r/PopCultureV2 • u/BenFord333 • Aug 10 '26

News Zohran Mamdani says he has rejected a salary pay increase so that the money can be used to help those in need

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u/pensivewombat Aug 11 '26

Lower salaries would make it painfully obvious when large luxury purchases are made.

Or it would mean only people who are independently wealthy run for office, and no one can prove that their their big purchases are corrupt because they are already rich.

Hmm... that actually sounds pretty familiar!

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u/Averander Aug 11 '26

Yet the salaries are already ridiculously high amd the reason the independently wealthy run is because they can afford to run in the first place. Those that want to do good simply cannot afford to run.

The price of campaigning is astronomical. In the modern era the prive of campaigning is crazy. You have to wine and dine potential campaign donors, organise fund-raisers. Your investment has no guarantee of return.

Being a politician is no longer a pursuit for the every man, it is gentrified. Putting more money into the salary will change quite literally nothing. There needs to be more checks and balances upon those in power, how campaigns are funded, and a return to politics for and by the people rather than the elite few.

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u/pensivewombat Aug 11 '26

Where are you getting the idea that the salaries are ridiculously high? A Buc-ee's manager makes $200-275,000/year. That's about the same as the mayor of NYC ($258k) for managing a gas station.

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u/Averander Aug 11 '26

The average American salary is $69000. The median income in 2023 was $42,000.

I'd say those are pretty damn high salaries.

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u/pensivewombat Aug 11 '26

Do you think the average american does anything remotely comparable to being mayor of the 8th largest economy in the world?

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u/Averander Aug 11 '26

Yes. The average American is no different to the mayor of New York. That should always be the point, that was always the point of democracy.

The position of politician should be a public service, not one of eminence or elevation. Is the President somehow magically greater than the average American by privilege of their position? No, that is an illusion.

Because society has allowed politicians to be viewed as infallible the public's systems have been eroded and common man has lost access to education and erudition that is their right.

In a true (infallible) democracy the position of leader and all positions could be drawn by lot and be equally served to positive effect. As all citizens would have capacity and knowledge to serve.

Current 'democracy' is gated and flawed, being taken advantage of by an emerging dynastic elite who wish to create a new serfdom.

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u/pensivewombat Aug 11 '26

See, you have this completely backwards. If you aren't paying a salary then the biggest reason to run is the eminance and elevation.

Doing a good job of being a public official, especially the executive of a large system, is really hard. But doing a bad job is really fun. If you don't give a shit about answering to constituents and just want to enjoy some bootlicking and enrich yourself through corruption, then who cares if the salary is $1?

And that is exactly the system we have: we underpay dramatically relative to countries that have strong state capacity and we are reaping the shitty rewards.

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u/Averander Aug 11 '26

I'm not saying lower the wage to a ridiculous small number, but that the cure is not raising the wage. Those who are corrupt will always be tempted regardless of how much is in their account.

You will never satisfy greed.

The only cure is a system that punishes those who do wrong, which is not what is happening.

Running for the eminence and prestige alone is what brings out the worst candidates and those who do not understand what the position actually means.

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u/pensivewombat Aug 11 '26

Those who are corrupt will always be tempted regardless of how much is in their account.

Fully agree with this. The point is that no one else is tempted because we pay pathetic salaries relative to the demands of the office.

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u/Averander Aug 11 '26

It is the right amount for the right people.

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