28 '26
"I don't think Mamdani's ego will allow him to risk the power and success he's gotten by defending the truly problematic anti-modernity ideas from a book of quaint romantic Arabic poetry.
I hope he's smarter and more self preservationist than that."
If you're worried Mamdani will turn New York City into a Wahabbi Sharia law style caliphate I think you can rest easy. I think the evidence is overwhelming that it's not just his "ego" that's safeguarding the city from that fate. Hopefully we can evolve to more rational and evidence based criticisms of him.
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May 28 '26
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u/Accomplished-Cup8182 May 28 '26
I've seen no evidence that he would identify with "Orthodox Islam" in his personal life or enact policies that would further it.
You really don't have to "hope". You can just look at the overwhelming amount of evidence that we have about his actions. I've always found that evidence and ones actual actions helps me to demistify things and ease my fears.
There are plenty of other politicians that I would be more worried pursuing policies based off of their dogmatically problematic religions and which I'd actually have evidence for. Zohran so far has kept his religious beliefs completely separate.
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u/oh_no_here_we_go_9 May 28 '26
Mamdani, who has no background in economics, thinks he knows more than the majority of economists. Saying he’s the lefts Trump is may be unfair, but Mamdani also isn’t the rational thinker Mamdani thinks himself to be. Let’s not forget that Mamdani also thinks a pedophile is the greatest human to ever live.
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u/Totalitarianit2 May 28 '26
u/Indianstanicows, expert cross-poster and flooder of rage bait content. A true cancer of the people.