Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez uses capitalism to fight…capitalism. The Representative, however, doesn’t get it. PJ Media reported AOC’s campaign investing an outrageous $1.4 million in political merchandise.
The merchandise includes t-shirts with the slogans “AOC,” “Tax the Rich,” and “Fight for our Future.” Creating a product and selling it for money? Smells like capitalism. It is unclear how much money her campaign makes from the merchandise, but “after this revelation, AOC struggled to explain how her use of the capitalist system to raise money does not dirty her hands in the muck of capitalism, or something” reports PJ Media.
When former White House press secretary and Newsmax host Sean Spicer stated AOC is “using capitalism to push socialism” her response was profoundly pathetic. AOC wrote on Twitter, “Not sure if you know this Sean, but transactions aren’t capitalism. Capitalism is a system that prioritizes profit at any & all human/enviro cost.”
Goodness, gracious someone please mandate economics classes for congress members. She continued, “but [for what it’s worth,] our shop is unionized, doesn’t operate for profit, & funds projects like free tutoring, food programs, & local organizing” she added.
PJ Media explains her flawed analysis:
While the profit motive does run capitalism, the free-market system allows businesses to dedicate their proceeds to things other than profit, as well.
Of course, AOC’s insistence that her merchandising store is not capitalist because it does not profit her ignores the fundamental point. Even if AOC’s merchandising is not geared toward profit at all, it is only possible in a free-market system. In fact, her merchandising store cashes in on consumerism, even if all its profit goes toward charitable causes.
In fact, the capitalistic system allows AOC to use the money she makes however she wishes. Unless she is a public company with shareholders (and she is not), she can use her proceeds to help others, to support unions, to invest in sustainability, or whatever.
Capitalism allows her to use her proceeds however she wants, and that’s just the way it should be.
