Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has got the Wall Street Journal worried. In a clunky opinion piece for the paper, Grace-Marie Turner tries to get to the bottom of AOC’s appeal, which she chalks up to social media savvy and a relatable backstory. What Turner finds particularly galling is not merely Ocasio-Cortez’s unabashed democratic socialism but her role as a corrupter of the youth: “She leads a generation of young people to take pride in their ignorance—of the laws of nature, of history, of the Constitution, of the eternal battle for freedom.”
Moreover, Turner adds, “Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has soared because of the freedom and prosperity her policies would destroy.” It seems a little recherché to attack democratic socialists for neglecting natural law – but it’s no surprise the American Right are still reaching for the idea of freedom in order to rubbish their opponents.
The idea that democratic socialism threatens people’s liberty is not confined to the 'home of the free and the land of the brave.' Across the Atlantic, the Conservative MP Liz Truss has made similar attacks on Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. She tells us that their planned “assault on freedom wouldn’t just damage the economy, it would erode the economic freedoms which give power to the people.”
