Nihilism is the true, underlying force driving Mamdani's voters.

In philosophy, nihilism is the belief that life has no inherent meaning, value, or purpose.

It rejects objective truth, morality, and knowledge — and ultimately leads to despair.

No political movement better embodies this idea than the Mamdani vote.

For these voters, truth, morality, and even knowledge are meaningless. What remains is despair — the logical outcome of believing in nothing at all.

This is not just a philosophy; it’s a political posture born from rejecting truth itself.

That's why appealing to these voters is nearly impossible.

They don't just believe in nothing — they believe in the virtue of believing in nothing.

Gouverneur Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the man many credit as the author of the Constitution's preamble, once served as America's ambassador to France during the French Revolution.

Observing the chaos around him, he remarked that the French people "prefer lightning to light."

They valued the brief thrill of a lightning strike — its sudden energy, its spectacle — more than the steady illumination that true light brings.

But when lightning fades, it leaves only destruction behind – in France's case a "Reign of Terror."

So it is with nihilists.

They don't value light or knowledge; there's no point, since they believe nothing is worth learning. The flash itself — the noise, the energy, the spectacle — is all they seek.

That’s what Mamdani’s voters crave: the thrill of upheaval, the excitement of destruction.

These voters are not Marxists, Communists, or Jihadists in any coherent sense.

They are driven less by ideology than by frustration — by a kind of existential despair that finds satisfaction in tearing things down.

Destruction is exhilarating. Watching it unfold feels powerful, even "cool."

They don’t pursue consistency or principle. They want to watch the system burn — not to replace it, but simply to feel something.

How do you govern a city filled with such a mindset?

You don't.

You win the election, count the silver, and move on.

And when governing inevitably fails, how do you get re-elected?

By feeding the public's appetite for destruction through schadenfreude — a German term that describes the pleasure one feels at another’s misfortune.

Think of the crowd cheering as a gladiator kills his opponent in the arena.

That, Morris argues, is the essence of Mamdani's political appeal.

Donald Trump, Mamdani predicts, will fight him fiercely — and the resulting storm between them will give the public what the Romans once called "bread and circuses": spectacle and distraction.

Entertainment that feels thrilling precisely because, to nihilists, nothing truly matters.

So what if the subways don't run or the police lose control of the streets?

As poet Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote:

"My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!"

The flame burns bright — but only for a moment.

Dick Morris is a political strategist and author who has advised several U.S. presidents, governors, and mayors over a 40-year career. Read Dick Morris' Reports — here.