Worse, Argentina has one of the best social infrastructures in the world and he’s campaigning against it. They are voting in someone who is going to remove free healthcare and universal pensions.
Not to defend Milei (he’s a total knob), but one could argue that Argentina’s social infrastructure is a big part of the problem. The state has been notorious for spending much more money than it makes for decades… and still poverty is rampant and rapidly increasing in many parts of the country. It’s obvious that the established system simply doesn’t work, and hasn’t worked for decades.
Doing away with corruption would obviously be a great thing, but the fact remains that too many people are dependent on some kind of government subsidy either because it’s the easiest way (heavily subsidised parts of the economy, cozy government ‘job’, …) or because they simply have no other option due to the bad economy.
The Argentine constitution states that healthcare is a human right. This is the philosophy on which the country operates. Putting millions off of healthcare will never be a great thing.
I agree that their financials are a mess. The problem is really incompetence more than anything. The NIMBY problem exists in its own special level there and basically those with don’t want to support those without, which is how they are voting. It’s an empathy problem.
You can certainly have a single payer system work efficiently, many countries do. It is not the cause of Argentina’s problems.
I agree with you on the healthcare, but that’s not where I’d start changing things. The main problem I see (and our friends/relatives in Argentina tell us about) is that the state is expected to pay for a lot of basic necessities because people, even those with a full-time job, can’t afford them… and the various governments have a habit of doing the worst possible thing.
For instance when electricity prices exploded in 2019/2020, the government apparently paid out 5000 pesos to every household but did nothing to address the root cause. Another time retired people got a flat fee of 6000 pesos. No money went into improving the country’s electricity grid or power efficiency (or no money that wasn’t somehow ‘lost’ underway, anyways).
The same goes for unemployment money. While it is important, in the long term it would make more sense to create an environment where the economy can prosper instead of paying the unemployed what is frankly a pittance. Most unemployed people would rather work than live off welfare, if given the chance.
But then there’s the challenge of transforming the existing economy, especially industry, into something sustainable that could survive without heavy government subsidies. But that discussion is going to lead to a fundamental discussion about peronism, so let’s not go there please.
A lot of these things are probably at least partially caused by incompetence, but that’s not a valid excuse IMO. If you run for office, you should bring the necessary qualifications, and also be able to judge the qualifications of the people working for you
Just for reference, I went to grad school in Buenos Aires and lived there for about 5 years, which is where many of my opinions come from. I really feel like there is an endemic problem where people simply won’t vote in those who really are competent and can fix things. It’s really about the politics of name recognition and such. It’s a bit like what the GOP does int he US–that is, nothing useful. I remain hopeful but doubtful that the people will eventually pick up on this and change tactics.
I remain hopeful but doubtful that the people will eventually pick up on this and change tactics.
Same here. I’m not going to hold my breath though - I personally know too many people who voted for Fernandez/Kirchner even though the Kirchner clan is arguably the apex of corruption and directly responsible for one of the worst bankruptcies in the country’s history… just because they were unhappy with Macri’s budget cuts (which funny enough were way less far-reaching than what Milei wants to do) and Kirchner double-pinky promised to do better this time.
I’m not going to pretend to have the answer to all (or even most) questions. It’s just insert adjective for ‘argh!!!’ here to watch a country with such natural riches and resources so skillfully flush itself further and further down the crapper. But I’m going to have to agree with your assessment and there’s probably not much that can be done from outside the country.
On the upside: thanks to Western Union basing its exchange rates on the dólar blue, supporting my niece’s studies now costs five times less than what it cost two years ago, so there’s that!
I went to grad school in Buenos Aires and lived there for about 5 years
This is a bit off-topic and just personal curiosity: what made you choose Argentina, resp. Buenos Aires? Do you know somebody there, did you want to see the city/country, or is it just the logical choice where you’re from?
Re: grad school, I studied linguistics and Spanish as an undergrad and wanted to do grad school somewhere Spanish speaking. I spent time researching countries and universities and the Universidad de Buenos Aires was clearly the choice for affordability, quality, and being in a very large cosmopolitan area. I really did enjoy my time there and would still be there if it weren’t for the economic collapse. I had been working and got laid off, literally a couple courses shy of finishing. I got married there and my husband now lives with me in the US.
Aw man, having to quit when you can already smell the finish line is extra mean. I hope you were still able to finish your courses, even if it had to be elsewhere. But…! Spectacularly belated congratulations for the happy couple! If the festivities were in Buenos Aires it must have been quite an event.
This probably also gives you a unique insider view of the country from the outside, the culture and the people. I would imagine it to be quite interesting to get you talking over a good Merlot (or a still water if you prefer) and some empanadas (make mine jamón y queso).
Save for a short one-day stop between flights in September, we’ve last been in Buenos Aires around New Year 2019/2020. It is an impressive city in many aspects. My sister-in-law who is a cop accompanied us. Even then, we were advised to leave La Boca before 5 pm. I’m not sure I’d want to go there at all in the current climate, even though it was one of the more enjoyable and pretty parts of town. But then again, everywhere I go there’s that huge imaginary billboard hovering above my head that says “Gringo with money who’s unfamiliar with how things work here” in huge letters. Or maybe I’m just slightly paranoid.
Personally I find it difficult to call him a libertarian when there are so many existing liberties that he wants to make illegal (see the parts of his agenda labelled ‘homophobia’ and ‘misogyny’).
Not that a label being misleading would ever have stopped a politician from applying it to themselves as long as they think it gets them votes…
Personally I find it difficult to call him a libertarian when there are so many existing liberties that he wants to make illegal (see the parts of his agenda labelled ‘homophobia’ and ‘misogyny’).
well, that’s just most right-libertarians (and especially anarcho-capitalists) if we’re being honest. the practice decidedly does not correspond with their stated principles for most of them–to the point where it might be more dishonest to describe them by their principles than not.
the practice decidedly does not correspond with their stated principles for most of them
No argument here. It just bugs me how some people misappropriate words. It’s a bit like Swiss neo-Nazis having resorted to calling themselves “patriots”. Being a racist bellend doesn’t make you a patriot, just as wanting to roll back several decades of gender equality doesn’t make you a libertarian.
I just wish that people would understand that if you’re afraid to call yourself what you really are in public, you should probably reconsider your ideology, not the word you use to describe it. Yes, I’m aware that that’s asking too much.
at least 27 now dead according to the Washington Post. i’d assume this will go up substantially since Acapulco is not exactly hurricane resilient and there is catastrophic damage to most of the city
We all know where this ends up. Remove all regulation and corporations are free to create their own conditions of employment. We’ve been here before. When there was no mandatory minimum leave, people worked every day till they died. When there was no universal healthcare people died because they couldn’t afford treatment. When there was no operational health and safety people died in excruciating pain as their lungs consumed themselves from the inside out because PPE was expensive and their labour wasn’t. When there was no minimum wage people were paid in company scrip, not cash. When there was no minimum working age, children lost limbs in doing dangerous work because they had to support their families. When there was no child protection agencies families sold their kids to farmers, pimps and bandits to pay for tomorrow’s meals. When there was no food safety standards, bread was adulterated with sawdust to make up the weight. Government regulations are written in a history of blood and suffering due to the greed of capitalists. Anyone who wants to return to the 1800s deserves the social upheaval that comes with it.
Yeah better vote the “populists” that are stealing and burning the country for more than 30 years . Argentina it’s fine, it just need more of the same stuff …
People getting scamed is awful and all but… I’m sorry, this is really creeping towards the edge of my empathy here. At some point, it’s kind of like natural selection.
Yet with Gazans facing a humanitarian catastrophe, Hamas’s stockpiles raise questions about what responsibility, if any, it has to the civilian population.
I find statements like this pretty fatuous.
Ethically all humans have a responsibility to see that these civilians won't starve or lack medicine.
Hamas is hoarding it and won't share with civilians.
Israel is also refusing to share with the hapless civilians
it's trying to prevent the rest of the world from sharing either.
It's stupid to say I'm not allowed to give a homeless guy a hot meal because there's a rich guy nearby.
Hamas is their government, and as such, has a responsibility to those it governs.
And the supplies are literally under the feet of the people who need them. Not something dependent on outside shipment.
Hamas made a decision to start a war, and now they’re choosing to let people suffer for PR points instead of moving supplies up and out of their tunnels to the people.
Eh, this is the kind of thing people say to absolve themselves.
"Sure that neighbour kid's getting starved and abused by his parents but it's his parents' responsibility to feed him, not mine".
"Sure, the Rohingya are getting genocided by the Junta but after all the Junta is technically their government who are responsible for their safety, not us".
Last time anyone voted in Hamas was 17 years ago. Meanwhile literally half the Gazans are aged 18 or younger. Far too younger to have voted for Hamas let alone for this nightmare.
If you just send in food, Hamas will take the bulk of it, same way they supplied the tunnels in the first place. Only real way to solve the problem is to get rid of Hamas.
this is just not a well founded assumption. humanitarian aid was going into Gaza, and was being distributed to the people there before Israel cut off the supply. you’re trying to engineer a false dichotomy, where the only solution to the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused in part by the denial of necessary resources is more denial of necessary resources. like, just think for like a moment. Hamas has a surplus of resources to supply their own forces. they aren’t reliant on humanitarian aid. not allowing food and other resources to get into Gaza only negatively affects the civilian population, and does very little to harm the supposed actual target of this indiscriminate violence. like, even if nearly all of it was just taken by Hamas, the quantity that remained would almost certainly still help innocent people survive this conflict, and that’s a worthwhile pursuit in and of itself.
but whatever, i bet you’ll just move the goalpost again. we cannot act based on what Hamas “should” be doing if they were acting responsibly. Hamas isn’t taking responsibility for the death and destruction being waged against the Palestinian people, they aren’t providing the resources they have, they aren’t distributing them to those who need them. and seeing that situation, we should act to prevent the suffering of these people who are not being served by the government that is supposed to represent them, instead of actively preventing aid from reaching into the region.
So let us send even more. I'd rather civillians no longer starved. Even if it means bad actors take some too.
We saw the flaws with the aid sanctions against Ethiopia earlier this year. Some corrupt officials were re-routing some of the aid intended for the famine in Tigray. But when the UN and US halted all food aid in response, starvation deaths in Ethiopia rose.
I understand that Israel don't mind starving the civilian population of Gaza as collatoral damage in their war with Hamas, but I do mind. The fact remains that starvation of civilians during war is illegal under international law. And I support that law.
You are searching morality in something, where there is none. This is urban warfare - WAR - and quite frankly - not letting Resources through Israeli border crossings - is nothing compared to things done in other wars. Especially as Egypt could deliver aid into Gaza from their border - But they chose not to.
@dumdum666 that's a hard disagree from me. I think you fundamentally misunderstand what ethics and morals are. Either you believe something or you don't.
If you come upon some people raping some kid in an alley that doesn't mean it's somehow okay for you stand there and just watch because "this is rape and quite frankly worse things were done in other rapes".
The argument "other people could have chosen to help and didn't, therefore it's fine for me to not help either" doesn't cut it.
If you, personally, think it's morally fine to starve civilians and children that's one thing - luckily many disagree which is why it's deemed a war crime.
But you should own your views on that. Don't try to argue that there's some special ☆magical place☆ where there's no such thing as right or wrong and ethics suddenly don't exist.
If you come upon some people raping some kid in an alley that doesn't mean it's somehow okay for you stand there and just watch because "this is rape and quite frankly worse things were done in other rapes".
The argument "other people could have chosen to help and didn't, therefore it's fine for me to not help either" doesn't cut it.
All right, then take a plane to Egypt and start to personally deliver that aid, if you just can’t stand by as the moral and ethical pure person you are. No? Took your mouth too full? Maybe you are a Keyboard Warrior after all?
If you, personally, think it's morally fine to starve civilians and children that's one thing - luckily many disagree which is why it's deemed a war crime.
It is a war crime if it is actually done to starve the civilians, yes. And you love to throw around accusations, don’t you?
Why aren’t you fighting that the women and young children can flee - to Egypt or maybe even into Israel? That would actually be useful, don’t you think?
If you think physically being in a situation is a prerequisite for caring about it, I don't know where this conversation can go. You seem to be veering into personal attacks.
None of this is a valid criticism of my point. I think it might be time for us to stop, since we are clearly talking past one another.
Everything you said is wrong. Egypt is trying to let aid through, Israel has repeatedly bombed the roads in each time they’re fixed; preventing aid. Also, as you so aptly pointed out, it’s war. The first thing a functioning country does in war is ration food so the soldiers can stay fed; even if it costs civilian lives. This has happened many times. That Israel is purposely starving civilians knowing full well it won’t affect the soldiers, just for propaganda, is frankly evil.
Pretty cynical when Hamas and Islamic Jihad could release the hostages and surrender and end all the fighting instead of giving people a choice over how they die
Mostly concern that it weakens their position militarily. Get a genuine willingness for peace from a posr-Hamas Palestinain government and some sort of land-for-peace becomes thinkable
Do you mean weakens the Hamas position militarily? Or do you mean weakens the Israeli position militarily?
I understand WB is Fatah controlled who are more inclined towards a 2SS which is why Bibi supported Hamas (until it backfired on Oct 7).
I also read a Reddit comment about how taking land from settlers and returning it to Palestinians would make the border larger and Israel more vulnerable but I don’t understand how that is so.
Total return weakens Israel. Basically because it leaves the country as a fairly narrow strip that’s easily cut apart in an attack.
Getting land in the west Bank returned means significant security concessions from whatever government is left. Last time this was tried it led to Hamas winning an election
The world according the Fediverse : Nazis, bad, Muslim Terrorist Jew Rapers, Killers, and Burners, good. Those poor poor "palestinian" cinnamon rolls, oh come here lemme help you up, what did those bad Jews do to you now. The cognitive dissonance and purposeful selective outrage, kills Jews. Always has, always will.
This has opened my eyes to one thing: jewish people do need a state where they are majority, and the ability to defend themselves. The world will never change I’m afraid.
Outside of maybe Hexbear and Lemmygrad, which I blocked some time ago, I don’t encounter these extreme opinions much at all here. How are you justifying painting the entire fediverse with such a broad brush?
Those poor poor “palestinian” cinnamon rolls, oh come here lemme help you up, what did those bad Jews do to you now.
this is an incredibly weird thing to say about a bombing campaign that has disproportionately killed people who have literally nothing to do with Hamas. let’s not.
It could also be a lot worse. Ever heard of Hiroshima - or about the carpet firebombing of Dresden?
“it’s bad but worse war crimes have happened in world history so it’s fine actually” is such an incredibly bad and disgusting argument to make for killing hundreds of people–many of which are children–a day who, again, have done nothing but be born in a place that a terrorist group operates and from which they cannot leave because Israel (and to a lesser extent Egypt) will not let them. any further attempt to justify the course of action Israel is taking on these grounds will get you banned from this instance.
This is heartbreaking. If you've ever had an incubator baby in your family, you know how incredibly tiny and vulnerable they are and how it feels like a miracle or gift that this child you love is alive.
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