Despite relentless efforts—from propaganda and wars to political and character assassination of socialism and its leaders—the rise of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is sending shockwaves through the heart of Yankee imperialism and the racialized capitalist society of the United States. In the battleground of New York’s mayoral elections, Mr. Mamdani—son of immigrant parents, the internationally acclaimed Professor Mahmood Mamdani and celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair—is offering a genuine alternative for working people in American politics. His family stands as a model of organic and secular multiculturalism, but his politics—centered on redistributing public wealth for public welfare—pose a direct threat to the entrenched power and privileges of American crony capitalism. To the governing elite, his vision of change is nothing short of anathema. So, the hateful and racially charged outbursts from segments of the American leadership across the political aisle.
The reactionary political leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties is actively working to undermine Mr. Zohran Mamdani’s alternative politics by vilifying his race, ethnicity, family background, and even his food habits. Mr Brandon Gene Gill—an investment banker, Republican Party leader, and U.S. Representative for Texas’s 26th congressional district since 2025—publicly told Mr. Mamdani to “adopt Western customs” or “go back to the Third World,” asserting that “civilised people in America don’t eat with their hands.” Many people are shocked with such reactionary views of mainstream political parties and their leadership. However, Congressman Gill’s views are neither isolated incidents nor harmless cultural stereotypes. Rather, they are products of a deeply rooted socialisation within a racist, capitalist society shaped by colonialist frameworks of “othering.” This kind of ignorant ideological project continues to influence politics and society in both America and Europe, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and marginalising diverse cultural expressions of diverse working people and their multicultural ethos and habits.
Racialised distinctions in dietary and eating practices are largely the product of colonial ethnography, shaped by reactionary European and American anthropologists. In reality, food culture is deeply rooted in local production, which is influenced by climate, economic situation, purchasing power and the social and cultural socialisation of individuals within their communities. Urban and rural food habits often differ, primarily due to disparities in food availability and accessibility, which are themselves shaped by income and local infrastructure. Food and eating practices are fundamentally shaped by a person’s socialisation, economic and environmental context, and access to food based on local production and other resources. For instance, it may be more practical to eat rice by hand or with a spoon, while pasta and noodles are more easily consumed with a fork. Pizza and burgers, meanwhile, are often enjoyed using one’s hands. These examples illustrate that it is both impractical and intellectually dishonest to universalise food habits based on race or nationality. To categorise eating with hands as “uncivilised” and eating with a knife and fork as “civilised” reflects a colonial mindset marinated in ignorance. Such framing is not only inaccurate—it is a deliberate attempt to belittle working-class people and people of colour. This ideological project serves to marginalise societies across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, reinforcing global hierarchies rooted in colonial prejudice.
However, the narratives of racialised capitalism are not unique to America and Europe. In India, the caste-based Brahminical social order also creates conditions of othering, particularly through the stigmatisation of lower-caste communities and their food practices. For example, widows and Dalits are often subjected to restrictive diets and dress codes imposed by Brahminical and patriarchal norms, reflecting a deep-rooted culture of caste and gender-based discrimination. These intersecting systems of race, caste, class and gender-based stereotyping serve a shared purpose: to uphold hierarchical structures of wealth and power and undermine working masses in the name of table manners. This logic is not confined to any country but resonates with the social realities of contemporary American and European societies, where hunger and homelessness amid abundance have been normalised. Such normalisation is actively sustained by political leaders whose ideological worldviews are shaped by colonial ignorance and maintained through structural inequality.
Colonial ignorance continues to shape the production of knowledge, influencing the political, social, and cultural outlook of reactionary politicians like Mr. Brandon Gene Gill. The Yankee imperialism of the United States—alongside its European collaborators—has consistently failed to offer a sustainable capitalist model that can guarantee basic human needs such as food, fuel, housing, healthcare, education, and employment. As a result, any argument advocating for a genuine political alternative is perceived as a threat to the privileges of the governing elite. These elites seek to mass-produce not only our food, but also our food habits and cultures, all in service of maximising capitalist profit. The domestication of food practices under capitalism reinforces the system’s control over both production and consumption. Through the global spread of homogenised consumption—embodied in the McDonaldisation and corporatisation of food culture—capitalist food corporations and their supermarket empires increase profits while eroding culinary diversity and cultural autonomy of production and consumption. In this system, food becomes less about nourishment or identity, and more about market efficiency and profit.
The socialist alternative promotes local production rooted in the cultural and ecological practices of communities. It embraces the diversity of production and consumption based on local needs, offering a sustainable economic model and food security that prioritises the well-being of all—especially farmers and agricultural workers. Such a system values diversity and democratisation in food production and consumption, challenging the homogenisation imposed by global capitalism. A socialist approach thus seeks to build an economy that is equitable, resilient, and centered on human and environmental welfare.
Bombing people, suppressing ideas, and silencing alternatives are the true signs of an uncivilised, racialised capitalist culture. In contrast, real civilisation lies in working for the people—for peace, progress, and the immediate and long-term emancipation of the working class. A truly civil society is one where equality, not hierarchy, shapes everyday life. Figures like Mr. Brandon Gene Gill do not need hatred, but education—an education rooted in social consciousness that allows for the discovery of the beauty and strength in socialist alternatives based on solidarity, share and care. These alternatives embrace the diversity of food habits and cultures, from American burgers to Chinese noodles, Indian rice, Latin American tacos, African yams and cassava, to Middle Eastern meats. Let taste buds, communities, and their cultures and individual consumers define their food habits—not Eurocentric, American ignorance. Only then can we move toward a world that values dignity, diversity, and justice over domination and profit. This can begin with the long march of New York’s mayoral candidate, Mr. Zohran Mamdani, and his victory in alternative politics. A socialist USA and a socialist world are both possible and inevitable.