Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on a May 7 podcast that 'You can't earn a billion dollars,' arguing that billionaire wealth results from systemic factors rather than individual effort. The statement generated debate — Washington Post published a critical opinion piece, while AOC doubled down at a University of Chicago event, connecting billionaire concentration to inequality. What's missing: the full argument AOC made about whether earning is even the right framework for thinking about billionaire wealth, versus whether systemic structures enable or prevent wealth accumulation at that scale.