"For one of us to make it through, a hundred of us have to try."
Public number: Edge Cooper
Today is the second anniversary of Miss AOC winning the primary election, and yesterday she won again. Wrote an article specifically for her, I wish her farther and farther.
From waiter to congressman, love her or hate her, it’s better to get to know her first
#8.6 update
Congratulations to Miss Cori Bush who defeated her father and son who had served for many years in Missouri.
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This is a film review of a documentary, and it doesn't stop there.
This documentary is about politics and more about the people.
To this day, even in the "beacon of mankind" America, democratic elections have long since become a money-burning battle, a house of cards game.
Class consolidation and the gap between the rich and the poor are the sun spots that this glowing little sun cannot get rid of. Political games have become a one-man show for wealthy old white men, and the struggles in the slums are buried in the ambitions of Washington.
Some people say that this is not our America, this is not the America of the people.
It’s time for a change. Since no politician has the courage to come forward, then we will become a change——
In 2016, Bernie Sanders, who was committed to bringing a new atmosphere to the United States, lost to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic election. Although he did not win the election, his supporters formed the "Brand New Congress" organization (BNC).
It does not consider the distinction between political parties and class background. It hopes to select political veterans who have not held public positions to replace those decadent and ineffective MPs, eliminate the negative influence of money in politics, and inject fresh blood into democracy.
In the 10,000 resumes voted in like snowflakes, BNC picked 30 candidates.
In this Netflix political documentary "Knock Down The House" / "Knock Down The House", we will see four very different women selected by BNC. They are waiters, single mothers, and daughters of nurses and miners.
However, in the 2018 midterm elections, they chose not to remain silent, and instead joined the local elections as grassroots to fight against powerful incumbent politicians.
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She who is no longer silent
Paula Jane Kim Willen (Paula Jean Swearengin) is a coal miner's daughter from West Virginia. In her hometown, where coal mining is endless, mountains are razed, and waste is dumped, she can easily point out who in the house passing by has cancer and who has died.
Senator Joe Manche, who she is about to challenge, has obtained millions of dollars in assets from coal mining companies and trumpets the benefits of the coal industry.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), abbreviated as AOC , is a Latino in the Bronx, New York. She works as a waiter during the day and attends political meetings at night.
In the post-financial crisis era, her father passed away in her sophomore year . She graduated from Boston University alone to carry the burden of the family and hold several jobs, just to pay off her debts and keep her house.
When Crowley, the tenth-term constituency councillor, sat back and relax in Washington, blue-collar Bronx people like her could no longer keep up with the expensive Statue of Liberty.
But remember this name first, she will be the strongest in this storm of change.
Amy Vilela (Amy Vilela) is a single mother living in Nevada. Her daughter was turned away from the hospital because she could not provide health insurance. She eventually died of a cerebral thrombosis—in the United States, three times a year. Thousands of such families have lost their loved ones.
Among so many parents who have lost their children, some are immersed in grief, some are eager to change, and Amy, she wants to be changed.
Corey Bush (Cori Bush) is a nurse in St. Louis, in 2014, her home had "Mike Brown incident", a street riot police shot and killed because of an unarmed young black outbreak.
A few years later, community security still did not improve, and Missouri's first electoral district, where her hometown was located, still had the highest murder rate per capita.
As a nurse, she can only heal the body, but cannot bridge the division. She has only one choice if she wants to do more.
In the United States House of Representatives has 435 voting congressional district, lawmakers mostly wealthy white males, even long-term member's office was controlled by a family, Missouri first constituency such as Kelibushi to the campaign, from Since 1969 , the seat has been held by William Cray or his son Lacey Cray.
Most ordinary people who have the right to vote have long been exhausted by the burden of life, and it is difficult for them to leave to care about political activities. Many of these elected members only want to keep their jobs and win the next election, rather than thinking about change-that is what the people really need.
The Americans don't ask much. They only hope that politicians will have enough courage to help them make ends meet. If they can't even meet this point, then it's time to replace them.
So these women stepped forward-since no one wants to change, then we will change.
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Uncertain future
The entire documentary is reserved for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), aka AOC.
The from the waiter Bronx story is so interesting, but also because her opponent is too powerful - she is going to challenge Mr fourteenth district of New York, Joseph Crowley (Joseph Crowley), The number four figure in the Democratic Party was once regarded as Pelosi's successor in the House of Representatives.
Fourteen years ago, when Mr. Crowley's last challenger appeared, AOC was not yet of voting age.
Even with the support of the BNC organization, the four candidates, including AOC, are facing severe tests- as members of the BNC, they must reject political donations from large companies and rely on voluntary donations from the people to raise funds that are vital to the campaign. funds.
Compared with the veteran politicians who accept donations from the organization, these grassroots people are very aware of their own disadvantages and know that the other party will suppress them at all costs. Without the funding of labor unions, hotels, executives, and experienced election teams, how far can these grassroots go on their political journey? Let alone bystanders like us, maybe even they themselves can't make up their minds.
In New York, AOC admitted that this is a contest between the people and the powerful.
Since Crowley appointed election officials for each election committee, when submitting the signatures required for the election, if there is a slight error in the signature, they will refuse to accept the signature. So although the actual number of signatures required is 1,250, the AOC and others who want to challenge the superior actually have to collect 10,000 signatures .
In order to avoid the opponent's malicious litigation against themselves and waste their time before the election, they would rather spend three hours verifying the authenticity of signatures and messages one by one.
At the same time, Amy from Nevada is tirelessly calling the phone numbers of target groups, hoping that they can donate 50 or 100 dollars in campaign funds.
AOC's opponents didn't put her in the eyes either-in the first debate with AOC, Crowley only sent his own agent, and he did not attend.
Although underestimating the enemy, Mr. Crowley was not unprepared. During the campaign, he also carried out significant campaign activities, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in TV commercials and emails, and used his opposition to Trump as a selling point.
Unlike AOC's clear-cut campaign concept and future plans, out of self-confidence or other reasons, the tenth-term congressman did not propose a clear future plan— just like he once did .
Although we are sweating for AOC, AOC as a waiter is not stage fright. Some people look down on her as a waiter, but she thinks that her own experience has given her enough experience-as a waiter, she needs to stand for 18 hours, and must learn to face different customers and situations when bartending at the bar. Frequent nights.
As a New Yorker born in the poorest and most chaotic Bronx area, although she was admitted to college on a scholarship, she still had to fight poverty, mortgages and rats on the New York subway every day. Tough is her way of life. This time is no exception.
It's time to fight for a New York that the working class can afford. She chose to start this grassroots battle on the streets——
"They have money, and we have people."
Faced with Crowley’s ten times her own campaign funds, a huge team, and a solid political foundation, AOC is not afraid. She knows that she must do everything she can to encourage those who are disappointed, who no longer trust politics, and are unwilling to vote. Voters, let them know that she is fighting for them.
She visited door to door, handed out flyers on the street, highlighted her grass-roots nature, and created a progressive image that was completely different from traditional politicians such as Crowley. She used Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to reach young voters and conveyed her campaign concept of establishing free public universities and universal health insurance.
During the year of the campaign, the AOC team made 170,000 calls, visited 120,000 homes, and sent 120,000 text messages. Nearly 70% of the campaign funds came from personal donations below US$200.
Although AOC is full of energy, Crowley's team still believes that they are rest assured when there is less than three weeks before the primaries. In their opinion polls, he leads AOC by 36 percentage points. This is also the last poll for Crowley's campaign.
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Ordinary people can do extraordinary things
At the beginning of everything, many people will ask AOC the most fundamental question:
Why you?
Why do you think you can do it?
The answer given by AOC is: because no one wants to do it.
At the end of the story, as the voting date for the primary election ends, the hour hand crosses the dial, and the fate of the four is revealed one by one:
The miner’s daughter Paula Jane won 30.5% of the vote and failed.
Corey Bush received 31% of the vote and lost the competition between veteran congressmen and progressives.
In order to reject the senior management position, Amy Villera, who sold the house, won only 9% of the votes and failed.
The camera sweeps through, everyone on the campaign team is crying, the road to reform is full of bitterness, and the result is so frustrating.
Los Angeles can shoot countless counter-attack movies of the American Dream, and write amazing grassroots stories, leaving viewers with two lines of tears, and embracing immigrants from all directions to make the American Dream overwhelmingly.
But this is not Los Angeles, this is Washington. It carries the glory and pain of the United States. It is transformational and conservative. It does not reject tourists and increases the number of admission tickets.
The political life here is so cruel and ruthless. As a grassroots class, it is never an easy Hollywood dream to break through this ceiling.
After losing the campaign, Amy called AOC and told her not only about herself, but about the possible failure of the entire campaign. At this time, AOC, who has not yet known the results, said firmly:
"For one of us to make it through, a hundred of us have to try."
One person's success requires the efforts of a hundred people. In the end, all eyes were on the AOC whose results have not yet been announced.
Throughout the campaign, they did not have enough funds to conduct polls, and when they finally had the funds, it turned out that they were 30% behind Crowley.
Even so, no one is willing to give up. At the last minute, her supporters wrote her name in chalk on the ground in front of the subway station, encouraging people to vote.
When the pointer at 9 pm on Tuesday night passed, AOC knew that no matter what the result was, everything would be gone.
After the voting ended, she circulated around the entrance of the bar where she took office, daring to watch the results of the election for a long time. She is afraid of failure and even more afraid of disappointing her supporters. And when she saw the cheering crowd gathered in the bar, she rushed towards the bar with an incredulous scream on her face——
She won.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez won by 15 percentage points with a 57.13% winning rate and defeated the veteran politician Crowley, becoming one of the four documentaries and one of the thirty candidates launched by the BNC The only one who won the election. 2 8 years old, she became the youngest congressman in US history.
Alexandra cried. This Latino, Puerto Rican, this descendant of Taino Indians and African slaves, this proud American proved that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
Her victory is not only a proof that American democracy is not dead, but her bitterness is also a mark of how difficult it is for an amateur to be on this democratic road.
Hope and change exist, she firmly believes. Because her success is the first step in this change.
The defeated Amy, Corey Bush and Paula Jane also believe that the victory of AOC will inspire themselves and more people to the political stage and accomplish what should be done.
If no one fights for ordinary people, there is only me.
If there is no change, then I will become a change.
AOC did it.
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This Land is My Land
As a documentary produced by Netflix, it is about the grassroots counterattack story that Netflix is best at and the Americans love to watch. Is it strange to film it? The problem is that it is flat.
From a documentary point of view, it may be that the story of AOC was too brilliant. The documentary did not focus much on the other three candidates. This not only allowed us to witness the success of AOC, but also made the film match a little confusing.
But in terms of storytelling, the lack of skill this time has been well concealed in front of the already exciting prototype story. I think this is probably the charm of the American dream. After all, who would not want to watch the story of grassroots counterattacks?
Even if the viewer has a God’s perspective, knowing that the ending will be a mixed victory and the AOC will eventually win the election, as "This Land Is Your Land" sounds at the end, they can't help but call the United States a promising one. The country is excited for this grassroots victory.
Although reality is not always an American dream, the AOC victory is just a difficult attempt to break through the system. After knocking on the door of Capitol Hill, the political star still has a long way to go in Washington.
But I prefer to believe that this attempt by the four of them to participate in the 2018 elections did bring about a change- Paula Jane, who lost two years ago , won the seat of West Virginia in this year's Democratic primary.
In the 14th district primaries of New York, which ended early this morning, Beijing time, the AOC, which has been badly criticized by the Republican Party, completely crushed other candidates in the party with 72.6% of the votes , including Wall Street endorsed Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Re-election is a foregone conclusion. .
After closing the news, I once again remembered the song "This Land Is Your Land" that sounded at the end of the film .
In 1940, before the aftermath of the Great Depression, folk singer Woody Guthrie considered Erving Berlin's song "God Bless America" to be flashy and an affront to the reality of the Great Depression and to the people in distress.
So he personally wrote a song, expressing feelings about the hardship of the people at the bottom and the ruthlessness of the rich in plundering their wealth. He sang the glory and pain of the United States and is one of the most popular folk songs in the United States. Limited by the public opinion environment at the time, he was forced to delete the following lyrics that were dismissive of private property:
"They put up a sign that said,
They set up signs that said
oh, it said: Private Property
Oh, it says: private property
Well, on the back side,
However, on the back of it
you know it said nothing
You know it has nothing on the back
So, it must be that side was made for you and me"
Therefore, that side is set up for you and me
At the end of the documentary, the successful AOC and her boyfriend came to the Capitol in Washington. She still remembers when her father took her on a car trip through Washington when she was young, and they stopped in front of the Capitol.
Father pointed to the monument, pointed to the reflecting pool, pointed to all of this. He said to his daughter, do you know that these all belong to us. "This is our government, it belongs to us, so these are all yours."
Alexandra hid her face in front of the Capitol and wept. At this time, the voice of female singer Sharon Jones rang, and she no longer needed to sing the abridged version because:
This land is your land,
This is your land
this land is my land
This is my land
From California,
From California
well, to the New York island
To New York Island
From the redwood forest,
From the Sequoia Forest
to the gulf stream waters
To the Gulf of Mexico
I tell ya: This land was made for you and me
I tell you: this land was built for us
This land was made for you and me.
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