AOC Says Climate Change Makes Her Dreams of Motherhood “Bittersweet”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke at a climate summit in Copenhagen this week, where she got a little choked up talking about the effect climate change has had on her own life.

.@AOC, near tears: My dreams of motherhood "now tastes bittersweet" because of global warming pic.twitter.com/hwNUSxtp3l

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 11, 2019

There’s a lot to unpack in her little speech.  But first: how’d she get to Copenhagen?  A dirty, emissions-producing airplane, I presume? If she’s so concerned about reversing climate change, why didn’t she participate via Skype?

Oh, yeah.  Sacrifices are for the proles, not our esteemed leaders.

On to the speech:

“I speak to you not as an elected official or a public figure, but I speak to you as a human being.  A woman whose dreams of motherhood now taste bittersweet, because of what I know about our children’s future.”

Oh the pain!  Maybe I’m jaded, but doesn’t her emotion sound a bit forced?  Also, please note that her dream of motherhood is merely “bittersweet” – not over.  She didn’t vow that she won’t have kids, like some some of her climate alarmist brethren, which is really too bad.  I’m all for the crazies self-selecting not to reproduce.

“I speak to you as daughter and descendant of colonized people who have already begun to suffer.  Just two years ago one of the deadliest disasters in the United States struck in the form of Hurricane Maria.  The climate change-powered storm killed over 3,000 Puerto Ricans, American citizens — my own grandfather died in the aftermath — all because they were living under colonial rule, which contributed to the dire conditions and lack of recovery.”

What is she even talking about?  The U.S. federal government sent tons of aid to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.  Much of the failed recovery rollout was due to the local leadership in Puerto Rico – not the federal government or “American colonization.”  But when has AOC ever let facts get in the way of a good narrative?

The climate crisis’s path is first impacting those who have not only contributed to our emissions the least but have already suffered greatly in the global history of inequality, colonization, and imperialism, stacking one injustice upon another.  But this is everyone’s loss too, and no person is insulated from this reality because many of the people ravaged and marginalized in our current regimes, the lineages of farmers, indigenous peoples, and tightly-knit communities also have knowledge of many of the practices that are our solutions as well.  So it is no secret that many of our scientific conclusions reinforce indigenous wisdom and practices cultivated over thousands of years.

Again, what is she talking about?  I’m so tired of all the supposed ills of society being related to climate change.  Of course indigenous communities tend to be more environmentally friendly than modern society: they tend to be small, lower-tech communities highly attuned to the Earth.  That’s great, but it’s not sustainable for the vast majority of Earth’s population.

Also, the connection between imperialism, colonialism, and being affected by (but not contributing to) climate change seems tenuous at best.  Please comment if I’m wrong, because AOC just throws this out there without referencing any specific facts.  But you know who suffered colonization and imperialism only to become one of the worst environmental offenders in the world?  India.

We need to stop making everything into an “us versus them” dichotomy.  These are all nuanced issues and placing blame, rather than proposing solutions, does nothing to solve anything.  Yes, the United States has a history colonization and racial animus.  You know who else does, too?  Pretty much every other nation and group of people on the face of the earth.  Western civilization has also done more than anywhere else to bring people out of poverty and to create and implement tools to reduce or environmental impact.  Let’s remember that occasionally.