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U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as “AOC,” turned heads with her Met Gala dress. We’re on board with its message – “tax the rich” – but there are major problems with this kind of “insider” activism.
The event, hosted by Vogue, costs $35,000 a ticket! The rich she was calling to be taxed were rubbing shoulders with her. AOC’s attempt at activism is sparking conversations – positive and negative.
Some critics are calling her form of activism performative and tone deaf – especially because, outside the event, activists were voicing their cries for economic justice and affordable housing. But they were arrested and their faces were blasted on social media!
Some see this as the watering down of activism – community organizers being replaced with high profile politicians demanding higher taxes by way of lavish ball gowns when they can’t make inroads in Congress.
It's seen by some as ironic to use a slogan rooted in confronting capitalism while attending an event that celebrates the hoarding of money and gross displays of wealth.
Is it possible to change a system you belong to while the real work being done outside has handcuffs slapped on it? AOC’s message is apt – but the differing responses to her glamorous display, versus the treatment of the protesters outside, shows whose voices are really listened to in the United States.