Quick Take
The feud between New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, continues to play out on Twitter, with the latest blow coming from the left Thursday. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked political observers in June after defeating 10-term incumbent Congressman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th District by nearly.
A viral meme mocks Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a statement about capitalism versus socialism that she never actually made.
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Since her victory in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District in the House, and in light of her November general election win, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has attracted no shortage of attention.
Sometimes that spotlight has arrived in the form of newscoverage; other times via viraldeceptions.
In the latest example of the latter, a mememadeviral on Facebook with the help of singer Ted Nugent and others falsely attributes a quote about economics to Ocasio-Cortez.
“Under capitalism, man oppresses man,” the quote reads. “Under socialism, it’s the other way around.”
Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, told FactCheck.org that the representative-elect had not said that.
Likewise, we could find no evidence Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, ever did. Instead, we came across references to that quote dating back years, well before the 29-year-old political newcomer entered the public eye.
At a 2013 Liberty Fund event, for example, the economist Russell Roberts of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution cited it in jest.
“My view of capitalism has always been that under capitalism, man oppresses man. But under socialism, it’s the other way around,” he said to laughter. “It’s not my line. I’m told it came from MAD Magazine. And to be honest, it’s not my view—but it does capture the reality that all political and economic systems are imperfect.”
Others have traced it, or some iteration of it, back to the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
In 2006, the Atlanticreported:
Another remark often attributed to Galbraith is, “Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.” If he didn’t say it, he might as well have. It has an authentically Galbraithian ring: It seems profound, and it’s funny. But it encapsulates perhaps the worst error that a student of economy and society could have made in the past century—the idea that, under the surface, those two systems are pretty much alike, not least ethically. The common man has no standing, no real power, in either case. The main difference resides in which small group of people is actually in charge. That is something that Galbraith certainly appeared to believe. It is a main theme of his writings. And it is a travesty of the truth.
Appearing on Twitter in recent weeks, as well, the misattributed quote has been shared thousands of times across social media. Nugent’s Facebook post of the meme alone garnered nearly 15,000 shares.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on the social media network.
Sources
“Capitalism, Government and the Good Society.” EconStories. YouTube.com. 4 Sep 2013.
Crook, Clive. “John Kenneth Galbraith, Revisited.” The Atlantic. May 2006.
Trent, Corbin. Spokesman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 14 Dec 2018.
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The feud between New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, continues to play out on Twitter, with the latest blow coming from the left Thursday.
In an unusual attempt at unity, Cruz retweeted a message from Ocasio-Cortez regarding the latest development in the GameStop saga that has plagued Wall Street this week, creeping it’s way into Washington, D.C.
Ocasio-Cortez condemned the online trading platform Robinhood, after it restricted users on its app from trading GameStop shares, after the failing retailer saw an unprecedented uptick in its stock this week.
In an attempt to curb trading by small investors -- who some Wall Street veterans fear could destroy hedge funds -- Robinhood took steps to prevent its users from being able to trade freely and reversed the upward trend in GameStop stock value Thursday.
'This is unacceptable,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. 'We now need to know more about [Robinhood’s] decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit.'
Cruz threw his support behind the Democrat, retweeting the message and simply stating, 'Fully agree.'
But instead of acknowledging the rare occasion the two congressional lawmakers could actually find themselves in agreement on an issue, Ocasio-Cortez rebuffed the senator’s support, diverting the conversation to the attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.
'I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,' Ocasio-Cortez shot back at Cruz.
'Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign,' she added.
The New York Democrat has held Cruz and other GOP lawmakers accountable for the breach on the U.S. Capitol after they propagated debunked allegations against the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
The attack happened as lawmakers in the House and Senate separated to review and vote on the Electoral College results for states that some GOP lawmakers, including Cruz, objected to.
Videos that surfaced during and after the attack showed some of the pro-Trump supporters specifically targeting certain Democrats like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio Cortez Quotes Real Estate
The New York Democrat has repeatedly called for Cruz’s resignation from office.