President Javier Milei has given a very interesting interview to The Free Press. In it, he discusses how "traditional" economic measures have landed Argentina in very troubled waters indeed, and how he's taking a wrecking ball to the State-dominated economy in an attempt to fix matters by restoring economic freedom. What's more, it seems to be working - unlike the Biden administration's feckless efforts to control our economy, which are driving it into the dirt instead.
Argentina today is in grave crisis. It has defaulted on its sovereign debt three times since 2001, and a few months ago, it faced an annualized inflation rate of over 200 percent—one of the highest in the world.
Why? What happened?
Argentina’s new president says it’s simple: socialism.
When Javier Milei took office in December 2023, he became the world’s first libertarian head of state. During his campaign, he made his views clear: “Let it all blow up, let the economy blow up, and take this entire garbage political caste down with it.” In case the chainsaw he wielded on the campaign trail left any question about his intentions, during his victory speech last year, he reiterated his vision: “Argentina’s situation is critical. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism, no room for lukewarm measures.”
There is nothing gradual about what Milei is now doing.
He’s eliminating government ministries and services, cutting regulations, privatizing state-run companies, and purposely creating a recession to curb the out-of-control inflation.
This is why people voted for him: change. They saw someone who could shake things up in a way that could turn out to be lifesaving for the country—even if it meant short-term economic pain.
. . .
What really makes Milei unusual is that he is the ultimate skunk at the garden party. In a world of liberals and conservatives, he doesn’t represent either side. He is ultra-liberal on economics, but right-wing and populist on rhetoric. He is anti-abortion, but favors the legalization of prostitution. He wants to deregulate the gun market and legalize the organ trade.
He calls himself an anarcho-capitalist, which basically means he believes the state, as he told me, is “a violent organization that lives from a coercive source which is taxes.” Essentially, he’s a head of state who really doesn’t believe in states. Or at least, not theoretically.
. . .
BW: Can you explain why you think economic libertarianism and anti-wokeism—for lack of a better term—go together? Because for many people here in the States, that’s not a natural pairing.
JM: The way people have been educated has not been for full freedom. The world I’m proposing is a more free world. This is why the culture battle is so important. The culture battle is part of showing the world that for many years, it was mistaken. In fact, what is today politically correct is an abhorrent world because it has loads of socialism. The tendency will always be toward socialism, and that’s the big battle. This is why it is said that the cost of freedom is constant surveillance.
The state exists because humans have failed to live together in peace. And this is why the state government exists. These problems are something that technology could fix. So this is very important because the real world may start to look more like the anarcho-capitalist ideal as technological progress evolves. This is why I’m trying to foster and showcase all technological matters in Argentina, because that will accelerate the progress of freedom. But even economists have not been educated to understand this.
For now, it seems to be going very well, but what’s quite clear to me is that I will die fighting. I will not surrender.
There's more at the link. It's all interesting, and well worth your time to read or watch on video.
Peter
3 comments:
Definitely interesting, and it will be interesting to watch how much he accomplishes.
This is a good sign, the saying has been "you can vote yourself into socialism, but have to shoot your way out", this is the only example I can think of where people have voted their way out.
But it's still early days, here's hoping that the people are willing to stick with him through the painful parts. Right now they are still remembering the socialism pain from a few months ago, the danger area will be when those memories start to fade and much smaller, but current pains draw their attention.
David Lang
If he manages to avoid getting shot by angry socialists, Milei might do the people of Argentina some real good. We could use another of him here in the USA - the absolutely ridiculous bureaucratic bloat that has taken hold here could use someone coming in and axing the out-of-control growth.
Do I agree with all his positions? Heck no. But again, he's doing right by his people, and he's brave enough to literally tell the Davos crowd to their faces that their global government is evil. That counts for a lot.
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