AOC: Capitalism not ‘a redeemable system,’ wants Marxism to replace it

When New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) joined Influencers with Andy Serwer last year, she shared her thoughts on why capitalism was no longer a “redeemable” system in America and why it should be replaced with Marxism to provide “a more just economy.”

A video of the interview and the partial transcript of AOC’s words I share below were posted by Yahoo! Finance:

“So, to me, capitalism at its core, what we’re talking about when we talk about that, is the absolute pursuit of profit at all human, environmental, and social cost. That is what we’re really discussing.

“[Capitalists] can control our labor. They can control massive markets that they dictate and can capture governments. And they can essentially have power over the many. And to me that is not a redeemable system for us to be able to participate in for the prosperity and peace for the vast majority of people.” (emphasis mine)

Though avoiding the use of the word “Marxism,” AOC proceeded to make a few suggestions on how it would be a better system than capitalism:

“I think at the end of the day, it is about who has control over the very core assets of production and society.

“Where we can transition to and there are certain ideas where we’re talking about — for example, Elizabeth Warren has discussed workers being elected to the governing boards of companies. And also, we’re here in the Bronx. I represent a community that has the largest concentration of worker cooperatives in, you know, one of the largest concentrations in the world.

“These are alternative ways of doing business. Free markets are not the same thing as capitalism. And you can have markets where businesses and ways of producing, trading, selling goods are really controlled and not just controlled but giving more power to workers. People get a fair shake. Union jobs, unionized workplaces, all of these are different steps and levels that we’re talking about in a more just economy.” (emphasis mine)

Karl Marx said it this way:

“Unlimited exploitation of cheap labour-power is the sole foundation of [the capitalists’] power to compete.” ~ Karl Marx, Das Kapital (1867)

“Capitalist production, therefore, only develops the techniques and the degree of combination of the social process of production by simultaneously undermining the original sources of all wealth – the soil and the worker.” ~ Karl Marx, Volume 1 of Capital

I’ve written many articles about the growing acceptance of Marxism and socialism within the Democrat Party and how it has moved Democrats, and even some Republicans, further left than we ever thought possible as they openly advocate the destruction of capitalism and the promotion of the ideology of Karl Marx.

As one of the leading voices in this devolution toward tyranny, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) — a card-carrying member of “the largest socialist organization” in the U.S. (Democrat Socialists of America) — is often front and center when it comes to the topics of Marxism and socialism. And while her antics make AOC an easy target for so-called conservatives, I believe she could be a leader many are ready and willing to follow.

One of AOC’s groupies is none other than Nancy Pelosi, who also believes in Marxism over capitalism.

In remarks made during an appearance at the virtually held Moderated Conversation at Chatham House in September 2021, Pelosi tapped into her inner Karl Marx and declared that it was time to “improve” capitalism because “it has not served our economy well.”

Using words that could have been written by AOC herself, Pelosi said:

“You cannot have a system where the success of some springs from the exploitation of the workers and springs from the exploitation of the environment and the rest, and we have to correct that.”

Pelosi was instrumental in the 2021 passage of Joe Biden’s Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act in the House. The PRO Act is a pro-union/anti-liberty law allegedly designed to provide protections for workers who want to join a union. The bill stalled in Congress at the time but has been recently reintroduced.

If it becomes law, it will destroy the jobs and livelihoods of tens of millions of people who work for themselves by creating a new Marxist proletariat.

Under Marxism, the proletariat signifies the class of workers who are engaged in industrial production and whose chief source of income is derived from the sale of their labor power. Marxism holds the belief that the proletariat has been exploited under capitalism, forced to sub-standard wages from the business owners who control the means of production (the bourgeoisie).

The ultimate goal of Marxists is for the proletariat to unite and seize power from evil capitalists and create a communist society free of class distinctions — a goal obviously shared by AOC, Pelosi, and a growing number of Democrats, but also by a growing number of Republicans.

For example, the PRO Act of 2021 had three Republican co-sponsors: “Former Democrat” Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Chris Smith (NJ), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA). They, along with John Katko (NY) and Don Young (AK) voted to pass the bill.

The influence of Marxism within the Republican Party was also prominent ever since Donald Trump rebranded the GOP by replacing conservatism with nationalism.

During the 2016 presidential primaries, Trump’s embrace of Marxism was obvious when he was asked what changes he would bring to the Republican Party if elected president. Using talking points that could have come from AOC or Bernie Sanders, Trump replied:

“Five, 10 years from now — different party. You’re going to have a workers party. A party of people that [sic] haven’t had a real wage increase in 18 years, that are angry.” (emphasis mine)

In other words, Donald Trump believed at the time that one of the keys to making America great again was to create a dictatorship of the proletariat, thus giving America a new Workers Party of America with an “R” attached.

And here’s a fun fact: Before he was a fake conservative, Donald Trump was a real liberal who proposed a wealth tax when he was seeking the Reform Party nomination in 2000. His plan would have imposed a “net worth tax” on individuals and trusts worth $10 million or more to “pay off the national debt.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez believes America needs to destroy capitalism and replace it with Marxism because only Karl Marx’s “power to the worker” ideology can provide “a more just economy.” And while it’s tempting to dismiss AOC’s views as “too extreme” to stand any chance of success, I think doing so is a mistake of epic proportions.

 

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David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.

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