The mainstream press has totally misunderstood Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei. We pay attention to Argentina. Partly because we have an office in Buenos Aires and investments in Salta Province, and partly because we learn from it.
When it comes to politics and finance, there is no goofy, absurd and counterproductive trick the Argentines haven’t tried at least once. We study their trip over the last 120 years – from king of the road, and then, down into the gutter. And now we get to watch as they try to tow themselves back on the highway. (We even played a small part in Milei’s election. The New York Times says an endorsement from former president Mauricio Macri helped put Milei over the top. Our office down there put Milei and Macri together.)
But just look at the press coverage. Every publication from The Washington Post to Reuters reports has him down as a “far right” extremist. The Post says his election marks “the sharpest turn to the right in four decades of democracy in the country”. Turn to the right? Do these reporters know their left from their right?
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“What isn’t” – a world in which the chips fall where they may, not necessarily where the elite want them; that is, a world with less government – is unwelcome. In the world that is, they see government as the source of wealth and power. The only question is: where does it go? To the left, poorly represented by Joe Biden? Or to the right, poorly represented by Donald Trump?
Trump, on the right, is another matter. Generally despised and distrusted by the great and the good, he is the perfect foil for the elite left – a fake and incompetent reformer.
Both Biden and Trump believe that “the people” can’t be allowed to err and stray like lost sheep. They need direction, and they will give it to them – at the barrel of a gun, if necessary.
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