Wow, I hardly recognized myself in the hyper-alarmist diatribe Kala’e Kong lobbed at Zohran Mamdani (“Mamdani represents existential threat,” Star-Advertiser, Raise Your Hand, Nov. 2).

When I lived, studied and worked in New York City, I trekked downtown monthly to attend DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) gatherings. The most “radical” discussions we had involved disagreements about the latest art house films we had seen. All grass-roots activists, we campaigned for planting more trees in heat-belts of the boroughs and testified and marched for living wages for municipal workers.

I have the feeling Mr. Kong is unaware of the principles that drive DSA. If he finds social justice, workers’ rights, diversity, affordable housing and mutual respect to be “communism,” I recommend he Google the difference.

The real existential threats to our people come from the degradation of public morality and the enrichment of the 1%.

Nancie Caraway
Manoa

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