Last year an unknown millennial challenged a ten-term Democratic congressman in a Bronx/Queens congressional district. In ordinary times this would’ve been considered mission impossible. But we are not living in ordinary times given Donald Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency two years ago.
Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez easily defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley even though polls had her down by 50%. How did AOC pull off one of the greatest political upsets in modern political history? It doesn’t matter. She now has a national platform for her “vision” for America.
What is that vision? As outlined in Wikipedia,“Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee, guaranteed family leave, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, free public college and trade school, infrastructure projects for renewable energy, and a 70% marginal tax rate for incomes above $10 million,” among other collectivist ideas.
Thus, the second Karl Marx’s Collectivist award goes to AOC for her embrace of most of his 10 planks. AOC has not made any public pronouncements—yet–regarding all of the planks in Marx’s manifesto, but given her desire to have a “top down economy” – also known as trickle-down economics – with an elite in Washington DC “guiding” all the main sectors of the economy, she is the most committed Marxist ever elected to the House of Representatives.
So why is the media giving AOC so much attention? There is one of two reasons. One, they agree with all the nonsense she is spouting, thereby reflecting their economic illiteracy. Or, the media think she is so off the wall and therefore providing her an opportunity to show the world how ridiculous collectivism is. My guess is reason number one. Talk show hosts and journalists on mainstream media outlets have not been known to be the brightest bulbs in the room about economics. We thus can expect more AOC interviews in the future.
If MSM talk show hosts and interviewers want to do a credible job probing AOC’s ideas, they should read the following material—among dozens of others – that totally demolishes the case for collectivism and big government. AOC should read these essays and books as well. By touting more big government platitudes she will continue to make the best case against “democratic socialism”—an oxymoron if there ever was one.
Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson
Hazlitt’s Man vs The Welfare State
Rothbard’s What Has Government Done to Our Money?
Rothbard’s, Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy
Mises’s The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality
Chodorov’s The Income Tax: Root of All Evil?
Terrell’s Free Market Medical Care lecture
DiLorenzo’s The Problems With Socialism