On Thursday night, ABC aired an ad showing a burning picture of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the voice of Elizabeth Heng, a Republican activist from California, calls her the face of “socialism and ignorance.” The ad appeared on last night’s Democratic debate, seeking to take advantage of the debate’s rating but it instead garnered instant backlash and the hashtag #BoycottABC.
To some extent, Socialism is about the State regulating a market economy so that weaker sectors of society are reduced. This would also reduce poverty, defend the environment and strengthen labor unions.
@ocasio2018AOC has argued against corporate interests, exposed a rigged electoral system that prevents common people from becoming Congressmen and women, sponsored a bill dubbed the “Green New Deal” that would fight climate change while still keep the economy thriving, and, among other things, proposed getting rid of the Electoral College, a convoluted system of determining who is the next president, and outspoke against racism and white supremacy.
Heng, however, likens Ocasio-Cortez’s proposals to mass murder and civil unrest. “Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know the horror of socialism?” she continues against the backdrop of black-and-white photos of skulls appear. These are just some of the images of a Khmer Rouge death camp that are displayed throughout the video. “My father was minutes from death in Cambodia before a forced marriage saved his life,” Heng says. “That’s socialism: Forced obedience. Starvation.”
@elizabethhengWhile it’s true that dictatorial systems have made use of a socialist economic system as well as versions of Marxist ideology, the economic system itself has little to do with suppression, proof of which are Nordic countries that have been known for widely implementing such leftist measures. AOC has compared her policies as most closely resembling the ones implemented in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, and in Sweden.
But the shocking ad laid bare what the Republican strategy for 2020 will be. After these ludicrous comparisons, Heng clarifies that her “skin is not white” and that she is “not outrageous, racist, nor socialist…I’m a Republican,” she clarifies. Why would she even need to set the record straight? By doing so she is effectively confirming what everyone is thinking: that Donald Trump is a white supremacist and that Republicans, indeed, are an increasingly white-men-only club.
More on point though, Republicans will bet on Americans’ fear. It doesn’t matter that Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other progressive candidates are far from the “horror of socialism”, this is the comparison they’re going to make over and over again. Will it work?
@berniesandersRead more:
Why Latino Turnout Could Define The Do-Or-Die 2020 Elections
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Do Not Apologize
AOC And Ted Cruz, Ideological Opposites, Join Forces To Fight Corruption
