Javier Milei is the president elect of Argentina, and if all goes according to plan, on December 10, 2023, he will be the fiftieth president of Argentina. The election of Milei presents many firsts for an Argentinian president. He’s the first Argentine president to be an economist and a professor of economics. Interestingly, he has devoted himself to studying economics since the age of 10 because Argentina went into hyperinflation; he taught economics for over 20 years and wrote more than 50 academic papers. He’s not only Argentina’s first libertarian president (or, as he has described himself, an “anarcho-capitalist”), but also the world’s. He’s also potentially the first in Latin American history to run on promises to take away benefits and handouts rather than give them. This fact alone tells you about the deep dissatisfaction with the political class in Argentina, which has run for much too long on unfulfilled promises. Indeed, many left-leaning parties throughout the world “buy” their votes, whether it’s Canada, the United States, Spain, or others. This shift in Argentina and in various countries throughout the world is a telltale sign that, most obviously, socialism has always been and will always be a failure, but also that more and more people are catching on despite what they teach through the bastions of indoctrination, which we still call the education system. Apparently, teaching that there are 267 genders isn’t preparing our youth to be conscientious contributors to society.
The election of Milei is no doubt indicative of great frustration among the general population of Argentina, but it is more than just that. The status quo politics of establishment parties and politicians had left the average person not only disenchanted and impoverished but also disenfranchised. Indeed, the “elites” and the political class have forgotten the common hardworking, law-abiding person. Instead, handouts are given to those who do not work, and theft is rewarded from top to bottom. Every time a politician hands out “free money,” rest assured that it is not they who are paying for it. The everyday working person is the one who feels the burden of inflation. For a middle-class person, it will take them more than a lifetime to mortgage a house. The lending interest rates have gone up from 35.56% in 2021 to 54.40% in 2022—it will take the average income earner several lifetimes to be able to pay off a single home. (To put things in perspective, in Canada, where buying homes has become unaffordable for the average person, mortgage rates average between 6% and 8%.) Accordingly, gas and food prices have increasingly become unaffordable as well.
Some Changing Global Trends in the Backdrop
Indeed, the sinister saying “you will own nothing and be happy” is their intended goal. The elites don’t want people, i.e., the peasants, to travel and own houses but rather live communally or drive cars (live in 15-minute cities), eat meat (they prefer you to eat insects), and live off a universal basic income that they can control if you do not behave by their standards, which would include deciding what you put into your body and exercising your God given right to speak against these evils. This is the world they envision, where the peasants live a monitored, controlled, censored, and impoverished life while they live a life of lavishness and freedom. It’s the classic hypocritical communist story.
Despite the lies that governments and the media feed the people when it comes to covering up this World Economic Forum-led globalist agenda, more and more people are realizing what is going on. This is precisely why we have seen a spike in conservative populism, or even libertarianism, in the West. The recent and unexpected rise of Geert Wilders as the Netherlands’s next prime minister is another example aside from Milei of this.
The Rise of Milei
In his acceptance speech, Milei emphasized that “today begins the reconstruction of Argentina.” But what was it that was destroyed that needs rebuilding?
It is important to understand that, from a period of 1860 to 1930, Argentina was among the richest countries in the world per capita, but despite having an abundance of natural resources, such as minerals and large areas of fertile land, its economy began gradually deteriorating with bouts of exponential inflationary increases ever since the 1930s. Throughout the 1960s, despite destructive economic policies and a succession of corrupt governments, it remained above its South American neighbors. However, from 1975 to 1991, Argentina’s economy was devastated by at least a 300% increase in yearly inflation, increasing prices by around 20 billion times. From 1998 to 2002, Argentina endured a great depression. In 2001, Argentina’s exchange rate pegged the US dollar to the Argentine peso, which effectively made their exports uncompetitive. Fearing an economic crash, this drove many to convert their pesos into American dollars and transfer the money to offshore accounts. This was demolishing the banking system and thus forcing the government to impose its infamous “corralito,” which was to freeze bank accounts for 90 days. This draconian measure precipitated major riots throughout the country. Moving forward to 2023, Argentina has hit 142.7%, with predictions of reaching 210% by the end of 2023.
Milei is a proponent of the Austrian School of Economics (ASE). Essential to ASE is the understanding that the economic values of goods and services are inherently subjective; in other words, your friend’s value or preference for a certain good may not hold as much value for you. The understanding rests on the inclinations and actions of individuals and their preferences and desires. For the ASE, capital goods are not homogenous but rather heterogeneous, i.e., you cannot substitute wood for concrete, marble, brick, pickup trucks, or scissor lifts. Unlike Keynesian economics, which treats each of these in the same fashion, the insight of ASE leads to the understanding and empirical confirmation that the production of incorrect capital goods can lead to unwanted waste and require potentially arduous corrective measures. This innovative way of thinking about economics can lead to unique solutions that can benefit countries in ways that other models can’t.
Accordingly, Milei plans on significantly reducing the size of government and has promised to cut down government ministries that have next to no real value to most people. One may wonder, given that he’s a proponent of ASE, that these ministries may have some value, but that’s the point; if they do, then they would survive in the private sector. This is where big tech steps in and has pushed the woke agenda. Indeed, we have increasingly come to witness the merging of big tech (corporate power) with big government (state) to form a fascist state (corporate kleptocracy)—this is fueled by the left.
Milei also intends on scrapping the peso and dollarizing the economy. Milei has rightfully pointed out that inflation hits the poorest the hardest since the money reaches them last after it loses more and more value. And the ones who benefit from it the most are the politicians, who first spend the money while acting as if they are favouring the people. For much too long, countries have relied on printing money as the solution to economic crises.
Increasingly, and rather painfully, I have come to learn that all of our institutions are controlled by those who control the money, i.e., the big tech oligarchs and bankers. That’s why writing, protesting, voting, or exercising any democratic right (although these are increasingly being stripped in some senses from us) may help raise awareness and give a sense of civic responsibility, ultimately doing nothing to counter and change the narrative. What will change the narrative is control of the money, where it goes back into the hands of the people. Thus, the culture and education system will not be overhauled until this happens. There’s a need for the decentralization of money. Some routes for this include cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, and precious metals like gold and silver. As Milei has put it: “if printing money would end poverty, printing diplomas would end stupidity.”
As a heavy critic of central banks, Milei has emphasized his support of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, since they would return money to their actual producers, i.e., the private sector. Milei has stated: “With legal tender, they scam you with the inflationary tax… #Bitcoin is the natural reaction against central bank scammers: to make money private again.” Milei also recognizes the high value of Bitcoin because of its finite supply; it cannot be printed endlessly like fiat currency. Despite this support, it remains unclear whether he intends to incorporate crypto into his economic policies.
Aside from his economic astuteness, what other reasons do common-sense people have to like Milei and hope for a similar leader to rise in their respective countries?
A Sledgehammer to Leftism and Wokeism
With the push toward cultural Marxism and wokeism by big tech, the media, and governments throughout the world, Milei can act as a sledgehammer to such nonsensical ideas. He is very vocal about what he thinks of leftism and its ruthlessness. Not unlike Donald Trump, Milei is not shy about saying what he thinks, but his criticisms are much more scathing and his approach more abrasive. Given the left’s historical record, whether it’s communists, socialists, or cultural Marxists, none of it is untrue, though:
You can’t give […] leftards an inch. All collectivists, all kinds of collectivists. […] If you think differently from them they will kill you. This is the point. You can’t give […] leftists an inch, if you give them an inch they will use it to destroy you … Now, if you are on the other side, they will ruin you. They will kill you, they will throw you everything, they don’t care if they ruin your whole life. Why? Only because you don’t think like them.
And do you know what’s the good part in all of this? Because since to err is human, since everyone can be mistaken, they force us to be better. And since we are getting better than them, since we are crushing them in the cultural battle, we’re not only superior economically, we are morally superior, we are aesthetically superior, we are better than them in everything, and that triggers them… You can’t negotiate with leftards. You don’t negotiate with trash because they will end you!
On Transgender Ideology
This can help create an atmosphere where people are not forced to accept untruths such as unscientific and immoral practices that claim that men and women are interchangeable, which affect sports, society in general, and children’s mental and physical in particular. He has ridiculed the unmedical practice of sexual reassignment surgery. He has made it clear that it will not be funded, nor will this ideology be taught in the schools.
Prolife Stance
His pro-life stance would be of particular interest to traditional Christians. Milei opposes both abortion and euthanasia. Milei recognizes that the first right above all rights is the right to life. He has stated that:
When you construct on the basis of an incorrect moral principle, the result is filth. How can being able to kill other human beings be a right gained? As a liberal [libertarian], I believe in the unrestricted right to life based on the defence of life, liberty and property. I defend life, biology says that life begins with conception.
On Social Justice
Milei denounces social justice as thievery. He also recognizes that social justice is oxymoronic and actually creates injustice by favouring certain people over others:
We are at the end of the model of the caste based on that atrocity of where there is a need, there is a right but they’re forgetting that somebody has to pay for that right. Its maximum expression is that aberration called social justice which is unjust because it implies unequal treatment in the face of the law.
On His Countryman, Pope Francis
He has allegedly called Pope Francis a “filthy leftist” and a “communist.” In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he has said that:
The Pope plays politics. He has a strong political influence. And he has shown strong affinity for dictators such as Castro and Maduro. He is on the side of bloody dictatorships… He has an affinity for murderous communists. In fact, he does condemn them. He’s quite lenient to them. He’s also lenient with the Venezuelan dictatorship. He’s lenient toward the entire left, even when they are true criminals. That’s a problem. But he also takes social justice, as a central element of his vision. That’s difficult, because what is social justice, truly? It’s stealing the fruits of one person’s labor and giving it to someone else. So, it means two things: First it’s stealing. The problem with that is that one of the Ten Commandments is thou shall not steal. To support social justice is to support stealing… [Second, iterating what was mentioned above] I don’t think it’s fair for some people to be rewarded while others are punished all through the power of the state.
Admittedly, there is a stark contrast between many of Pope Francis’s views (not speaking ex-cathedra) and those of Saint Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who were harshly critical of dictatorships, including all communist regimes. JP II was heavily involved in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On Law & Order
Milei has been very clear that he will arrest anyone who breaks the law and who purposely tries to undermine the new leadership through violent protest. As many may have noticed, throughout the world, there is a double standard when it comes to protesting. Typically, the left is unhinged by illegal activity (e.g., burning churches in Canada and anti-fa violence in the US), and those who are not on the left face arrests for peaceful protesting (the trucker and freedom supporters in Canada) because they fall on the “wrong side” of the political spectrum. Milei will not tolerate this.
Concluding Reflection
In the end, those who control the finances control the narrative. What has happened to Argentina over the past century should function as a warning to Western countries, which have had much abundance, like Canada, whose Liberal Government and insufferable Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, are following the globalist agenda and wreaking havoc on its citizens with soaring gas and food prices and skyrocketing mortgage rates. The state-sponsored media has gotten so desperate that they have to label the opposition party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, an “intellectual bully” for pointing out simple facts, as he has in this video where he clearly lays out the unaffordable cost of living in Canada and the accumulation of debt under the Trudeau government. The polls show Trudeau isn’t doing very well, but remarkably, in the past, he has managed to get re-elected despite innumerable examples of corruption, incompetence, and malevolence. Perhaps Canada needs its own Milei, but Poilievre will have to do for now, given he’s our only realistic chance to unseat a megalomaniacal wannabe tyrant. Poilievre has some good ideas, but unfortunately, at least half of the Conservative Party of Canada accepts the culture of death and woke ideology.
As exciting as positive change can be, many of which can benefit people of good will, we mustn’t forget the limits of politics, money, and other worldly things since our ultimate purpose and destiny transcend this world. Thus, Jesus’s words are clear: our ultimate loyalty and faithfulness must be undivided: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).
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