"I don’t even know if I want to be in politics. You know, for real, in the first six months of my term, I didn’t even know if I was going to run for re-election this year."

"It’s the incoming. It’s the stress. It’s the violence. It’s the lack of support from your own party. It’s your own party thinking you’re the enemy. When your own colleagues talk anonymously in the press and then turn around and say you’re bad because you actually append your name to your opinion. I chose to run for re-election because I felt like I had to prove that this is real. That this movement was real. That I wasn’t a fluke....  But I’m serious when I tell people the odds of me running for higher office and the odds of me just going off trying to start a homestead somewhere — they’re probably the same."

Said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in an interview with the NYT yesterday.

Start a homestead? You mean something like this? — 

 

From "What Is Homesteading?" (Treehugger): "Ultimately, the broadest definition is that it is a lifestyle with a commitment to self-sufficiency. This can encompass growing and preserving food; providing your own electricity with solar, wind or water; and even making your own fabric and clothing. Some homesteaders aspire never to use money; they want to make or barter for everything they need...."

Wikipedia, "Homesteading": "Pursued in different ways around the world—and in different historical eras—homesteading is generally differentiated from rural villages or commune living by isolation (either socially or physically) of the homestead.... Modern homesteaders often use renewable energy options including solar electricity and wind power. Many also choose to plant and grow heirloom vegetables and to raise heritage livestock."

Is it strange that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is talking about homesteading? I hear in her statement something like: You people don't deserve me; I was made for better things. And I don't think that's arrogant or mere teasing. Who belongs in politics?!