Ocasio Cortez Quotes On Socialism

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) responded to President Trump denouncing socialism in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. In an appearance on MSNBC shortly after, Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez Accidentally Endorses Social Security Privatization, Minimum Wage Repeal, Corporate Tax Cuts Socialism: Newly minted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she isn't.

A viral meme mocks Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a statement about capitalism versus socialism that she never actually made.

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Since her victory in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District in the House, and in light of her November general election win, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has attracted no shortage of attention.

Sometimes that spotlight has arrived in the form of newscoverage; other times via viraldeceptions.

In the latest example of the latter, a mememadeviral on Facebook with the help of singer Ted Nugent and others falsely attributes a quote about economics to Ocasio-Cortez.

“Under capitalism, man oppresses man,” the quote reads. “Under socialism, it’s the other way around.”

Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, told FactCheck.org that the representative-elect had not said that.

Likewise, we could find no evidence Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, ever did. Instead, we came across references to that quote dating back years, well before the 29-year-old political newcomer entered the public eye.

At a 2013 Liberty Fund event, for example, the economist Russell Roberts of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution cited it in jest.

“My view of capitalism has always been that under capitalism, man oppresses man. But under socialism, it’s the other way around,” he said to laughter. “It’s not my line. I’m told it came from MAD Magazine. And to be honest, it’s not my view—but it does capture the reality that all political and economic systems are imperfect.”

Others have traced it, or some iteration of it, back to the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith.

In 2006, the Atlanticreported:

Another remark often attributed to Galbraith is, “Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.” If he didn’t say it, he might as well have. It has an authentically Galbraithian ring: It seems profound, and it’s funny. But it encapsulates perhaps the worst error that a student of economy and society could have made in the past century—the idea that, under the surface, those two systems are pretty much alike, not least ethically. The common man has no standing, no real power, in either case. The main difference resides in which small group of people is actually in charge. That is something that Galbraith certainly appeared to believe. It is a main theme of his writings. And it is a travesty of the truth.

Appearing on Twitter in recent weeks, as well, the misattributed quote has been shared thousands of times across social media. Nugent’s Facebook post of the meme alone garnered nearly 15,000 shares.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on the social media network.

Sources

“Capitalism, Government and the Good Society.” EconStories. YouTube.com. 4 Sep 2013.

Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Quotes On Socialism

Crook, Clive. “John Kenneth Galbraith, Revisited.” The Atlantic. May 2006.

Trent, Corbin. Spokesman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 14 Dec 2018.

Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said during an interview with Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson that she does not 'give a damn' if people call her a socialist.

'I believe in health care for all, I believe in education for all, I believe in housing as a human right, and then if people are going to call me a socialist for believing in those things, alright, call me a socialist; I don’t give a damn,' she told Mckesson.

Ms Ocasio Cortez

This is not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has commented on her level of identification with socialism. During an appearance on 'The View,' she struggled to differentiate between socialism and democratic socialism but was more adamant that there was a distinction. 'There's a huge difference between socialism and Democratic socialism,' she said before attempting to differentiate the two.

'Democratic socialism, and really what that boils down to me, is the basic belief that I believe that in a moral and wealthy America and a moral and modern America, no person should be too poor to live in this country,' she continued without specifically identifying the difference between democratic socialism and socialism.

Ocasio-Cortez defeated Rep. Joe Crowley, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a New York primary last month. Her defeat of Crowley was seen as a major upset, especially since the incumbent was viewed as a possible successor to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). The 28-year-old ran to Crowley's left, campaigning on free public college, abolishing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and a federal jobs guarantee.

Since her win, Ocasio-Cortez has been held up by some as an exemplar of what the Democratic Party should be, but some others on the left caution she has shown a 'lack of maturity.' Earlier this week, Margaret Hoover, host of PBS’s 'Firing Line,' pressed Ocasio-Cortez about what she meant by referring to an Israeli 'occupation.' 'I think what I meant is, like, the settlements that are increasing in these areas, where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes,' responded the candidate.

She added she is 'not the expert on geopolitics on this issue' and said she is 'a firm believer in finding a two-state solution on this issue.'

Ocasio-Cortez appeared to back off her 'firm' belief in a two-state solution only days after interviewing with Hoover. On Monday, she was asked by Democracy Now! if she was still for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Quotes On Socialism

'You know, I think this is a conversation that I'm engaging with with activists right now,' Ocasio-Cortez responded. 'Because this is a huge– especially over this weekend. This is a conversation that I'm sitting down with lots of activists in this movement on, and I'm looking forward to engaging in this conversation.'

Her relationship with Crowley also became tense last week after she accused him of mounting a third-party challenge to her candidacy, a claim he vehemently denies.