Libertarian Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina by a wide margin. His policies are based on classic libertarian principles, including cutting the number of government agencies, stopping the central bank from manipulating fiscal policy, etc. It is about less power for the state and more power for the individual. And possible punishment for those who led the country to ruin.
Argentina is the country that was once rich and successful, and could still be, but always falls into an abyss of financial and economic crises. The politics and economy are mismanaged by corrupt leaders, and this has been going on for decades. In the end, the people got fed up and finally elected someone like Javier Milei, whose solutions may be unconventional in the current climate of debate, but who also relies on classical Austrian economics and a lot of common sense.
CNN describes Milei as far-reight, as does the New York Times, where the latter is a kind of yardstick and leveller for the left-wing media sphere.
Nowadays, the term far-right is used to describe an individual who wants to reduce state power and its institutions, and lower the tax burden. Right-wingers do not accept the idea of an ever-expanding government; they are opposed to socialist ideas, where the state takes care of everything, from the cradle to the grave.
Note that the epithet far-right is often followed by accusations of racism. It is almost as if we have forgotten that in a free society we are allowed to think what we want about both individuals and groups, both in speech and in writing. But we must not threaten, harm or murder either individuals or groups. Words are words. Actions are something else.
The right-wing extremist phenomenon is also known as populism, which has become a kind of dirty word. And this is strange, as all democratic systems are actually populist. Whereas aristocracies, kingdoms or dictatorships are elitist, because few people rule and the vast majority have little or no influence. Populism should be something positive and natural, communicating with the people and the masses.
Perhaps the smearing of populism is a Freudian slip by today’s powerful elite?
We wish Javier Milei the best of luck in lifting Argentina out of its economic misery.
