AOC on the Pentagon budget.

[H2O Man]

26. Gosh.

Have you ever considered that the word "social," as in "social programs," has a root found in "socialism"?

Now, let's take a look at FDR, shall we? And let's consider an economist that he relied upon, both in Albany and DC. I'll speculate that you aren't familiar with him. Leland Olds was, by every definition, a democratic socialist. I know that you aren't able to grasp the distinction between a political and economic practice, yet they exist. Leland would be perhaps the best example. Under FDR, for example, Olds was appointed to the NYS Power Authority while FDR was governor, and to the Federal Power Commission in DC, where he served as chairperson.

Despite being viciously attacked for being a socialist, primarily due to his support of railroad workers' unions, Olds brought electricity to rural America. That included to the farm my family lived on. They were all railroad workers and union activists. Aunt Mary, a charter member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers' Union, was an associate of Leland's. This brings us to the "socialism" that resulted in Twain's references to the Gilded Era.

Clearly, you were not in any university classroom where I taught, or you would know that -- for but one example -- between 1865 and 1900, the federal government gave (not sold) the railroad barons a quarter-million square miles of land. That might be near impossible for you to understand, so let's make it easier (oreasiest) for you: that's more than the combined states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Now, in your opinion, what economic theory justifies that?

I could attempt to compete with what you claim to be your education by mentioning my having taught at two NYS universities. But I would rather note that I got a 97 on my social studies mid-term in the 8th grade. By then, I had learned the distinction between political and economic theory, as well as the overlap. Keep studying! You can learn this stuff!