• Gkalaitza [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Regardless on whether you think AOC is usefull and deserves critical support she only has moved to the right or stayed static on most issues. Even after getting elected (removing more left wing talking points from her website) and especially after Biden

    • BynarsAreOk [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Regardless on whether you think AOC is usefull and deserves critical support

      As you said, as she continues to move right whatever theoretical benefit she brings continues to go down in value.

      The whole idea of critical support is there is something we get in return and not just a sport. For example it is fine to say critical support for Iran against western imperialism because the benefit here is avoiding the death and suffering of millions of people in a possible war against the US while at the same time frustrating the further advancement of capitalism which in the end makes it more unsustainable as imperialism is a necessity e.g continuous expansion to acquire resources.

      What is the benefit of critical support for AOC? At this point it is becoming more and more some vague abstract concept of a pipeline, but to what exactly? The answer here is what should define the point in which you'll say AOC bad and never go back.

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        The whole idea of critical support is there is something we get in return

        AOC leapt into the ongoing Twitter battle between lawmakers and Amazon over workers' rights and bathroom breaks, by sharing internal company memo

        Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raises $1 million for Texans in the wake of the Big Freeze, plans to travel to Houston

        Following Arrests, AOC Rallies 1,400 Striking Grocery Workers As Railroaders Refuse to Deliver Produce in Solidarity

        But that's just been in the last three months. What has she done for me lately?

        What is the benefit of critical support for AOC?

        The same benefit you get from critically supporting Bernie Sanders or Ro Khanna or Nithya Raman or Lina Hidalgo. You get a high profile left-wing voice that Americans genuinely like and support to say and do things that you generally support.

        AOC's continuing to bust ass endorsing mutual aid, unionization, universal health care / education / mass transportation, defunding the Pentagon, energy policy reforms to mitigate climate change, higher minimum wages, and a host of other leftist economic goals.

        Haters look for anything to complain about and highlight them, almost inevitably fixating on foreign policy, as though that's anywhere in her wheelhouse to begin with. Then they shout down anyone who disagrees and turn AOC-bashing into a litmus test for True Leftism. And the end result is the self-destruction that's plagued the Left for a century.

        At a certain point, you need to fight on the issues and not the people. AOC is good on a litany of issues. She's often better than people give her credit for (ie, when she wanted to focus on Min-Wage increases rather than going nuclear on M4A). Saying "AOC Bad" when she breaks from your orthodox view on anything blinds you to every other item on the agenda, in an effort to play at purity politics. Critical support for AOC is about supporting the things both you and AOC support, not about putting AOC on a pedestal like she's the second coming of Ho Chi Mein.

        • machiavellianRecluse [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Haters look for anything to complain about and highlight them, almost inevitably fixating on foreign policy, as though that’s anywhere in her wheelhouse to begin with.

          In a country like America I would say Foreign Policy is the first thing to look for. You could make American into a utopia and still destroy the rest of the world to extract what you want. If you can't be principled on that then I would claim such a person is dangerous to support because if they are successful that would just mean a more efficient empire. (I would imagine if China were to actually want to dominate the world they would be far more successful as they do a better job of distributing the spoils and are good at administration)

          • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
            ·
            4 years ago

            In a country like America I would say Foreign Policy is the first thing to look for.

            Spoken like a guy who doesn't work in an Amazon warehouse

            • machiavellianRecluse [none/use name]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Spoken like a guy who doesn’t work in an Amazon warehouse

              You are speaking like someone who has not lived in the third world :)

              Their exploitation doesn't erase the fact that their role in the warehouse is just efficient distribution of the spoils of the empire. I am not suggesting that Americans don't care about the people around them but if you truly believe that you can ignore the cost of the American system on the rest of the world then you are an enemy to most of the world. Shouldn't it be the responsibility of every American leftist to be able to articulate a way to help Americans while being able to dismantle the empire. If you think that is impossible, I would be interested to hear your reasoning behind it. It would help clarify some of the questions I have about the movement in America.

      • Gkalaitza [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        i mean she firstly moved right on venezuela and then somewhat left so overall she isnt to the left of where she started

          • Gkalaitza [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            i i considered that thing a move to the right from her initial pre election positions on us sanctions and us meddling in the latin america being bad