we're in downtown Buenos Aires the
capital of Argentina this was once about
100 years ago one of the richest cities
in the world and you could tell as you
walk around
The Faded Grandeur of a once great City
but this is now a desperate country its
economy is in shambles has been for a
long time Argentina famously defaulted
on its debt more than 20 years ago but
now hyperinflation has made this country
genuinely desperate you see when you
have dinner here in restaurants and
people pull out bricks of local currency
the peso to pay it feels like Weimar or
Zimbabwe but it's not this is a
developed country that's moving
backwards at high speed
and because of the frustration that has
built up among the population
particularly among poor people a man
called Javier Miele is poised to become
its next president
he's a former Soccer Star goalie
a performer in a Rolling Stones cover
band and a Libertarian Economist he's
not a Libertarian in the traditional
American sense he wouldn't fit into the
Cato Institute which has attacked him
for liking Donald Trump too much he's
libertarian in the traditional sense he
believes people should have the maximum
amount of Freedom they can be given
which is a lot much more than they now
get in Argentina he has moved from
basically nowhere in the last several
years to become maybe the most famous
person in this country the election is
next month in October and once again it
seems like he's likely to win
the reception he's gotten from the press
in the west particularly in the United
States the New York Times The Washington
Post also the financial times has been
hostile to put it mildly they describe
him as a far-right figure like he's a
Nazi
you see we sat down with him at Great
length just a moment ago he read across
from the president's Mansion The Pink
House that he hopes to soon occupy to
find out what he's like
he didn't seem very radical
continuing what they're now doing in
Argentina seems radical in fact insane
but judge for yourself here he is
thanks so much for joining us sir for
letting us come and interview you here
in Buenos sorry so why do you think from
your perspective you've become a man
with no political background so popular
so quickly in this country
from my standpoint there are two ways of
explaining this popularity
one has to do with my personal
background
over the course of my life I've been a
soccer player
and sang in a rock band I'm also an
economist
and I think that combination makes for
an attractive television production
the other important way to explain this
popularity
is because of my ideas
Argentina is a country that has embraced
socialist ideas for the last 100 years
so liberalism is a natural form of
rebellion against the system
and Rebellion is always led by youth
when they look at me they see someone
talking about liberalism and rebelling
against the status quo
I don't understand how people with power
in Argentina could support the status
quo given that your inflation rate is up
there with Lebanon and Zimbabwe in other
countries that aren't real countries
but your country is beautiful abundant
natural resources intelligent
well-educated population and yet its
economy is in shambles how could any so
clearly the system isn't working how
could anyone support that the issue is
that Argentina began to embrace
socialist ideas over a hundred years ago
the analogy of frogs in a pot of water
is useful here when you turn up the heat
slowly the frogs don't realize it until
the time comes and when they try to jump
out it's too late and they end up dead
Argentina's Embrace of socialist ideas
began with an idea that seems attractive
but it's actually a terrifying way to
operate an economic system the idea that
where there is a need there is a right
it's a problem because there can be
infinite needs but someone always has to
pay for those rights
and the resources for that are finite
that Sparks a conflict between infinite
needs and finite resources
in the liberalist view this conflict is
easy to resolve through economic freedom
and private property
this is a natural mechanism to resolve
this tension in a society
but the Socialists don't much like the
Invisible Hand they prefer the claws of
the state and they hide it behind the
discourse of social justice this sort of
social justice is deeply unjust because
it's premeditated by unequal treatment
under the law and preceded by a robbery
I didn't fully appreciate the degree to
which the Argentinian government had
embraced Fringe academic American style
social justice a businessman told me at
lunch today that people would identify
as transgender pay lower taxes
2019 you had a Ministry of women in
diversity
created in this country for the first
time what does that Ministry do in
theory it is supposed to deal with
women's issues but when you look for the
results you find there aren't any just
writing songs are women happier here
hey no
no no because there are no real results
just painting a Park Bench red or
writing a song doesn't fix the
conditions or address the problems that
women face
in fact one of the most important
achievements of liberalism is equality
under the law
and then this kind of ministry
why isn't there a Ministry of men
if there is true equality under the law
what we need is to enforce the law not
to create a Ministry of women
it's based on a premise that is totally
false for example they say that there is
a glass ceiling for women and women earn
less than men and that all businessmen
are pigs who only care about making
money
if that were the case and all
businessmen are pigs who only care about
making money then why aren't all offices
swarming with women they should be full
of women but when you look it's fairly
even and proportional to the population
if you look beyond the averages you will
find that it's a matter of the decisions
that men and women are making as they
choose their professions and if you
correct for profession and for line of
work then pay is actually even
and the truth is all of the regulations
and restrictions that these
organizations like the ministry of women
promote
all they do is create positive
discrimination affirmative action that's
discrimination and I think it's
absolutely offensive to woman because it
means treating them as lesser beings
which is truly abhorrent
and it also Sparks counterproductive
Behavior among women and this hurts
women in the end
it's the same old story
All State action causes more harm than
what it is supposed to correct
for example they tried to fix a problem
with rents in Argentina
they passed a law on rentals now we are
worse off than before
they try to fix the problem of hunger
and now there is more hunger they try to
fix the problem of poverty and now
there's more poverty they try to fix the
lack of employment and now there's more
unemployment every time the state
intervenes it is a violent action that
harms the right to private property and
in the end limits our freedom
the end result is much worse than how
things were before
it was always clear that the ministry of
women would only hurt women except those
who are state employees you oppose
abortion why
because as someone who believes in
liberalism I'll say libertarian liberal
because in English the word liberal
means something different so let me say
as a Libertarian we believe that
liberalism entails the unrestricted
respect for the lives of others rooted
in a principle of non-aggression and the
defense of life liberty and property
and if we cleave these ideas of Liberty
one of the most fundamental aspects is
to defend the right to life
beyond that there is a scientific
justification to be had
it's the fact that life begins at
conception it's at that very instant
that a new being begins to evolve
with its own unique DNA
while it's true that women have the
right to their own bodies the child in a
woman's womb is not her body
that child is not her body that makes
abortion a murder enabled and aggravated
by a power imbalance against a child
that has no way to defend itself
and beyond that there is a matter of
mathematics life is a Continuum with two
Quantum leaps birth and death
any interruption in the interim is
murder so I would think you're a
Catholic you said you're just defending
really the Catholic life principle the
Pope the current pope is from Argentina
I would think he would support you he is
instead criticized you and you've called
him a communist
why the disconnect
well first because the pope plays
politics he has strong political
influence and he has shown a great
affinity for dictators such as Castro
and Maduro he is on the side of this
bloody dictatorships
wait I'm sort of Raul Castro's a
murderer
right and Fidel Castro was also a
murderer but the pope you believe the
pope has an affinity for role Castro see
exacto yes that's right he has an
affinity for murderous
communists
in fact he won't denounce them he's
quite lenient to them
he's also lenient toward the Venezuelan
dictatorship he's lenient toward the
entire left even when they are true
criminals
that's a problem
but he also takes social justice as a
central element of his vision
that's difficult because what is social
justice truly
it's stealing the fruits of one person's
labor and giving it to someone else
so it means two things first it's
stealing
the problem with that is that one of the
Ten Commandments is thou shall not steal
to support social justice is to support
stealing so one problem is that it
violates the Ten Commandments
the other problem is that it creates
unequal treatment under the law
and I don't think it's fair for some
people to be rewarded While others are
punished all through the power of the
state that wields a monopoly on violence
so when you look around it's fascinating
to look around the city Buenos Aires and
the architecture is a mixture of
sublimely beautiful buildings and
stupendously ugly buildings and it feels
like looking at an archaeological tell
where the architecture corresponds to
certain political eras and I wonder if
you believe that socialism leftism
produces
ugliness this is an initial way to
characterize Argentina in terms of the
city of Buenos Aires
when you look at its architecture the
architecture of liberalist Argentina is
a style that is so fascinating and
dustling it's the architecture of a
glorious time times of liberalism in
Argentina
the colon theater is the best example of
this it is one of the best lyrical
theaters in the world and it is the
reflection of a thriving liberalist
Argentina that was admired around the
world and then came the buildings that
were more square and squat
these were the buildings of the ministry
of Public Works or the Ministry of
Social Action
the one down on nine de Julio Street
it's a truly ugly building with directly
Soviet characteristics in fact there
used to be a statue they've since
removed it but there was a statue there
that looked like this a man with his
hand cupped backward as if accepting a
bribe
that's one of the things that the
Builder included in protest for the
number of bribes they demanded of him as
he was erecting the building
that's the architecture Squat and ugly
and the Only Winners involved are those
who have business with the politicians
Puerto Madero is an example he
you described the buildings the leftist
buildings as square and plain and ugly
why does the left love concrete so much
your old buildings are built out of
stone and plaster but the the the newer
socialist buildings are all concrete
what is that
it has to do with leftist values there
are underlying values within leftist
ideas Envy hatred resentment unequal
treatment under the law and violence
all that these socialist altruism ends
up doing is contaminate the system with
incentives that generate poverty
so of course if you are poor what you
can build is limited by your poverty
this is one reason everywhere and always
socialism is a violent murderous and
impoverishing phenomenon those are the
characteristics of socialism socialism
has become
uh ascendant really in the United States
as you may have noticed
with the attendant symptoms you
described massive public debt levels
increasing poverty disorder crime filth
and ugliness Argentina is at the end
stage of that Argentina is now a poor
country because of those policies
what advice would you give to Americans
having lived it
never embrace the ideals of socialism
never allow yourselves to be seduced by
the siren song of social justice
don't get caught up in that terrible
concept that where there is a need there
is a right
but that can't happen on its own
we have to be prepared for this and wage
a cultural War every single day
and we have to be careful because they
have no problem with getting inside the
state and employing gramshi's techniques
seducing the artists seducing the
culture seducing the media or meddling
in educational content
you need to be very careful cut off
their funding and force them into a fair
fight
at the same time we have to raise
awareness among the business sector that
the masses are necessary Milton Friedman
used to say that the social role of an
entrepreneur is to make money
but that's not enough part of their
investment must include investing in
those who defend the ideals of Freedom
so the Socialists can make no further
advances and if they don't do it they
will get into the state and use the
state to impose a long-term agenda that
will destroy everything it touches
so we need a commitment from all of
those who create wealth to fight against
socialism to fight against statism and
to understand that if they fail to do so
the Socialists will keep coming
because what's the point since they try
to leech off others without working they
are tireless in their Pursuit
their late Motif in life is to live off
of others
so they never give up on this mechanism
to gain control of others wealth money
or income
so this battle must be waged unceasingly
we cannot take a day off because when we
rest socialism Creeps in Donald Trump is
running for president again in the
United States as you know what advice
would you give him
he should continue his fight against
socialism
because he is one of the few who truly
understood that we are fighting
socialism that we are fighting the
statists
he understood perfectly that the
generation of wealth comes from the
private sector
the state does not create wealth the
state destroys it
the state can give you nothing because
it produces nothing
and when it attempts it it does so
poorly
so I'd say if I could humbly offer
advice
all I could say would be to double down
on his efforts in the same direction
defending the ideals of freedom
and refusing to give an inch to the
Socialists do you see the climate change
movement as part of the same socialist
agenda
it is part of the Socialist agenda in
fact what post-marxism attempts to do
given the clear economic failure
after the fall of the Berlin Wall
although socialism actually failed in
1961
when they had to build the wall in the
first place
faced with that defeat they moved class
struggle into other aspects of life
for example the struggle between black
and white or black lives matter the
entire lgbtq Lobby everything related to
radical feminism
because remember that the original cause
of feminism is rooted in liberalism
the first one to promote it was Jeremy
Bentham in the mid-18th century
this agenda also includes the agenda of
man against nature where man is the one
supposedly harming nature when the truth
is that the world has had other
temperature spikes in the past it's a
cycle that exists regardless of man and
if the prices were truly free those
problems would be fixed easily we
wouldn't need the state to regulate
because every time the state regulates
things get even worse there's also a
darker side to this agenda it's a
murderous agenda the agenda of abortion
as a consequence of what humans are
doing to the planet they promote the
murder of people still in their mother's
womb abortion
this is a policy that has always failed
throughout the world and it's terrible
not only by virtue of its failure but
because it is a bloodthirsty policy in
which Some Humans believe they should
decide who should live and who should
not
it's the utmost expression of hubris how
can a person decide who will live and
who will not
I want to say it clearly the Socialists
hands are stained with blood
they always have blood on their hands
are you arguing that socialists commit
Bloodshed because they believe they are
God because they believe themselves God
they are Heretics that's why in his last
book Hayek called it the Fatal conceit
because to coordinate this kind of
action everything that you have to know
and that has to do with another article
by Hayek cold the use of knowledge in
society in which he takes a more
scientific and deeper exploration of
Adam Smith's idea of the Invisible Hand
what he says is that to implement
socialism the people who do it would
have to be omniscient omnipresent and
omnipotent that is they believe they are
God
let me tell you something
they are not God
and what's worse politicians are such
miserable low lives
especially the leftists they are even
below the average population who would
fake being average only those who are
below average this is an agenda of Envy
Envy is a capital sin no good can come
from it no good can come from murder no
good can come from robbery so going back
to Pope Francis why does he defend an
agenda that supports murder robbery and
envy it's strange isn't it so why why
does he what's what's the answer
he's the one who should answer that
because examined in this debate in the
light of empirical evidence he is the
one who should be giving explanations as
to why he defends an economic system
that leads to Poverty misery violence
and decadence and if it were up to them
they would destroy the world that's
something he should explain I'm not a
socialist I'm a Libertarian liberal
you've said that as president of
Argentina you will not do business with
China
not only will I not do business with
China I won't do business with any
communist I am a defender of Freedom
peace and democracy
there is no room for Communists there
is no room for Putin there
is no room for Lula there
we want to be the moral Lighthouse for
our continent
we want to be Defenders of Freedom
democracy and diversity
of peace
from within the state we will not pursue
any action with Communists or socialists
that doesn't mean that argentinians
can't trade if they want to trade with
China or with Russia or with Brazil
that's up to each Argentinian
do you pray for wisdom and guidance
I know that there are many people who
are praying for me
and it brings me joy to know that people
go to the hotel
to the Wailing Wall in Israel and pray
for me I feel fine
but it's that I'm convinced that what
I'm doing is right
life without freedom is not worth living
I was once asked if I'd be willing to
give my life for the ideals of freedom
and I am willing I want to be an
embodiment of that way of living of
living in Freedom
I think slavery is a horrifying concept
and I will fight for the ideals of
Freedom as long as I need to whatever
the consequences may be
doing the right thing is non-negotiable
interesting last question
you said
um there's this enormous State Workforce
government Workforce in Argentina but
you said that you
would not lay them off immediately until
you built up the private sector economy
because you worried there would be
violent protests
are you worried that there will be
violent protests or violence against
your supporters over the next month
before the election
I'm not worried because I will govern
according to the law
under my Administration the law will be
respected and the people will pay for
their mistakes
they should have no reason to complain
they won't be laid off in the first
round of reforms and when the second
round of reforms take place they will be
able to leave behind their public sector
jobs because they will have an incentive
to do so and they will be paid better it
shouldn't be a problem
but if they still want to make trouble
we will enforce the law and anyone who
tries to Riot anyone who breaks the law
will be put in prison
do you believe law enforcement is on
your side
if not the justice system wouldn't be
working
I will be working to make sure that our
justice system is truly independent and
can act freely
anyone who breaks the law and violates
the Constitution will have to pay for it
with a justice system that has the
political support to be truly
independent
I don't see any reason for them not to
be on our side
otherwise it's not Justice
thank you
you're welcome
appreciate it thanks that's it
Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
Javier Milei's take on Ukraine
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