Okay, AOC: Let’s Talk Earnings and Accumulation |
Okay, AOC: Let’s Talk Earnings and Accumulation
Economic and technological transformations have almost always delivered transformative change for the better for ordinary people: cheap clothing, cheap transportation, clean cities, safer work, free information.
Christopher Chantrill | May 11, 2026
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (DSA-NY) recently gave us her expert opinion on the earnings of billionaires. Said she:
There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned. You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that.
There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned. You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that.
Of course, everyone has been having a grand old time twitting AOC on her ignorance, and some have actually pointed out how billionaires get their money, like Ben Shapiro:
Billionaires get rich by innovating and risk-taking, offering new and better goods at prices people are willing to pay. Government makes cash through confiscation.
Billionaires get rich by innovating and risk-taking, offering new and better goods at prices people are willing to pay. Government makes cash through confiscation.
Now I happen to think that AOC is doing us a favor here. The key words to me are “accumulation” and “earn.” And I understand why she would think that “You can’t earn a billion dollars.”
She is thinking like a 20-something bartender, and getting to billionaire status is “inconceivable” to a 20-something bartender. It’s easy to see why. A bartender “earns” a few thousand dollars a month, and if she saves some of her earnings after paying New York City rent,........