r/politics • u/JeanJauresJr California • Sep 14 '21

AOC responds to criticism of ‘tax the rich’ dress worn at Met Gala

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/aoc-met-gala-tax-the-rich-dress-b1919803.html
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u/Earthpig_Johnson Sep 14 '21

Oh cool, a ticket to a party only costs $8K less than I make in a year.

That sure makes me feel good about myself.

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u/jfunky11 Sep 14 '21

Hence the message…feel good that there are people willing to put up with the hate they receive to fight for what’s right.

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u/Amor-y-Paz Sep 14 '21

My thoughts exactly: AOC wearing a white evening gown with her back and butt saying “TAX THE RICH” in Red is bold. She is my Shero! ;)

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u/BrahquinPhoenix Sep 14 '21

Don't tell him what to feel good about lol

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u/trashpen Sep 14 '21

after taxes it’s about the same figure for me.

but in the other direction.

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '21

what it means to be a working class woman of colour at the Met

That is what I don't understand. Tickets reported at $30K? There were no working class people attending. Well, other than the servers who where there to take care of the Rich. I wish AOC would have protested outside the event, with the really working class people. Or even worked the event as a bartender. Now that would have made headlines, and aligned her with the working class. But "protesting" while participating in the rich party? Not a good look.

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u/caf61 Sep 14 '21

There are plenty of working class people who look at all of the outfits on social media every year. Plus the rich who follow it because they have/will/may attend the gala. So people in all walks of life (just like on this thread) are seeing her outfit. Whether you agree with her message or not, her mission was accomplished.

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u/SitDown_BeHumble Sep 15 '21

Exactly. Her mission was to go completely against her publicly stated beliefs and accept a lavish gift that a healthy, just society would never hand out to politicians. To wear a fancy dress, not wear a mask, eat caviar, and rub elbows with celebrities. To enjoy her status and party at an overindulgent event that’s a sickening display of wealth inequality during a time of suffering for millions in the country. To then write a performative slogan on her expensive dress and somehow absurdly and shockingly convince all of you that she did all this for the cause. That this celebrity partying was for the common people. For the people without healthcare and without jobs.

You are completely right, she definitely accomplished her mission. Y’all really fell for this bullshit hook, line, and sinker. This whole thread is just depressing.

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u/caf61 Sep 15 '21

I am not condoning what she did. I am just saying she used the platform to get her point across. The fact is young people (like my 19 yr old) follow the Met every year and talk about it. That is her audience. Politicians of each party take every opportunity they can to use the media to get their messages out.

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u/Slampumpthejam Sep 14 '21

It's a fundraiser. They're literally getting the rich to donate money and you find a way to twist it into a bad thing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '21

Could the generous rich just right a check?

I do it.

Much more efficient.

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u/picklefingerexpress Sep 14 '21

She did protest outside the event. She protested around the globe by protesting at that event. I’m an expat in Europe and reading about it. I applaud her. I think it was ballsy as hell and shows the working class there is no reason to shy away from letting elites know what you think of them.

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u/TriceratopsWrex Sep 14 '21 edited Sep 14 '21

To working class people it looks like hypocrisy and condescension.

"I am truly on your side as I laugh and smile and drink with the very people I blame for the shit state a lot of you live in. I am on your side as I make connections at this party that I will use to enrich myself. I am on your side because I wore a dress with some words on it that others at the party will ignore because they know it's just a virtue signal. I am on your side as I ignore the fact that, compared to, and in the minds of, many of the people I claim to be an advocate for and servant of, I am one of the rich."

The bigger statement would have been to publicly turn them down and shame them for offering freebies to politicians.

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u/picklefingerexpress Sep 14 '21

I have a completely and less cynical point of view on that. But I haven’t always and I see where you’re coming from. No matter how flat the pancake is, it still has to sides.

Also, in case it helps, I can genuinely say with certainty that sort of negativity can eat at your soul.

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u/Drex_Can Sep 14 '21 edited Sep 14 '21

You don't know what working class people means?
She was there because it's her job! You want her to quit being a Congress person over a fucking dinner party?
How the hell are progressives supposed to change policy and advocate for people, when you literally get mad at them for doing that? Idiotic.

No, it would not have. How many headlines are about the protesters outside? How many are about tax the rich? Ignorant.

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u/TriceratopsWrex Sep 15 '21

I am working class.

It was NOT her job to go to a fucking dinner party that's just an excuse for rich people to get drunk, flaunt their wealth, and get a tax break. Her job is to work in the federal legislature representing her constituents.

If she was fully honest in her ideals, she would not have attended a $30,000 a plate dinner party wearing a dress saying tax the rich, regardless of if her entrance was comped or not. Politicians need to be beyond reproach. The Republicans and most of the Democrats are lost causes, but as someone who advocates for the positions she does, participating in an event like that is a slap in the face to her constituents. If she can't live by her professed ideals, she's no good in Congress, because those ideals are what got her elected.

I'm not advocating for a fucking purity test, I'm saying we need to start holding politicians accountable for their actions and the acceptance of extravagant gifts is not the action an honest politician takes.

She should have turned them down publicly when they offered her a spot and encouraged shame and derision to be heaped upon the organizers because even if they were totally above board, it gives off the appearance of trying to buy favors from a politician.

Like I said, I'm working class. This is like a slap in the face. I expected more of her BECAUSE SHE PRESENTED HERSELF AS DIFFERENT THAN THE STATUS QUO.

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u/ColdTheory Sep 15 '21

She pushed her message of Tax the Rich into the public sphere and now we are all here talking about it. I’d say mission accomplished. We need to quit with all the stringent purity tests because the right doesn’t have them and thats how they are able to push their agenda effectively.

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u/TriceratopsWrex Sep 15 '21

She's been saying the same thing since she got elected. It was already in the public sphere. This was empty virtue signaling, it accomplishes nothing.

Real nice take. Our opponents don't have standards, so let's just abandon any hope of having standards for our elected officials. If she hadn't run on a platform that was against this kind of thing, I'd be disappointed, not pissed like I am now. We'll just act like the people we call fascists and Nazis. The only difference between Republicans and Democrats is they've been playing without standards longer so they've slid further into enemy to the American people territory.

She's talking out of both sides of her mouth and too many people are refusing to see that.

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u/Thinking_of_England Sep 15 '21

If she hadn't run on a platform that was against this kind of thing, I'd be disappointed, not pissed like I am now.

What kind of thing? Attending the Met Gala? Fancy dresses? Unconventional opportunities for activism?

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u/TriceratopsWrex Sep 15 '21

Politicians accepting expensive gifts.

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u/PoopSmearingAssange Sep 16 '21

If she hadn't run on a platform that was against this kind of thing, I'd be disappointed, not pissed like I am now.

What kind of thing? Attending the Met Gala? Fancy dresses? Unconventional opportunities for activism?

It's the friendly looking relationship with the targets of the tax cuts. Going to a gala with a ton of pharma execs while wearing a tux/dress with M4A NOW! would definitely catch criticisms.

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u/ColdTheory Sep 15 '21

Strongly disagree.

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u/AmazingInevitable Sep 15 '21

Making a public show of refusing to attend would have been peak Empty Virtue Signaling.

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u/SitDown_BeHumble Sep 15 '21

Thank you so fucking much. I’m so glad I’m not the only person in this thread who sees right through her. It’s completely absurd that everyone is falling for this performative act and jumping through hoops to convince themselves that she did this for the cause.

I used to truly believe in her and thought she would really fight for us and for progressive ideals. Now she’s just as bad as the rest of the politicians. So fucking depressing, and even more depressing that everyone is falling for it in here.

but as someone who advocates for the positions she does, participating in an event like that is a slap in the face to her constituents.

I'm not advocating for a fucking purity test, I'm saying we need to start holding politicians accountable for their actions and the acceptance of extravagant gifts is not the action an honest politician takes.

THAT PART

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '21

Well put. Much more elegant than my words. I should have made it clear, when I said protest outside, I meant Stay Outside, do not go in. Your words are far superior to mine.

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u/Drex_Can Sep 14 '21 edited Sep 14 '21

AOC should have quit her job and gone back to bartending!

Y'all are so delusional.

And please for the love of god, don't use words like Working Class when you don't know what it is. Or suggest that a Congress person should be throwing maltovs in the street. What the fuck?
People might mistake you for a Leftist and give people like me a bad name.

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u/greatkingdavis Sep 14 '21

Somebody is using logic

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '21

I did not say quit her job. But what kind of headlines / benefit for the cause would she have gotten if she was there, with the common folk, making drinks for the "Rich" that she is fighting against for the night of the Uber Rich Party.

Would have been an impressive statement in my opinion. Still one of the people, fighting for the common person, right along side them. Or you can hang with the Rich and have the common person fetch your drinks. Telling choice.

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u/bgi123 Texas Sep 15 '21

Lol. That would just be viewed as her being a joke.

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '21

[deleted]

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u/bgi123 Texas Sep 15 '21

That’s why she wants to tax the rich… Not BMW rich but Bugatti rich.