Simple and dangerous ideas, by Ramon Aymerich

Futurism, the artistic movement of the first decade of the 20th century that was identified with Italian fascism, exalted war and speed. It was his way of visualizing his rejection of the past and embracing modernity, technology, and revolution. In Javier Milei's message there is no proposal that is revolutionary or disruptive. What stands out, what inflames his younger voters, has been his fascination with destruction. That chainsaw with which he appears at demonstrations, those blows and outbursts from his television outbursts. Today everyone in Argentina hopes that all this destruction remains only in gestures and not in the vibrations of a volatile and unstable person.

Javier Milei has won in Argentina with a libertarian-inspired program. It may seem like an exotic proposition. But there is nothing mysterious about it. It is a set of simple ideas that translate into an intimate rejection of the State, of everything public. In the 1930s, anarchism was a poor thing. They distributed leaflets with the motto “Neither God, nor country nor boss” and they wanted to organize society without interference from any power.

Milei's libertarian ideas are very different. They are a later invention of the most radical faction of liberalism that the technocracy of Silicon Valley has rehabilitated, an ideology defended by magnates such as Peter Thiel or Elon Musk. She seeks to dispense with the State and put taxes at zero on the scoreboard. This makes it a dangerous dystopia in complex economies and a hell for the societies that suffer from it. In this policy, any desire to redistribute resources and responsibilities, to restore equal opportunities, disappears.

The conversion of the State to the minimum expression could be a catastrophe for Argentina, as defended in a manifesto distributed last week by a group of international economists. Milei has proposed eliminating the Central Bank and dollarizing the economy (losing monetary sovereignty and surrendering to the dollar to stop inflation, a painful and unclear formula).

In any case, it is major surgery for chronic illnesses. And its application can only cause more suffering among the population.

Great victory for the global far-right: its message is simple and captivates young people

It is likely that when push comes to shove, the winning candidate will not be able to put those ideas into practice. That he lacks a sufficient majority in the House and his allies force him to moderate these proposals. By then, the damage will already be done. His victory will have validated ideas that should be locked inside a lamp and never have left it.

But Milei has been the bet of many young Argentines and also of a significant part of poor Argentines. Many observers indicate that in his victory there is no adherence to his ideas: the liberalization of the sale of weapons, the legalization of the sale of organs, the suppression of the right to abortion or climate denialism, which he describes as the latest invention of the socialists. . Nor does it mean that they think that the left, characterized as the enemy and indiscriminately described as communist, should disappear. Nor do they share the candidate's understanding of the crimes of the military dictatorship, “excesses” according to him, which led to the death or disappearance of 30,000 people.

No. In his vote, what there is is desperation. Fed up with a policy that has impoverished them for years. Tiredness of a traditional party system involved in corruption and that has been unable to resolve a crisis that broke out in 2000 (in reality, due to policies not so far removed from those of the now winning candidate). Declassification is an uncontrollable force. Anxiety over the loss of status of broad social strata leads society to chaos. It makes the political system incomprehensible. That's where we are today.

In few societies like Argentina, inequality is experienced in such a bloody way. Latin America's second economy, rich in energy and food, is a cultured and educated society. Paradoxically, in this drunkenness for cuts, Milei also wants to cut spending on education, one of the assets of this society (and abolish the Ministry of Education).

It will be difficult to resolve the ills of Argentina, an economy that in the last half century has lived on a true roller coaster of non-payments, chronic fiscal deficits and in which inflation periodically destroys the savings of the poorest. To solve this, we must reform the party system and dismantle the system of benefits and clientelistic subsidies of Peronism. But it is something complex and slow. And ultimately, it must also have a favorable international framework. Because, like other South American economies, Argentina is too dependent on the prices of the raw materials from which it obtains its wealth. It's not something that can be fixed with a chainsaw.

With the vote for Milei, Argentina lends itself to radical surgery for its chronic illnesses

Milei's victory in the elections is an extraordinary triumph for the international extreme right. Donald Trump was the first to congratulate him. Jair Bolsonaro, the second. And shortly after, Elon Musk did it from the social network of which he is the owner. The victory of the libertarian means the propagation of a corpus of ideas as simple as they are dangerous. Young people like Milei. She conveys a carefree and informal image. And she achieves great success in the Spanish-speaking world. Also in Spain, where her victory is being greatly celebrated.