Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[lpetrich]

Nicholas Kristof on Twitter: "We're tortured with bootstraps! The up-by-bootstraps narrative actually impairs upward mobility by substituting sanctimony for assistance. Fox News and others savaged @aoc for saying that bootstrapping is a fallacy, but she was right. My new column: https://t.co/8tLPWm1I8m" / Twitter

Opinion | Pull Yourself Up by Bootstraps? Go Ahead, Try It - The New York Times

Showing a cartoon of a lifeguard saying to someone drowning "If I toss it to you, you'll become dependent on it..."

Back in the 1800s, the expression “pull oneself up by the bootstraps” meant the opposite of what it does now. Then it was used mockingly to describe an impossible act.

An 1834 publication ridiculed a claim to have built a perpetual-motion machine by saying that the inventor might next heave himself over a river “by the straps of his boots.” An 1840 citation scoffs that something is “as gross an absurdity as he who attempts to raise himself over a fence by the straps of his boots.”

Yet this phrase has become part of America’s mythology and the centerpiece of our approach to help those left behind: We harangue them to lift themselves up by the bootstraps. When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this month dismissed bootstrapping at a congressional hearing as “physically impossible,” outrage reverberated across the conservative media world.

Complete with their whining "I didn't get any help." Some of them even used AOC herself as an example. But she recognizes that her success is not exclusively hers.

 

[Trausti]

Nicholas Kristof on Twitter: "We're tortured with bootstraps! The up-by-bootstraps narrative actually impairs upward mobility by substituting sanctimony for assistance. Fox News and others savaged @aoc for saying that bootstrapping is a fallacy, but she was right. My new column: https://t.co/8tLPWm1I8m" / Twitter

Opinion | Pull Yourself Up by Bootstraps? Go Ahead, Try It - The New York Times

Showing a cartoon of a lifeguard saying to someone drowning "If I toss it to you, you'll become dependent on it..."

Back in the 1800s, the expression “pull oneself up by the bootstraps” meant the opposite of what it does now. Then it was used mockingly to describe an impossible act.

An 1834 publication ridiculed a claim to have built a perpetual-motion machine by saying that the inventor might next heave himself over a river “by the straps of his boots.” An 1840 citation scoffs that something is “as gross an absurdity as he who attempts to raise himself over a fence by the straps of his boots.”

Yet this phrase has become part of America’s mythology and the centerpiece of our approach to help those left behind: We harangue them to lift themselves up by the bootstraps. When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this month dismissed bootstrapping at a congressional hearing as “physically impossible,” outrage reverberated across the conservative media world.

Complete with their whining "I didn't get any help." Some of them even used AOC herself as an example. But she recognizes that her success is not exclusively hers.

One of the worse shit things to tell people is that they can do no better. But hard work and determination - and intelligence - matter an awful lot. Blaming others for your failure is the road to ruin. Getting up and pulling yourself up after failure is one of the best lessons in life.

 

[Derec]

In a time when ~60% of American workers make less than $40,000 a year, billionaires should not exist.

Should not exist?

Also, where does she get her stats?

Also, billionaires don’t have a billion dollars because they “work” thousands of times harder than the teacher or the single mom.
They are billionaires because the stock market makes that money for them, which relies on profiteering off insulin, low wages, scrapped jobs, etc.

Usually billionaires created businesses like Amazon or Berkshire Hathaway or Microsoft or Paypal/Tesla.
And having your money in the stock market is at a certain risk, as stocks can go down. As Jerry Seinfeld said ...

We need worker-centered policies that reign in Wall Street and value work - including a TON of unvalued and undervalued work, like caregiving.

Surgeons get paid a lot, home health aides get paid little in large part because they need far less skill and training. There is also far less chance that one slip of the hand will result in death or disability, so responsibility is far greater on the former.

The cost of system that concentrates a billion dollars in the hands of few powerful people is massive, devastating income inequality.

Expropriate Jeff Bezos and give all that money to bartenders and home health aides?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Yes, let’s talk about pensions - like how private equity groups load a ton of risk from unethical practices on the pensions of teachers, nurses, & public servants - so that when a bubble pops, it’s working people that are left holding the bag.

How about we convert defined benefit pensions to 401ks where everybody has a choice where to invest so you can't plain mustache-twirling "private equity groups" for the investment choices?

 

[lpetrich]

One of the worse shit things to tell people is that they can do no better. But hard work and determination - and intelligence - matter an awful lot. Blaming others for your failure is the road to ruin. Getting up and pulling yourself up after failure is one of the best lessons in life.

Trausti, I see that you have repudiated the strict genetic determinism that you have repeatedly claimed in past posts. What happened?

 

[Derec]

On the fourth day, they arrived at Standing Rock. It was dark when they got to camp. Somebody was playing the flute. Everybody made eye contact with them, and strangers gave them long hugs. It was the most intimate mass gathering that Alexandria and Maria had ever seen. They were given a tent and a wood-burning stove and zero-degree sleeping bags.

Wood-burning stoves are just about the dirtiest heat sources they could have used. Even more so when the wood is trucked from as far as Oregon. But no, fracked oil and gas is the problem.
And we have discussed the NoDAPL protests at length here. How they were misguided in the first place but that the protesting efforts actually did a lot of polluting (driving >1000 miles, some protesters even flew, wood burning, lot of waste was just dumped etc).

and the cell phone service was bad, which meant it was difficult for them to livestream from the camp itself.

The struggle is real. Especially if you are a Millennial.

When they got a signal, Alexandria and Maria told their viewers the camp was totally clean, even though nobody was in charge of trash.

Yeah, that was a lie.
Sanitation crews work to remove massive amounts of garbage from DAPL protest camp before spring thaw

 From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs - Karl Marx

There are no delicatessen at Standing Rock.

It's rather hard to do that in a broader society, it must be pointed out. This was a small-scale society that was united in its commitment to its cause.

Well it certainly helps when it's a relatively small voluntary association. But even there it didn't work out that well.

Alexandria’s journey to Standing Rock, she told me later, was the first time she realized just how much power was concentrated in the hands of fossil-fuel companies.

The power that is really concentrated in the hands of fossil-fuel companies is the power inherent in oil and gas. Gasoline her Subaru ran on. The diesel the truck that delivered food to her grocery store runs on. Natural has her apartment is heated with and that produces much of the electricity she uses.

 

[Derec]

Trausti, I see that you have repudiated the strict genetic determinism that you have repeatedly claimed in past posts. What happened?

I don't recall him advocating strict genetic determinism, although to deny strong influence of our genetics would be foolishness. And ideologically motivated foolishness, like  Lysenkoism in the Soviet Union.

 

[Mumbles]

Nicholas Kristof on Twitter: "We're tortured with bootstraps! The up-by-bootstraps narrative actually impairs upward mobility by substituting sanctimony for assistance. Fox News and others savaged @aoc for saying that bootstrapping is a fallacy, but she was right. My new column: https://t.co/8tLPWm1I8m" / Twitter

Opinion | Pull Yourself Up by Bootstraps? Go Ahead, Try It - The New York Times

Showing a cartoon of a lifeguard saying to someone drowning "If I toss it to you, you'll become dependent on it..."

Back in the 1800s, the expression “pull oneself up by the bootstraps” meant the opposite of what it does now. Then it was used mockingly to describe an impossible act.

An 1834 publication ridiculed a claim to have built a perpetual-motion machine by saying that the inventor might next heave himself over a river “by the straps of his boots.” An 1840 citation scoffs that something is “as gross an absurdity as he who attempts to raise himself over a fence by the straps of his boots.”

Yet this phrase has become part of America’s mythology and the centerpiece of our approach to help those left behind: We harangue them to lift themselves up by the bootstraps. When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this month dismissed bootstrapping at a congressional hearing as “physically impossible,” outrage reverberated across the conservative media world.

Complete with their whining "I didn't get any help." Some of them even used AOC herself as an example. But she recognizes that her success is not exclusively hers.

For reference, this is what she was referring to:

[YOUTUBE]XCrAWfczUtI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[lpetrich]

When they got a signal, Alexandria and Maria told their viewers the camp was totally clean, even though nobody was in charge of trash.

Yeah, that was a lie.
Sanitation crews work to remove massive amounts of garbage from DAPL protest camp before spring thaw

Seems like the camp people had garbage-dump areas and that they weren't litterbugs.

Alexandria’s journey to Standing Rock, she told me later, was the first time she realized just how much power was concentrated in the hands of fossil-fuel companies.

The power that is really concentrated in the hands of fossil-fuel companies is the power inherent in oil and gas. Gasoline her Subaru ran on. The diesel the truck that delivered food to her grocery store runs on. Natural has her apartment is heated with and that produces much of the electricity she uses.

Meaning that crony capitalism is OK if it involves fossil-fuel companies.

@syndicalish • Instagram photos and videos - has a bit of video of a recent AOC town hall. Also has:

@syndicalish on Instagram: “these colors make me hungry #sanjuan . . . . . . . #color #photography #cityphotography #town #architecture #prism #rainbow #vibrant #puertorico #buildings #vacanza #vacaciones #vacation #여행 #여행스타그램 #푸에르토리코 #travel #traveler #travels #adventure #wander #wanderlust #viejosanjuan #edificios #colores #linda #hermosa #arcoiris” - Puerto Rican buildings painted in lots of bright colors. Very unusual by US standards.

MISS DIABETES on Instagram: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was on The View, and brought attention to the insulin affordability crisis happening in the States - “You’re losing your husband, because he couldn’t afford insulin, because Big Pharma cares about profits more than people, as Capitalism at its finest, does not work for us.” Access to Insulin is a human right. Access to affordable healthcare is a human right.
@aoc has endorsed @berniesanders for President. They care about people, and they have the guts to take on the Pharmaceutical Industry. Imagine no more insulin rationing, no more diabetics dying because they can’t afford insulin, no more worrying about how to afford life-saving medication. What a great world that would be!
#missdiabetes #diabetes #type1diabetes #diabetes #diabadass #insulin #berniesanders #aoc #alexandriaocasiocortez #t1d #insulin #insulin4all #t2d #diabetesawareness #diabetes #t1dlookslikeme #diabetestipo1 #diabetestipo2 #diabeteswarrior #autoimmunedisease #bloodsugar #bernie2020 #webcomic #type1diabetic #illustration #politicalcartoons #comics”

 

[angelo]

Were it not for the fossil fuel companies, even going back centuries, mankind would still be etching out a living as a hunter gatherers'.

 

[Jarhyn]

Were it not for the fossil fuel companies, even going back centuries, mankind would still be etching out a living as a hunter gatherers'.

And that was the day that I blocked Angelo for being a parody account. Good way to jump the shark. You finally stepped to the far side of Poe's law.

 

[Patooka]

Were it not for the fossil fuel companies, even going back centuries, mankind would still be etching out a living as a hunter gatherers'.

I've changed my mind. Please go back to parroting other people's opinion from extremist websites instead of forming your own. They were terrible opinions but at least there was some cognizant awareness involved in them.

 

[Jarhyn]

Were it not for the fossil fuel companies, even going back centuries, mankind would still be etching out a living as a hunter gatherers'.

I've changed my mind. Please go back to parroting other people's opinion from extremist websites instead of forming your own. They were terrible opinions but at least there was some cognizant awareness involved in them.

This quote has me convinced at this point that Angelo cannot possibly be serious about their positions and that all these years, they've just been posting positions to see how ridiculous of a position they could get us to believe they believed. There is absolutely NO way that they believe this. That anyone could actually believe that. Well, anyone who also happens to be literate.

 

[Patooka]

Were it not for the fossil fuel companies, even going back centuries, mankind would still be etching out a living as a hunter gatherers'.

I've changed my mind. Please go back to parroting other people's opinion from extremist websites instead of forming your own. They were terrible opinions but at least there was some cognizant awareness involved in them.

This quote has me convinced at this point that Angelo cannot possibly be serious about their positions and that all these years, they've just been posting positions to see how ridiculous of a position they could get us to believe they believed. There is absolutely NO way that they believe this. That anyone could actually believe that. Well, anyone who also happens to be literate.

It's pretty plausible. Look at how much difficulty angelo has in explaining why AOC is a fringe socialist, yet the relative ease he has in labeling her as one. If someone else is doing your thinking for you, and you believe your side/tribe/group whatever is winning, self awareness isn't required. Plenty of examples of this throughout history.

 

[Jarhyn]

This quote has me convinced at this point that Angelo cannot possibly be serious about their positions and that all these years, they've just been posting positions to see how ridiculous of a position they could get us to believe they believed. There is absolutely NO way that they believe this. That anyone could actually believe that. Well, anyone who also happens to be literate.

It's pretty plausible. Look at how much difficulty angelo has in explaining why AOC is a fringe socialist, yet the relative ease he has in labeling her as one. If someone else is doing your thinking for you, and you believe your side/tribe/group whatever is winning, self awareness isn't required. Plenty of examples of this throughout history.

No, it makes perfect sense if you can accept that they don't actually believe AOC is a fringe socialist. I mean, it's hard to argue a position that has no evidence whether or not you believe it, but if you don't really believe it, you will definitely have a hard time finding evidence.

I could, tomorrow, start arguing as Angelo does. I mean, I mostly respect most of the people here, so I won't... but I could.

I wouldn't say someone else is doing their thinking. More, I think their thinking is wrapped up in a fundie virtual machine. As to what the hypervisor to that VM looks like, I couldn't tell. But he has to me jumped the shark.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Yep! I rent, borrow, and thrift my clothes. (It’s also environmentally sustainable!)
The Post is just mad that you can look good fighting for working families.
Sequins are a great accessory to universal healthcare, don’t you agree? https://t.co/xdQ65lbpXe" / Twitter
noting
New York Post on Twitter: "AOC wears luxe designer dress on 'The View' [url]https://t.co/27pNA23Yet https://t.co/xk256WI00Y" / Twitter[/url]
noting
AOC wears luxe designer dress on 'The View'
"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic socialite!"

Erica Nurnberg on Twitter: "Don't you love it when an avowed SOCIALIST wears $580 dresses from Rickie Freeman? I mean, who doesn't need a sequin leopard dress to be an effective Congresswoman? https://t.co/q8TEzxSSn1" / Twitter
That was a shirt rather than a dress - there's a clip of her walking onto the stage showing her wearing black pants.


Joshua 4 Congress on Twitter: "@AOC If you wear nice clothes, they complain. If you don't wear nice clothes, they complain. It's almost like they just want to complain." / Twitter

Might as Well be Sully on Twitter: "@AOC Everyone on that panel was a millionaire but you walked on, as someone who was working for tips a year ago & made them look like they just left a Long Island swap meet.
Only thing more attractive than you in that picture is your principles. Thank you for being our public voice" / Twitter

Two years ago, but the principle is correct.

Steven Dillon on Twitter: "@AOC That’s great @AOC Rent Borrow Or Second hand clothing can look great I know that @TYT host @AnaKasparian is big on this also. Good for the enviroment!" / Twitter

Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "@dilbyrocks @AOC @TYT Yes! I love it." / Twitter


SportsGirl on Twitter: "@AOC My daughter turned me into a thrift shopper, and for a time she even worked at Goodwill. You go, @AOC! PS The Post and its tabloid headlines attacking my transition cost me my career after I came out, so F them!" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram: “Love at first kick . Hanging out with @cabanforqueens & State Sen @__jessicaramos__ tonight in Queens after our Corona Census organizing meetup! . : [MENTION=990]CO[/MENTION]reytorpiephotography”

Tiffany Cabán (@cabanforqueens) • Instagram photos and videos - public defender and would-be Queens district attorney
Jessica Ramos (@__jessicaramos__) • Instagram photos and videos - New York State Senator, District 13

Jessica Ramos on Instagram: “We need to make sure every single neighbor in Queens gets counted in #Census2020. Thanks to @RepAOC, @CatalinaCruzNY & all the folks who came to learn how to #GetOutTheCount!” - to insure that New York City is not undercounted.
Jessica Ramos on Instagram: “Corona chilling” - they are good friends

Corey Torpie Photography [MENTION=990]CO[/MENTION]reytorpiephotography) • Instagram photos and videos

Seems like if AOC doesn't get re-elected or decides to quit national politics, she can go into local or state politics or become an activist - join some activist organization or some policy shop. She won't have to be a bartender ever again, I'm sure. Except when she wants to tease right-wingers.

 

[lpetrich]

New York Post on Twitter: "Meatless advocate AOC seen eating meat in Facebook Live video [url]https://t.co/EdFZVFNAyV https://t.co/YWYV25y1AD" / Twitter[/url]
noting
Meatless advocate AOC eats meat in Facebook Live video

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chowed down on a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit, during a Facebook Live video from 2017 as she and her friends drove through the state of Wisconsin.

AOC, called the hearty sandwich a “palate cleanser” after taking a bite of a decidedly less-appetizing Wisconsin cheese curd.

“I’ve got a breakfast sandwich for my real food,” AOC exclaims in relief. Ocasio-Cortez was joined in the car by friends Maria Swisher and Joshua Pereira.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Yesterday I visited a school assembly w/ teens in Queens.
One of them asked, “What can WE do to combat climate change?”
2 recs:
- Skip disposable razors+switch to safety razors
- Give your tummy a break! Skip meat/dairy for a meal (easiest is bfast, I do banana & peanut butter) https://t.co/BnAg4x5lGS" / Twitter
2019 Feb 5

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "My other tips:
- Start incorporating thrift, consignment & second-hand clothes in your wardrobe (host a clothing swap w/ friends for a no-spend option)
- Walk, bike, & use public transit more often
- Bring your own bag/coffee mug. It’s okay if you forget, 1x/week is still a win" / Twitter
2019 Feb 5

Charlotte Alter on Twitter: "As I explore in my book, the sexist obsession with @AOC's clothing is part of a broader campaign to discredit her politics by making her seem frivolous or hypocritical (see: dancing, haircut.)
As if she can't both fight for justice and live with joy. [url]https://t.co/1d1AuTvyxz https://t.co/AtGlEIhtZm" / Twitter[/url]


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Tempted to do a “woman on the street” bit and wait outside the Republican cloak room to ask each GOP Congressman how much their tailored suits cost " / Twitter
Cute.
I checked on some business-suit prices and I found typically $100 - $500.


AOC has been concerned for some time about New Yorkers being well-counted in the upcoming census - inadequate counting = fewer Congressional districts, less allocation of gov't funds.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Do you know who’s one of the most undercounted communities during the Census?
Children under 5!
Double check that you’ve included newborns and small children in your home when your Census form comes in starting March 12 🗒
*********** https://t.co/XcLE7hRtBf" / Twitter
noting
QuickTake by Bloomberg on Twitter: ""So don't forget your babies!"
@aoc underscores the importance of including the smallest members of the household in #census2020 https://t.co/UtYFKhfpiT" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez encourages 2020 census participation at town hall event

Her Facebook site for official business Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - Home has video of it and some of her other town-hall events, like that eat-the-babies one.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "After our town hall on the Census in Corona, some of us grabbed a bite to eat at Boca Chica and someone in the community called in a serenata
Our community has so much beauty and talent bursting from every corner. Listen to their amazing voices! https://t.co/1QN3UvZFRo" / Twitter

The New York Post has been rummaging through her old Facebook videos, finding such scandals as her eating meat, her singing Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer", her supposedly pretending to be a journalist, and her supposedly getting her goddaughter into a charter school.

 

[angelo]

This quote has me convinced at this point that Angelo cannot possibly be serious about their positions and that all these years, they've just been posting positions to see how ridiculous of a position they could get us to believe they believed. There is absolutely NO way that they believe this. That anyone could actually believe that. Well, anyone who also happens to be literate.

It's pretty plausible. Look at how much difficulty angelo has in explaining why AOC is a fringe socialist, yet the relative ease he has in labeling her as one. If someone else is doing your thinking for you, and you believe your side/tribe/group whatever is winning, self awareness isn't required. Plenty of examples of this throughout history.

Now that's quite funny. You mean AOC is not a socialist, even though she's admitted to being one on many occasions? She's also the rabid socialist the Bern's main backer.

 

[Patooka]

Now that's quite funny. You mean AOC is not a socialist, even though she's admitted to being one on many occasions? She's also the rabid socialist the Bern's main backer.

Once again, accusing AOC of being a socialist without proof. And we've had this talk about about why you can't prove Bernie Sanders is a "rabid socialist". Do you know how I know you can't prove this?

Bernie's proposed tax plan, as shown here.


And here is the tax plan from Australia's conservative party, currently in government:

Bernie Sanders is more fiscally conservative than Scott Morrison's government. But that's not going to stop you from spewing rhetorical bullshit now will it?

 

[lpetrich]

... Look at how much difficulty angelo has in explaining why AOC is a fringe socialist, yet the relative ease he has in labeling her as one. If someone else is doing your thinking for you, and you believe your side/tribe/group whatever is winning, self awareness isn't required. Plenty of examples of this throughout history.

Now that's quite funny. You mean AOC is not a socialist, even though she's admitted to being one on many occasions? She's also the rabid socialist the Bern's main backer.

Look at what she calls socialism. angelo, I'd like to see you find what she herself says about that.

Some more of NYPost's scandals:

The AOC Tapes: AOC trashes Hillary Clinton for failed presidential campaign
AOC: “She didn’t make a single … visit to the United Auto Workers before the general election. And then … they’re like upset that that union workers didn’t organize for her.”
Maria: “We needed to win the rust belt and we could have done that and there are places that went for Obama that didn’t go for Hillary so there is a lot of complex things going on here.”

AOC thought that Hillary's heart was in the right place, however. She would go on to defeat someone else who was negligent about his constituents: Joe Crowley.

The AOC Tapes: Rep pretended to be 'journalist' at Standing Rock protests - she got access to press passes, and she said that no other journalists were there.

As she approached,
“We’re surrounded by men in bulletproof vests and semi-automatic weapons looking into the car,” she says. “And because I’m just a bad liar, I don’t like to lie, I just said, ‘We’re going to the reservation.'”

These cops threatened her with a citation and a $250 fine but she apologized profusely and the cops let her off with instructions on how to enter the reservation legally.

The AOC Tapes: Rep and pals eat Flamin' Hot Cheetos - Maria trying a hot one.