24 thoughts on “ZeroHedge: AOC Unveils Manifesto: “A Just Society” Means Rent Control, Abolish Prisons, Welfare For All Illegals”

  1. A chicken little piece.

    A teensey bit of Googling and we discover that “abolishing” prison is more about winding down our prison industry which now incarcerates more people than anyone else in the world and at a greater rate.

    Packed with mentally ill folks, those who had to plea bargain because they couldn’t afford a lawyer or even bail, non-violent petty offenders, etc.

    “Lastly, people tend to say ‘what do you do with all the violent people?’ as a defense for incarcerating millions. Our lawmaking process means we come to solutions together, & either way we should work to an end where our prison system is dramatically smaller than it is today.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/aoc-prison-abolition-incarceration-tweets

    As far as the rest of her plan such as adequate food, decent affordable housing, safe working conditions, healthcare, etc., are aspirational goals. For instance, there is no reason we should have so many homeless adults, and often their children. Or whole school districts where the children’s meals come only at school.

    We can do better.

    It need not be a scary idea.

    The concept of a “just society” is not new. John Mills wrote about it in 1861.

    IMHO

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    1. RE: “The concept of a ‘just society’ is not new. John Mills wrote about it in 1861.”

      The words are the same, but the concepts are different.

      Mills proposed that pursuing the “greatest good for the greatest number” is the ultimate goal of society, but he argued at great length that liberty (e.g., free markets and limited government) is necessary to achieve that goal. AOC proposes that we use expanded government to better distribute available goods to the greatest number of people. Mills would be horrified.

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      1. Poverty is not a necessary component of free markets. Nor is unattainable quality healthcare or education.

        Incentives to innovate and obtain wealth, even great wealth, does not require that a certain percentage of Americans have to sleep in cars, on the street or in shelters.

        Nor does competitiveness in the global economy depend upon a segment of our citizens having to choose between life saving drugs and home heating.

        IMHO

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        1. All of that may be true (although I don’t think so), but Mills would have argued that free markets and liberty solve those problems over time.

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          1. “All of that may be true (although I don’t think so)…”

            Fascinating. Are you really saying that free markets require poverty, even extreme poverty?

            There are a few nations that seem to have solved that conundrum. And they are certainly successful competitors as capitalist economies. Economies that make it easier for startups than here.

            The usual suspects are Scandinavian, of course.

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  2. For all the right’s veneration of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps, they sure spend a lot of time harping on the fact that AOC was a bartender before becoming a congresswoman. A woman of color studies hard, goes to school, takes the job that’s available to her. She is unhappy with society so, rather than “complain” about it, she runs for congress and becomes the youngest congresswoman ever elected. I get that you don’t like her politics, but she personally embodies everything the right claims to hold dear. You’d think there would be some begrudging respect there, but alas . . .

    “‘The Embrace Act’ would allow illegal immigrants to claim the same welfare benefits as U.S. citizens and those immigrants here legally.”

    Hang on. One of the right’s main hysterical immigration talking points is that people are streaming across the border to get on “welfare.” I guess now they get to be upset because the thing they’ve been lying about for decades may actually happen.

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    1. RE: “she personally embodies everything the right claims to hold dear.”

      Everything, perhaps, except clear thinking and the wisdom that comes from experience.

      AOC reminds me of Barack Obama: An obviously intelligent person who, nevertheless, isn’t smart enough to grasp the stupidity of his own ideas.

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      1. Just because some haven’t internalized the zeitgeist to the same extent you have doesn’t make them stupid.

        The ability to faithfully parrot the talking points of the ruling class is a measure of servility, not intelligence.

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      2. RE: “Just because some haven’t internalized the zeitgeist to the same extent you have doesn’t make them stupid.”

        There are valid weltanschauungs, and invalid weltanschauungs. AOC and Obama epitomize the latter.

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          2. Okay, fine. I don’t particularly care about Obama (whose worldview turned out to be not appreciably different from most Republicans’), but how do you support your contention that AOC’s worldview is invalid?

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          3. RE: “how do you support your contention that AOC’s worldview is invalid?”

            Both AOC and Obama are Marxists, although AOC might prefer a different description, such as “social justice advocate.” I contend that the Marxist worldview is invalid.

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          6. RE: “Show your work…Actually, don’t.”

            It’s easy to explain, but suit yourself.

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          1. RE: “How does that compute in layman’s terms?”

            That Obama and AOC are both Marxists seems self-evident to me; Obama by self-admission, AOC by her focus on “social justice.” I have learned, however that many people who suscribe to Marxist ideas but don’t know them to be Marxist in origin have difficulty seeing the connection. As a result, I don’t know how to answer you in a useful way.

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      3. Which of Obama’s ideas merit being called “stupidity?”

        And that observation is particularly laughable coming from an uncritical follower of President “Stable Genius”

        Your last sentence applies to you own good self to an uncanny degree.

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        1. RE: “Which of Obama’s ideas merit being called ‘stupidity?'”

          “You didn’t build that” is one.

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          1. Geez, that out-of-context baloney has been addressed and refuted so many times yet it is still fodder for the right wing echo chamber.

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          2. THAT is what comes to mind? Really? You seem to enjoy making a fool of yourself since this one has been debunked hundreds of times.

            It does, however, provide a good example of just how effective the lying liars of right wing media are at fooling those eager to be fooled and who are apparently unable or unwilling to think for themselves.

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  3. The fear of AOC is strong in this one. That is the great plan of the far right: Attack the plan and sow fear among the electorate because of who put it out there. This is actually proof that the Dems are trying to legislate, while the GOP is working their collective fannies off to protect a questionable at best POTUS. Instead of just poo-pooing the ideas, why not attempt to work with her to make it workable? Can’t do that because AOC is the Great Satan of the Left.

    Plans that give people a chance to better their lives is all of a sudden a bad idea? The forgotten remain forgotten by this President and his enablers in Congress.

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