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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been roundly and rightly mocked for her recent claim that "you can’t earn" a billion dollars. But with respect to my fellow conservatives and free-marketeers, the real problem with her latest anti-billionaire broadside isn’t that it’s economically illiterate. The bigger issue — by far — is that AOC is subtly dismissing the innate human drive to strive and succeed. She isn’t just saying that billionaires are illegitimate. She’s effectively saying that becoming a billionaire is impossible, so don’t even try.
This fundamental rejection of entrepreneurship’s power is the greatest danger of the socialist worldview rising on the left, of which AOC is the foremost tribune. By now, every American knows what policies and programs the socialists want — more wealth distribution, more government welfare, more care and feeding at the benevolent hand of Big Brother or Sister.
But the heart of this ideology isn’t simply the idea that people should get more from others. The corresponding belief is that people should also give less to others. While it’s tempting to chalk this up to laziness or envy, the real message is one of self-doubt. Socialism teaches its followers that entrepreneurship is doomed to fail — that entrepreneurs themselves are deluded and in denial. Who would want to take a road they’ve been told can only dead-end?
AOC CALLED OUT FOR CLAIM THAT BILLIONAIRES 'CAN'T EARN' THEIR WEALTH AS SHE DOUBLES DOWN ON REMARKS
This is nothing less than a frontal assault on the human spirit. America became the world’s most prosperous and equal country precisely because people aimed to become rich — millionaires, hundred millionaires, and now billionaires. Not by leeching off society, but by lifting up society. The essence of entrepreneurship is the idea that you can improve your life by helping others improve their lives. The most successful entrepreneurs have done that in spades, becoming rich by enriching daily life for countless others.
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Science buttresses this phenomenon. Abraham Maslow — the founder of humanistic psychology — argued that humans can achieve what he called "synergy." Our innate selfishness fuses with our capacity for unselfishness, pushing us to succeed by fostering success in our community. Entrepreneurs embody this way of thinking, and in America more than anywhere else on earth or in history, start-up founders and basement tinkerers have proved that Maslow’s synergy is both achievable and awesomely beneficial for every level of society.
But nobody benefits when fewer people strive to make a billion dollars. No one wins if would-be entrepreneurs deny their own ability to make a difference. Such fear and self-loathing are especially likely among younger generations, especially the 62% of Americans under 30 who hold a favorable view of socialism. Politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are all but telling them to ignore the better angels of their nature — to neglect their own incredible capacity for excellence, achievement, and contribution.
The good news is that human nature is hard to suppress. Even as Gen Z is the most likely to support AOC-style socialism, its members are increasingly embracing their inner entrepreneur. A recent survey found that 43% of Gen Z is considering starting a business or side hustle in 2026, beating Millennials and Gen X. But there’s no guarantee that younger generations make good on this desire. Loud voices — like AOC — are encouraging them to put their faith in the state instead of themselves. The battle for Gen Z’s soul is very much up in the air.
This is a battle that free-marketeers must win. We won’t reach Gen Z by merely mocking AOC or maligning her admittedly awful ideas. No, we have to appeal directly to the very spirit she’s dismissing — the innate human drive to rise and thrive. It’s not enough to say in the abstract that billionaires are good for the rest of us. Far more important is the message that you could be the best billionaire yet.
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