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Thread: Jair Bolsanaro is the future of libertarianism

  1. #1

    Jair Bolsanaro is the future of libertarianism

    Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro has forced a runoff election later this month and may very well be the next Brazilian president. Check out this mainstream take:

    https://www.economist.com/leaders/20...-latest-menace

    It's supposed to be a takedown, but all it really does is make him sound like an excellent leader.

    A few choice excerpts:

    He said he would not rape a congresswoman because she was “very ugly”; he said he would prefer a dead son to a gay one; and he suggested that people who live in settlements founded by escaped slaves are fat and lazy.
    An evangelical Christian, he mixes social conservatism with economic liberalism, to which he has recently converted. His main economic adviser is Paulo Guedes, who was educated at the University of Chicago, a bastion of free-market ideas. He favours the privatisation of all Brazil’s state-owned companies and 'brutal' simplification of taxes. Mr Bolsonaro proposes to slash the number of ministries from 29 to 15, and to put generals in charge of some of them.
    Mr Bolsonaro’s answer to crime is, in effect, to kill more criminals—
    This is the future of libertarianism. A populist strongman leader with vision who is willing to do what must be done to acquire power. Not some pie-in-the-sky intellectual talking about axioms or weird lifestyle libertines who would have been at home in the Weather Underground. Godspeed future president Bolsonaro!
    NeoReactionary. American High Tory.

    The counter-revolution will not be televised.



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  3. #2
    He said he would not rape a congresswoman because she was “very ugly”; he said he would prefer a dead son to a gay one; and he suggested that people who live in settlements founded by escaped slaves are fat and lazy.
    ...charming.

    An evangelical Christian, he mixes social conservatism with economic liberalism, to which he has recently converted. His main economic adviser is Paulo Guedes, who was educated at the University of Chicago, a bastion of free-market ideas. He favours the privatisation of all Brazil’s state-owned companies and 'brutal' simplification of taxes. Mr Bolsonaro proposes to slash the number of ministries from 29 to 15, and to put generals in charge of some of them.
    That's good.

    Mr Bolsonaro’s answer to crime is, in effect, to kill more criminals—
    The wisdom of that rather depends on what "criminals" means.

    Quote Originally Posted by ThePaleoLibertarian View Post
    This is the future of libertarianism. A populist strongman leader with vision who is willing to do what must be done to acquire power. Not some pie-in-the-sky intellectual talking about axioms or weird lifestyle libertines who would have been at home in the Weather Underground. Godspeed future president Bolsonaro!
    From what I've heard, he's a nationalist demagogue who has only lately pretended to be a liberal, because the election is tight.

    My gut tells me; push him back in the gutter, go buy another.

  4. #3
    According to a report from Reuters, Bolsonaro is considering the relaxation of Brazil’s strict gun laws. For a country besieged by street violence, Bolsonaro’s proposal is a breath of fresh air.

    For a law-abiding Brazilian, getting a gun is no walk in the park. They must comply with the following requirements: 1. Be 25 years of age
    2. Hold a license
    3. Pay registration fees
    4. Go through extensive background checks
    Thanks to these regulatory hoops, only 3.5% of the Brazilian population legally owned firearms prior to 2004. In sum, Brazil’s current gun control status quo treats gun ownership more like a regulated privilege rather than a right that the masses are free to exercise.


    Thankfully, Bolsonaro has not been alone in his advocacy for reforming guns laws. Organizations like the Viva Brazil Movement have taken up the mantle of expanding gun rights in the crime-ridden country. The Viva Brazil Movement came to the spotlight in 2005 when they played an integral role in defeating a referendum that would have banned firearms in Brazil.
    Since their victory, the Viva Brazil Movement has continued its push to expand gun rights in Brazil. And now they might get a major political break.


    If passed, gun reform would bring much needed sanity to Brazil’s political scene. Brazilian citizens would then have a tool of empowerment in times where corruption and violence are the order of the day.
    Win or lose, Bolsonaro has at least opened up the conversation on a historically taboo topic in Latin American politics. If Brazil is able to move in a pro-gun direction, it will serve as a beacon of hope for a Latin American region that is wedded to gun control.

    More at: https://www.infowars.com/brazil-cons...s-gun-control/
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by r3volution 3.0 View Post
    .

    The wisdom of that rather depends on what "criminals" means.
    As far as I understand it, all he really said was that police should be authorized to fire when being attacked. "killing criminals" was an extrapolation.



    From what I've heard, he's a nationalist demagogue who has only lately pretended to be a liberal, because the election is tight.
    From who? And compared to what? Brazil is an overregulated mess whose socialist chickens have come home to roost. I have no doubt that you could find examples of Bolsonaro supporting unlibertarian policies, but he's relatively very capitalist. This guy has a Brazilian Pinochet written all over him and I mean that in the best possible way.
    NeoReactionary. American High Tory.

    The counter-revolution will not be televised.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by ThePaleoLibertarian View Post
    As far as I understand it, all he really said was that police should be authorized to fire when being attacked. "killing criminals" was an extrapolation.
    Is that a disputed topic in Brazilian politics?

    Are there serious people, some of his opponents, arguing that police should not be permitted to defend themselves?

    If so, then he's making a perfectly reasonable point.

    If not, then your interpretation of his statement is far too charitable.

    That is, if there is no dispute about the right of police to defend themselves, then his comment is about something else.

    ...i.e., presumably, about promoting the summary execution of people he doesn't like.

    From who? And compared to what? Brazil is an overregulated mess whose socialist chickens have come home to roost. I have no doubt that you could find examples of Bolsonaro supporting unlibertarian policies, but he's relatively very capitalist. This guy has a Brazilian Pinochet written all over him and I mean that in the best possible way.
    As you may or may not know or recall, I'm quite sympathetic to Pinochet.

    ...I'm not at all convinced that this character is a Pinochet.

    First red flag: he's seeking election.

    I'd be much more inclined to sympathy if he were a general.



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