Here's A Wild Thought

Nick Rafter

One man's commentary on politics, culture and society nickrafter.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Here's A Wild Though Ep 9: Democrats Got Snared In A NIMBY Trap They Set

    03/10/2025

    Here's A Wild Though Ep 9: Democrats Got Snared In A NIMBY Trap They Set

    This weekend, New York Times reporter Ezra Klein published an op-ed video identifying one of the significant problems Democrats face nationwide—their reputation for being unable to effectively govern the parts of the country where they have control, the “blue states.” He points to housing and infrastructure as the top issues and the inability of blue states to build infrastructure on time and at cost and manage the housing and affordability crisis. Klein details issues like environmental views and regulations aimed at protecting or empowering poor communities and communities of color and how they lead to delays, cost overruns, or nothing being built. There has been a lot of discussion about why cities like my own, New York, can’t or won’t build housing. The truth is we don’t build housing because nobody wants it, and in a democracy, when there’s a consensus among the public, the government follows. Liberals don’t want to build housing, and conservatives don’t want to build housing. They each have their own “don’t build housing” solutions to the crisis, which they explore but go nowhere with. The right wants to end rent control or deport immigrants to reduce demand and increase supply. The Left wants to build only social housing to take power away from landlords whom they claim, without much concrete evidence, are artificially reducing supply to keep prices up (No one asks why they only do this here and not in, say, Texas, where this isn’t an issue). In this video, I explore the ugly truth about our inability to build infrastructure and housing and why we were able to last century. I also detail why places like New York City are so bad at building housing and why there is probably no democratic answer to this problem. It will have to be done despite not having the general public's support. Take a look. Nick Rafter Writes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Nick Rafter Writes at nickrafter.substack.com/subscribe

    29 min
  2. Here's A Wild Though Episode 7: The NYC Media's War On Transit Policy

    01/10/2025

    Here's A Wild Though Episode 7: The NYC Media's War On Transit Policy

    Congestion pricing is in effect in New York City, and no one in the city is more upset about it than the New York City media industrial complex led by the lead s**t-stirrer, the New York Post. In this episode, I discuss the media’s long history of fighting progressive transit policies and my role as a foot soldier of the press in biased fights against policies like bus lanes on Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens. I explain why progressives need to be ready for the hurdles ahead if they hope to keep the policy from being repealed by a future Republican governor and why I doubt progressives understand what they’re up against. DON’T MISS: My former colleague Ross Barkan, on the power of The New York Post, echoed similar points that I made last spring. He expands on it, diving deeper into how other media outlets allowed the Post to become the dominant voice in town. My good friend Dhaaruni Sreenivas joined the Brogressive Podcast with Max Levin and Ben Bartlett to discuss her role as a delegate in the DNC chair race. She made some interesting points about gender politics and how men who feel isolated from women due to #MeToo can, well, get over it.  Matt Yglesias hosts Cartoons Hate Her, who offers a reality check to Gen Z about a heralded time before they were born and asks something I’ve been asking myself recently as I have developed some nostalgia for my childhood. Were the 1990s really that great? Get full access to Nick Rafter Writes at nickrafter.substack.com/subscribe

    25 min
  3. Here's A Wild Though: On Replacing Biden

    07/17/2024

    Here's A Wild Though: On Replacing Biden

    Fun Fact: I was in the middle of recording this video when a gunman opened fire on former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. I saw the news immediately after I finished recording. Since that event knocked the topic of whether Biden should stay on as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee this year off the front pages, I considered just deleting this video essay. However, Rep. Adam Schiff of California made the topic newsworthy again today, and now is a better time than ever to share my thoughts on whether Democrats are better off replacing Biden and, if they are, why the nominee should be Vice President Kamala Harris. Having spoken to a number of Democrats who are aware of what's going on behind the scenes about this in the last few weeks, it's clear there isn’t a consensus, for a multitude of reasons, on whether Biden should be swapped out with the vice president. This is a shame because it seems like an easy solution to the current problem. I go into detail about why in the video. Anyway, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe. After a few more episodes, these Here’s A Wild Though video essays will go behind a paywall, so if you enjoy them, consider a paid subscription. Nick Rafter Writes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Nick Rafter Writes at nickrafter.substack.com/subscribe

    30 min

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One man's commentary on politics, culture and society nickrafter.substack.com