Is New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a closet fan of Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman?
Probably not. But you could be forgiven for wondering that after the New York Democrat’s latest controversial comments, where she said “I actually think I have a lot of common ground with many libertarian viewpoints.”
If only this were true. While yes, the far-left socialist does hold somewhat libertarian positions on issues such as military spending, immigration, and criminal justice, her overall political philosophy is the very antithesis of libertarianism. Ocasio-Cortez’s worldview is collectivist and statist, putting her in opposition to libertarian pro-freedom principles.
Take Ocasio-Cortez’s economic worldview, for instance. She’s a proud member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who unabashedly oppose capitalism, free markets, and private profit. Libertarians, on the other hand, understand that profit is what makes society work, and the only thing that can make society work. It induces us all, from the junior janitor in your building to the nearest small business owner to the wealthiest CEO on Wall Street. It implores us to spend our time, energy, and resources serving others and providing them with something they find useful enough to pay for.
Ocasio-Cortez’s $93 trillion “Green New Deal” would require doubling or tripling federal taxes, and put government in control of over half the economy. That the congresswoman would be willing to shed a few billion in military spending — a minor point of agreement with libertarians — doesn’t change the fact that she wants to radically reshape the American economic system in a top-down fashion.
Ocasio-Cortez also supports gun control, a government takeover of healthcare, government jobs for all, and almost every big government fantasy you can imagine.
She is no friend of libertarians.
In fact, the far-left congresswoman literally led a public shaming campaign against libertarian activists, as reported by The College Fix. After this year’s annual LibertyCon, hosted by Students for Liberty, Ocasio-Cortez blasted Big Tech companies who had sponsored the conference (which I attended), because it included debate over climate issues and policy. She wrote “the example [your companies] have set promoting sustainability and evidence-based science is compromised by your implicit support of the session organized at LibertyCon.”
Never mind that climate change skepticism was not the position of LibertyCon or these companies, who were more focused on LibertyCon events related to technology and innovation. Ocasio-Cortez once again displayed her rank intolerance of other views without even having the facts. Libertarians, in contrast, are known for their tolerance of others’ views.
Sure, libertarians should work with Ocasio-Cortez and other leftists when we can. But let’s not pretend for a second that the far-left congresswoman is anything other than hostile to freedom.
