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Refuting this anti-AOC/anti-Democratic socialist article


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  • Christango
    2020-01-11 11:58:55 AM
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    If we’re all still in a agreement that AIC is still one of us, I’d like to see a good refuting for this article I just came across:

    “WE HAVE A PROBLEM: This is a well written and thought out article written by a 26 yr old college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who's in grad school for her MBA. What a GREAT perspecitve...

    My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!
    I'm sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis (Florida) trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of presidential candidates calling for policies to "fix" the so-called injustices of capitalism. I put my phone down and continue to look around.

    I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook's, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we've become completely blind to it.

    Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose.These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don't give them a second thought.

    We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty One Times!!!

    Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful. ??

    Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, "An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity."

    Never saw American prosperity! Let that sink in.

    When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I've ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided.

    My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let's just say I didn't have the popular opinion, but I digress.

    Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country.

    People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they've never seen prosperity, and as a result, we elect some politicians who are dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.

    Why? The answer is this,?? my generation has only seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn't live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, the Korean War, The Vietnam War or we didn't see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.

    We don't know what it's like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don't have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague." #pleaseshare”

    first thing that comes to my mind is that we still have people making unlivable work wages and working two jobs, but I feel like there’s definitely more that should be addressed, otherwise that would be cherry picking.

  • jaredsxtn
    2020-01-11 01:09:13 PM
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    This one is easy. It’s unsurprising to see prosperity around you while enjoying a $10 cup of coffee at a swanky coffee shop in a gentrified neighborhood.

    I’d encourage this MBA student to get some coffee somewhere else, maybe in Madison County.

  • Schmidt
    2020-01-11 01:32:36 PM
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    Christango -- On this website, we refrain from copying large parts of articles because of concerns about copyright infringement. You would be better to reference the article in a link and then say why you are bringing it to our attention. Is there something specific that caught you attention that you want to highlight rather than "I’d like to see a good refuting for this article?" In first reading your post, I could not easily tell where Ahlgren's words ended and yours begin. It seems like much of her original article has been edited down.

    Nevertheless, I checked out Alyssa Ahlgren. She wrote the article, Thoughts from a hipster coffee shop, for alphanews back in April 2019. She has published several articles in alphanews with similar themes and views on socialism and capitalism. Her two most recent articles in alphanews are Our Obsession with Instant Gratification, and Capitalism Doesn’t Create Poverty.

    I think she is a good writer, but with a conservative bent. I take issue with anyone stereotyping anyone as a socialist or a capitalist, when in fact every American has both socialist and capitalist views. They co-exist, and one cannot survive without the other. Newsweek's 2009 article, We Are All Socialists Now, is a good read to begin with.

    Many on this website (not all) are centrists, that is we find the Bernie Sanders brand of "free stuff for everyone" to be unworkable, although it certainly garners lots of votes from the less informed.

    Having said that a functioning democracy does require a healthy balance of equitable laws and regulations to ensure that wealth generation is a true product of hard work and ingenuity rather than the manipulation of tax laws and other regulations. We had that back in the 1950s and 1960s where working class families could live comfortably on the fruits of their labor. My Dad was a miner and he was the sole provider for our family of seven. That's not possible today with income disparities and the rising costs of not only health care but also higher education.

    The solutions that various politicians are advocating are often short sighted and impractical given the demographics of our nation. Our people are also woefully uninformed, and for many of them they are prey to a demagogue like Trump, but at the other end of the spectrum, the Bernie Sanders worldviews are not compatible with the vast majority of Americans. He also makes outlandish promises he cannot keep, but like Trump he sure enjoys the accolades of rallies.

    I'll quit now. Just a few thoughts that may or may not be relevant to why you shared Alyssa Ahlgren's article.

  • Christango
    2020-01-11 03:08:40 PM
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    @Schmicht

    My apologies. I’ll take that into consideration in the future.

  • Schmidt
    2020-01-11 06:32:22 PM
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    It's okay. As you are relatively new to the website, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the forum rules. Here's one from the header above:

    "The main two things to watch out for are copyright law and defamation. Do not post entire articles in our forums as the author owns the work and it is copyright violation. Post no more than 2-3 paragraphs and include a link to the article you wish to cite or discuss instead. Also, be aware that you could be liable for what you write on the Internet and be the target of defamation lawsuits. So avoid non credible or unfounded attacks or harassment of people, businesses or groups."

    Welcome to this website. Many of us longtime members have become entrenched in our views and become rather repetitive in our arguments. That's especially me...and Dutch. So challenging our views is good. I support critical thinking.

  • Christango
    2020-01-11 10:37:40 PM
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    I ain’t so much challenging your views as much as I’m bringing to you guys whereupon seeing the rebuttals that you’re keen on using, then throwing it back at the alt-right. The lies and demagoguery by them have gotten so far out of control that we need to be just that much more proactive at countering it with reformative points and facts. It goes without saying that I’m on your guy’s side here. But it’s also important to be able to find the right counter-arguments for the more nuanced arguments the right tries to provide.

  • Dockadams
    2020-01-12 08:24:23 AM
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    Can a person or persons at 100% FPL afford a cup of Starbucks coffee? I found a website that has published a menu and prices of different coffees obtainable from the not so great coffee place. fastfoodprice.com/menu/starbucks-prices/

    The lowest priced is $1.85, and I think someone at 100% of the FPL could probably afford to have one or maybe 3 a week.

    At my local Piggly Wiggly, I can purchase a can of food club coffee (30.65 oz.) for $5.49, and if I wanted to really indulge, I could purchase flavored creamer for around a buck and make my own faux lattes, and lots of it.

    Locally, I receive Quest television over the air (OTA) and they ran a special about how coffee has evolved into the definition of something else other than REAL coffee, it's called swill I believe, or hogwash, not considered real coffee. Real coffee by their claim is Arabica. How many Americans realize they're drinking hogwash?

    To some, possibly like me, real coffee consists of campfire made from sticks of wood in a forest, a coffee pot about 1 to 2 gallon capacity, coffee grounds poured into this pot and filled with water a boiled until brewed. You remove it from the fire, let the grounds settle to the bottom of the pot, then pour yourself a cup of 90 weight. That to me is real coffee. Starbucks is for sissies who can't stand the taste of REAL coffee.

    Being prosperous is in the eyes of a beholder IMO.

    Many Americans are living on the edge. One great expense like a medical bill or a car repair can wipe out a $1000 to $2000 checking account balance and plunge themselves into something far below the FPL, which is why the federal minimum wage is disparaging. It hasn't gone up in 10 years. Wisconsin, Texas and some other anal retentive states still use the federal minimum wage standard as their state base wage.

    The economy, take my word for it, ain't as great as Trumpians say it is.

  • Schmidt
    2020-01-12 09:07:24 AM
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    Dockadams makes a good point. I also remember fresh made coffee on a campfire in the early morning when there is frost on the ground. It's the best.

    Okay, back to the point. I referenced the 1950s and 1960s. I remember a time in the 1950s when we did not have a telephone or a TV. Us kids played outside in the mine dumps of our city. We walked to school and walked home for lunch. Then back to school. Our cost of living was relatively low, and so was the cost of a higher education as we got older. The point is that we were happy, and the cost of happiness was not measured in wealth...it was how many friends we had to play with outside...not how many Facebook friends we had. We spent a lot of time outside finding things to do with friends, things that cost nothing in terms of money.

    Today it is hard to function in society without a TV and it's subscription costs. Or multiple TVs. Add in a landline telephone and cellphones...one for each family member. Add in laptop computers and internet subscription fees. And then the cost of transportation...cars and gas and tires and general maintenance. Add in insurance costs. Add in medical insurance costs and medical and dental costs for just the deductibles. Then if you have anything left, there is grocery bills and house maintenance...painting, roofs, etc. Or apartment rents. Appliances with built in obsolescence seem to break down. The cost of everything has gone up at a faster rate than wages.

    The minimum wage in 1968 when I graduated from college with minimal debt was $1.60 per hour, equivalent with inflation adjustments, to $11.86 in 2019. The official federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. I don't see how anyone can survive on $7.25 per hour. You certainly cannot afford to buy café mochas at Starbucks.

  • TJ
    2020-01-12 09:51:57 AM
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    Cesar Milan should not be president. However I have watched a few episodes of his show The Dog whisperer and it's interesting how many people's lives are hell and a new fresh approach shows that behind aggression is often fear. A broader understanding leads to better handling of a bad situation and remarkable results.

    This type of an open minded seeking of new knowledge could help a politician towards a better messaging towards frustrated voters. A lack of affordable healthcare and employment wherein too many need more than one job to survive are symptoms of the situation where people don't know who to vote for or what the answers are to the dozens of pressures they face on a daily basis. I am suggesting the dog doesn't really hate the school bus when they go crazy at the front door. They're afraid of something and need to learn to change their thought process. Many weren't wanting to vote for a reality Tv host but they didn't like their choices. This years Democratic field is typical of what's typically served. Too many are Not getting more in depth with the factors causing fear and frustration within the voting base.

    The options for Democrats are more of the same and that doesn't inspire many to vote when they're frustrated and doubting that their vote matters.

  • Dockadams
    2020-01-12 04:55:36 PM
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    @ TJ, we shouldn't tell those voters that their vote doesn't count then, let's keep the electoral college factor a secret so they really are kept in the dark.

    Where are those stats? The uneducated voted for the GOP and Trump, while the educated voted for democrats because they know the penalties of voting for right wing candidates. The GOP loves dumb people.

  • TJ
    2020-01-12 06:11:15 PM
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    I am suggesting that politicians shouldn't always talk. They should also listen.
  • Dutch
    2020-01-13 08:53:11 AM
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    TJ Wrote: I am suggesting that politicians shouldn't always talk. They should also listen.
    Wow; start training Trump in that; he will listen only to himself and don't want advise from anyone, except from the Mein Kampf book on his night table. Amen
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