I don’t think most people actually voted for him - it’s more like he was the lesser of two evils. Now consider what that says about the other candidate.
I know, right? Consider this though: Argentina’s biggest problem right now is the economy, and his opponent in the presidential race was the current finance minister, who one could argue has already given a quite impressive demonstration of his incompetence. “Four more years of the same” simply isn’t a realistic option. Milei’s plans for the economy on the other hand could be worth a try.
I suspect he’s a bit of a calculated risk to many - some of his ideas might actually be good for the economy (not the selling babies part obviously), and his more, uhm, controversial ideas are highly likely to be blocked by parliament. In that aspect he might be the kind of healing shock that the country needs.
So far we know that he appears to have toned down his rhetoric a bit since his victory, and that the other party supporting him plans to ‘keep him in check’ in parliament. Let’s see how that turns out.
From what I hear the answer is no. The current opposition party (JxC) started supporting him when it was clear that their candidate couldn’t win against the incumbent party’s candidate (Sergio Massa, the current minister of economy), but they say they plan to vote against some of Milei’s more radical ideas.
What actually happens, and how many of his ideas Milei will actually try to get through parliament, remains to be seen.
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…
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
That’s actually the best summary I’ve read for a long time.
Having said that, besides Milei being a right-wing misogynystic asshat, linking the peso to the dollar might actually do the country’s economy a lot of good in the long term. It has been tried before - sadly unsuccessfully because the rampant corruption in other places more than negated the positive effects, so Milei’s success there probably depends on a) whether he actually does what he’s promising to do, b) whether the new government actually will be less corrupt than the current and previous ones (though being any more corrupt than the Kirchner clan is going to be super hard), and c) whether the people will support the changes long enough once they realize that it means they too will get less subsidies and government hand-outs.
Milei is an idiot, but I can’t blame Argentinians (much) for voting for him. What other choices do they have that they haven’t tried several times already, each time with disastrous results.
It would be interesting to know how many of the votes he’ll get are actually votes “for him” as opposed to “anything but the established parties”.
So I know Halloween isn’t a day with a huge meal tradition like xmas or tday, but I’m having some dear friends stay with me that weekend and I would love to cook up something Halloweeny. So I’m curious, do any of you have any go-to meals/dishes for Halloween? No real requirements here, it can be outright spooky/gross or...
The above is sound advice. I’d like to add a generous amount of butter to the list - it adds flavour and smoothness.
Speaking of which, you also may want to add one small potato per pumpkin, though I wouldn’t experiment with this until the potato-less soup is in a satisfactory state.
Also, try using a high-quality vegetable broth instead of salt for seasoning. Go easy on the other spices then.
Argentina presidential election: far-right libertarian Javier Milei wins after rival concedes (www.theguardian.com)
Argentina’s gig workers are rallying against regulation — and supporting the libertarian candidate (restofworld.org)
Many frustrated Argentines pinning hopes on firebrand populist Javier Milei in presidential race (apnews.com)
Give me your favorite Halloween meals! (beehaw.org)
So I know Halloween isn’t a day with a huge meal tradition like xmas or tday, but I’m having some dear friends stay with me that weekend and I would love to cook up something Halloweeny. So I’m curious, do any of you have any go-to meals/dishes for Halloween? No real requirements here, it can be outright spooky/gross or...
An American tourist is arrested for smashing ancient Roman statues at a museum in Israel (apnews.com)