Rep Ocasio-Cortez represents a passing of the torch that is long overdue. The extreme polarity and our two party system caused a delay in that passage that skipped an entire generation and entrenched too many boomers (my generation) in positions of power. Bernie, while a boomer himself, has attempted to pass the torch of political/economic power for most of his career and she studied his politics closely.

Both understand the basic misunderstanding of economics that has been promoted by the ruling class and most of their lapdog politicians and is responsible for much of the misery in the economy currently. While tax policy is very important in the long term, it isn’t a deal breaker for Congress spending for the public purpose because some badly needed program or policy isn’t “paid for”. The national obsession with deficits and the debt has been the driving force behind our steady decline since the ’80s.

Treating the national government as a household in its budgeting instead of recognizing it is the source of “all” net money in the economy could only have gained the approval of an illiterate voter base with little understanding of economics or social structures. However, this is where we find ourselves, and with a nation conditioned to knee jerk at any reference to socialism that it insists on conflating with any spending by Congress that actually benefits the people. To date, this has given us a shrinking middle class, an infrastructure system crumbling in disrepair, and a level of political corruption that would make the former Soviet Union bosses blush.