> This is the state of affairs in almost every city where “progressives” have a large impact on local politics. Progressives claim to support government spending programs, but also have an anarchistic, anti-governmental attitude that can be seen in their support for policies like police abolition in 2020. Although progressives want the government to fund public programs, their opposition to centralized state power means they often don’t want the government to run the programs being funded.

This article is comingling vastly different political ideologies. Very few anarchists would have any interest in engaging the political system to solve problems, since most anarchists believe the political system is one of the systems originating the problems society faces today.

There is an alignment between anarchists, socialists, leftists, progressives, and even some liberals (very few!) in police abolitionism, but only because the police are so wildly out of control in the USA that it's easy to align along the general idea of "starting over." And even then, liberals seem to be performative in this support - as soon as students started protesting genocide against Palestinians, liberals predictably started asking why the police aren't out there brutalizing these "student terrorists." Anti-houseless spikes painted with a rainbow flag.

> Although progressives want the government to fund public programs, their opposition to centralized state power means they often don’t want the government to run the programs being funded.

In my opinion a total mischaracterization. Leftists and DSA types absolutely support centralized state power and socialization / nationalization - go read their takes on public transit and public housing. This whole article is describing neoliberal politicians allowing capitalists to do capitalism however they please, which is in line with neoliberal ideology. San Francisco is the best example of the failure of neoliberal ideology, and just because it's a city full of dirty anarchists doesn't mean said dirty anarchists have any political power - SF is politically neoliberal through and through.

> What is taking place in America’s most performatively socialist urban areas is that taxes are constantly raised in order to fund public services

I don't understand where the author gets the idea that American urban areas are "performatively socialist" from a politician standpoint. American politicians in every city are famously, painfully neoliberal. Eric Adams mischaracterizing and verbally attacking peaceful protesters. London Breed called the cops on a homeless guy she saw laying on a bench. Ted Wheeler pathetically tried to co-opt Black Lives Matter protests before being roundly rejected and then sending the cops to brutalize peaceful protesters. American urban politicians are not socialist nor are they performatively so.

> where “socialists” privatize government services at every opportunity;

I just don't see this happening. I see neoliberal Democrats doing this, but never avowed socialists. Happy to be corrected. So far as I know even SF has only ever had one avowed socialist politician, Chesa Boudin, and as soon as he was elected every politician in the city banded together to tank his career. Never has such as microscope been pointed at a District Attorney, with predictable results. Everyone was happy to take a potshot and cash in on the socialist under whom violent crime was dropping and who was prosecuting an "unusually high" volume of cases.

At least the author isn't leaning into the privatization and pointing out the obvious issues this is causing. I would be interested in seeing an analysis on how leftist ideology offering actual solutions is being co-opted by neoliberals serving the same cause as the reactionaries they run against every election.